Deadly Holiday (Southern California Violent Crimes Taskforce #6.5)(10)
Seven of us. Eight armed guards. Not ideal, but not terrible odds either. Celina had been in far worse situations, only not with so many innocent people around. More signals from Victor and the taskforce members fanned out, strategically placing themselves near each armed guard under the guise of helping out at the crafting tables. One guard eyed Mitch suspiciously as he inched closer and Celina knew the ruse wouldn’t last much longer.
“Dios mio!” As if on cue, Sophie collapsed to the floor, and Nelson fell to his knees next to her. “Someone help her!” he urged the guards nearest him, who stepped closer to see what was going on.
It was all the distraction they needed. Everyone acted at once.
Mitch swung a heavy fist into the jaw of the guard eyeing him, toppling him backwards into Santa’s sleigh and sending presents scattering everywhere. Thomas bashed two guards’ heads in with a heavy silver tray—bam, bam—cookies flying everywhere. Nelson and Sophie took out the guards coming to her rescue, and Victor sent another flying over Santa’s throne. Almost home free…
“Enough!” Ramone fired shots into the air and everyone froze. Seven of the guards were down and out for the count, but they hadn’t been able to reach Ramone in time.
Shit. They were sitting ducks.
A shadow rose up behind Ramone and before Celina could blink, the large man was picked up and thrown WWE style across the room, whacking his head on the edge of the sleigh and landing in an unnatural heap on the floor.
Standing there in what had once been a white tank top, red velvet pants with suspenders, and a pair of black boots that had lost their shine, Cooper’s grimy face was pinched in a mixture of worry and pissed off-edness.
To Celina, he’d never looked so good.
Celina hurdled herself into Cooper’s arms, burying her face in his neck. “Thank God you’re all right.”
“Where’s Ortega?”
“His original intention was to kidnap the surgeon assigned to Jana’s case and take her to Mexico to perform the bone marrow transplant. Dr. Kyan convinced him to let her do it here. They went to the surgical wing, I think. Ortega took two guards with him. Amber can probably tell us more about what Dr. Kyan is doing.”
The taskforce members were quickly securing all the guards’ weapons and incapacitating their hands, lining the men up against the far wall. Only a few were still conscious.
Cooper’s large hand captured the back of her head, pulling her close, as if afraid he would lose her. “Don’t you ever do that to me again. What the fuck were you thinking?”
Celina looked up to meet his eyes. “I needed to protect Novia and you needed to get out and bring help. Partners, remember? We work as a team.”
His mouth curved in a pained smile. He may not have liked that she put herself in danger, but he knew she was right. “True, but I’m supposed to protect you both.” His mouth crashed onto hers and he poured all of his anger, worry, and love into that one kiss. She gave right back, too relieved to be back in his strong arms to care who was watching.
By the time they parted, Victor informed them SWAT was still fifteen minutes away. “We need to secure the premises and make sure Ortega doesn’t escape.”
They didn’t want Ortega to get wind of what was happening, although Celina knew he must have heard the gunfire and was wondering. As Victor and Cooper walked with her toward Via, they batted around ideas.
Emma and Sophie were trying to calm everyone back down and Celina lent a hand, leaving Cooper to pick up Via. He lifted his daughter from the playpen, snuggling her against his massive chest, and even Victor stopped talking to let The Beast reassure himself she was okay. Via giggled and patted her daddy on the cheek, babbling unintelligible words that made him grin.
“My Princess,” he breathed, feathering a kiss over her forehead. Celina paused, heart in her throat as she took in the tender scene between father and daughter. Oh how she loved them both, so very, very much.
“Who the hell are you people?” a man asked, holding a crying child tightly against him.
“We’re the Southern California Violent Crimes Taskforce.” Thomas tipped an imaginary hat. “At your service.”
“Speak for yourself, Mann.” Sophie grumbled. “I’m FBI, and I work alone. Usually.”
“And you all just happened to be here tonight?” the man looked confused and a touch skeptical.
Celina couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t everyday a cartel leader fell into the taskforce’s lap. In fact, she was sure this was one for the record books. Right time, right place for them, not so much for Basilio Ortega.
“We’re like the Avengers,” Nelson offered dryly, grunting when Sophie’s elbow found his ribcage. “What? We are pretty damn impressive.”
“I second that,” Thomas agreed, and then shared his favorite quote from one of the movies. “You get hurt, you hurt back. You die, walk it off. It’s like, our motto.”
Mitch rolled his eyes as Nelson and Thomas exchanged a fist bump.
“The guards in the hall are taken care of.” Ronni breezed through the cafeteria doors like she owned the place. Her elf costume was slightly skewed, and her red and green striped tights were covered in grime, probably from crawling through the air ducts. “All we need is Basilio.”
“What, no gun?” Thomas asked, giving her a crooked grin. “You never leave home without a weapon.”