He nodded, but before she could ask him anything more, his eyes slid shut again. What else had he been trying to tell them?
Klay managed to get the medivac there in twelve minutes, a fully equipped Coast Guard rescue copter. It must have flown from the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island. In minutes, the team loaded Jakes inside and the pilot was lifting off again. Briar and Royce watched the red and white helicopter disappear into the distance as a black SUV raced into the parking lot and stopped fast enough to leave tire marks on the pavement.
“Standard FBI issue, not a serial killer car like yours was,” Briar said before Royce did anything stupid. “It’s the agents Klay assigned.”
The car doors opened simultaneously. “Do they practice that?” Royce asked out of the side of his mouth.
“Probably. I wouldn’t put it past them.”
“Agent Natalia Gomez,” said the short dark-haired woman, “and this is my partner, Agent Nathaniel Richardson.” Richardson was nearly a foot taller than Agent Gomez and had fiery red hair to go along with the cascade of freckles covering his face. The two were so mismatched it was almost laughable. Briar did not make that mistake.
Two seconds later, another SUV careened into the parking lot, stopping with a lurch next to the Fed-mobile.
“My backup,” said Royce as Gomez and Richardson stiffened.
Bishop and, after a second, Caleb got out and jogged toward where the four of them were standing. Caleb carried a ballistic vest in each hand.
“Here, sounds like you guys need these,” he said as he handed one to Briar and the other to Royce.
“Thanks,” Royce said as he put it on over his shirt.
Taking her coat off, Briar slipped into the vest and then put her coat back on over it. They all stared.
“What? I used my shirt on Jakes’s wound. I don’t normally run around in just an athletic bra. Unless I’m running, of course.”
“They’re just in awe of you,” Gomez said.
“I’m not in awe,” protested Caleb. “I was just surprised.”
Bishop opened his mouth, but Gomez cut him off before he could say a word. “Before you all continue to try and wrap your brains around a capable female agent doing what needs to be done, we need a full report.”