The Shaughnessey Accord by Alison Kent Page B

she was okay, that she wasn't alone and frightened, that she knew he hadn't lied when he'd promised to come back.
    He tugged the towel from his head to find he had company. Hank Smithson stood with his hands in his pockets and the butt end of a cigar in the corner of his mouth.
    "Julian's off to Miami, but I'm taking Christian and Kelly John to dinner since they're pissin ' and moanin ' about never gettin ' their lunch." Hank rocked back on his boot heels. "You up for a steak?"
    Lunch, right. The reason he'd gone to Brighton's all those hours before. Tripp pulled his duffel out of his locker, tossed his towel to the bench behind him.
    "Actually, I'm off to see a girl about a promise," he said, stepping into his boxers.
    Hank nodded, shifted his cigar to the other side of his mouth. "I figured you might be thinking of something along those lines. Kinda surprised to hear you've been making promises, though."
    Buttoning the fly on his jeans, Tripp glanced over with a grin. "Yeah, sorta shocked myself with that one."
    "The girl's a good influence."
    "She gets my jokes," Tripp said, surprising himself . "She doesn't necessarily laugh, but she gets them."
    Hank stopped rocking, pulled his hands from his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe she knows what I know. That life doesn't have to be funny all the time. That doesn't mean it ain't worth living."
    Tripp tugged a black T-shirt down over his head, sat to pull on socks and his boots. "Guess I'm pretty transparent, huh?"
    "No. You just need to forgive yourself for the things no one else holds against you. The past is the past, son. You need to see to your future."
    "With Glory, you mean?"
    Hank turned to go. "With whoever makes you happy for all the right reasons. "
    Ten minutes later, Tripp stood on the sidewalk, arms crossed, hands in his pits, watching the lights of the ambulances and patrol cars flash off Brighton's front glass.
    The hostages had been examined by paramedics, statements had been taken by detectives, and the scene combed by the forensics team. The media was now out in force.
    He figured the patrol cars in the distance were hauling Vuong's gang away, finishing the job the SG-5 team had started. Good riddance to the lot of the bastards for the scare they'd given Glory.
    A scare Tripp still felt burning like an ember he'd stepped on with bare feet. Damn, but he'd come way too close to losing her and any chance to tell her how crazy he was with wanting to get to know her.
    A new burst of cameras flashing had him looking toward the door just as Glory came out flanked by two people he'd bet money were her parents. Her mother even had the same curly head of hair. A policeman in front of them staved off reporters as the three slid into the back of his car.
    Good. She was on her way home with an escort who would make sure she got there. Relief swept through him; he'd had no idea he was still so tense. Or so hungry to see her again. He'd give them time, hang out for a while until they'd finished up their reunion. Then he'd make his move.
    It was when he stepped back and turned to go that his world fell apart. In the crowd across the street he saw one face staring his way.
    Danh Vuong .
    Sonofabitcb .
    He must've escaped during the melee of the cops separating victims from violators. Through the alley door, most likely, though Tripp couldn't believe that entrance wouldn't have been under surveillance all afternoon.
    But how he'd gotten loose from the ropes . . . double-jointed little fuck, dislocating his own shoulder while Tripp looked on, demonstrating exactly how he'd slipped his hands free.
    Tripp stood immobile, watching the Asian kid, torn between charging across the street or grabbing the closest cop, knowing he could do neither without jeopardizing SG-5.
    He'd have to explain how he knew Vuong . What he'd seen. How he'd gotten free. Why he'd left all the others behind. Who the Spectra agent was and why his help had been enlisted.
    As far as