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He nodded and then motioned to Tamilya. Marcus held onto her hand.
“Don’t.” It came out as a demand, but around the edges of it she heard the plea. He would never beg her, but she knew he was probably as close as he would ever get to doing just that.
She studied him. “What would you do if it were you?”
He didn’t answer and he looked away for a second. When he finally looked at her again, irritation was easy to see in his expression. She watched his jaw flex, but he didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.
“Exactly.”
She wiggled her hand away from his and hated the moment she stepped away from him. She instantly missed his heat. After drawing in a huge breath and releasing it, she squared her shoulders, and followed Del into his office, shutting the door behind her and taking one of the seats in front of his desk.
“You want to be bait?” Del asked.
Of course he knew. They all would do the same thing. They were a top-notch team, and she had no doubt, given time, they would find the perpetrator. The problem was that with each passing minute, another civilian could be put at risk.
“Yes. And I need Marcus working with someone else.”
He cocked his head in question.
She sighed. “If they’ve been watching me, they know he and I are involved, somewhat.”
What the hell they were she wasn’t sure. He said he wanted more, but she couldn’t even think about that right now. With an asshole threatening her, she couldn’t contemplate the future.
“Yeah, I agree, but he’s not going to be happy.”
She snorted. “That is an understatement.”
“He’s giving us the death glare while TJ is trying to talk to him.”
She turned in her seat to see Marcus doing just that. He didn’t shy away because she knew he wanted to give her a message. He was going to fight this. As he kept his gaze locked with hers, he crossed his arms over his chest. After a moment, it was too much, and she turned back to Del.
“I’m not sure we have enough to go by to make you bait.”
She nodded. That’s what was bothering her. It would be easier to set a trap if she at least had an idea of any particulars. Information is what they needed, and background. They were flying blind and it wasn’t a good position to be in.
“I’ll have him working with Adam. You, I want here.” She opened her mouth, but he held up his hand to stop her. “I get that you want to be out there, but the FBI is running down all the other leads. I want you here for the texts. You and Addie might be able to find something together. You two know the Virginia Star job better than any of us. Any texts might give us leads, but if you two are running around, we might miss out.”
She frowned. “I would rather be out in the field.”
He nodded. “I get that. I will make sure you are in on any bust. Promise.”
Sighing, she nodded. There was a rap at the door, and it opened. She turned to see it was Adam.
“We traced the phone.”
“That’s not good,” Del said.
She knew what he meant. It could be a trap of some sort. And she knew now she wouldn’t be permitted to go on the bust. Anger moved through her fast and hard. This was her job and she wasn’t going to be able to do it.
“Tamilya,” Del said. She turned to face him. “I understand. I would want to be there, but this is one little bust and it could be a trap.”
Outrage hit her at full force. “You just said I would be in on any bust.”
“And this could just be a trap. I need you here waiting to see if there is another text.”
“But…”
He stood up, his expression hardening. “I said I understand, but we need you here. There is every chance they are trying to draw you out there. We don’t need that. We need you here safe and working with Addie and, to an extent, Charity.”
