AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sounds good. Let’s go out in the common area. It’s so damned stuffy in the office, and that way we can spread out and use the big screen.”
Addie nodded as they both rose and walked out of her office. Everyone might be right, but she couldn’t help feeling a little lost at the moment. Not because she thought she was right. If the roles were reversed, she would probably tell anyone else to stay.
This had to do with Marcus. If he would have said anything—just one word—of support, she probably wouldn’t feel this way. She’d still be angry, but right now, she felt as if everything had ended in that one conversation. There was no going back to playing house after that. She had needed him to have her back, and he had left her hanging with no support. And because of that, she wasn’t sure she could ever trust him again.
That was worse than having a terrorist threatening her.
ChapterEighteen
Marcus was riding with Adam, who had the wheel. He couldn’t concentrate on driving through the traffic, even though it was light. Midday on a weekday was nothing –especially after they found two unexploded bombs. The tourists were all hiding away in their hotels waiting for the all clear. None of them apparently thought that any high civilian area would be a target—including the hotels.
“Are you gonna to stop brooding and talk about it?”
He glanced at Adam. TJ was in one of the back seats ignoring them as he read his texts. His phone had been blowing up the entire ride thanks to the two bombs they had found. Everyone else had gone ahead, and they were speeding through the streets to catch up. Adam had waited for him.
“No.”
“Well, then get your head out of your ass. Going in there like this will get you killed. Or worse, kill someone else. You don’t want that on your hands.”
Marcus grunted because he knew Adam was right, but it didn’t change the fact that he felt Tamilya slipping away. It had never been a problem before. He could ignore his personal life and just work. That had always come first.
But now…he wanted Tamilya to come first. He had seen the look in her eyes when they’d been in her office. She’d accused him of not wanting her to go because she was a woman. He couldn’t explain it then. It hadn’t been that she was a woman, but that she washiswoman. His world would be destroyed if she died. And while it was irrational and condescending, he had wanted her safe. He knew she could take care of herself, but with someone directly threatening her, he couldn’t deal with it. And that was a mark against him.
“Uh,” TJ said from the backseat.
“What?” Marcus asked, turning around.
“I decided that maybe I should check up on Addie and, well…she doesn’t have any job waiting for her.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“She isn’t actually retiring with honors,” he said looking down at his phone. “One of my buddies works in DC, and he said she was persona non grata. Seems she screwed up a few assignments, and they basically told her that she could retire but without any recommendations.”
Marcus frowned. “She said she had several offers, but that she took the best one. Or that’s what she told Tamilya.”
“Then she was lying.”
Adam’s phone rang and he motioned with his head for Marcus to get it. It was Del.
“Hey, boss,” he said.
“The FBI already went in. They found nothing, but the phone. Oh, wait,” he said. He heard someone shouting.
“Nothing?” Marcus asked. Del didn’t answer right away.
“Well, fuck, they found Li in the house. Dead.”
“Recently?” Marcus asked.
“Hold on,” he said. Marcus ground his teeth even though he knew Del was getting information minute-by-minute.
“They’re saying that he’s cold, at least twelve hours.”
He blinked. “He’s been dead that long, which means his counterpart is on the island.”
“Or, he or she was twelve hours ago,” Adam said. He had since slowed down a bit and turned off the sirens.
“She. It’s a woman, remember?” Marcus said, his mind trying to put all the pieces together and feeling as if he was missing one of them. That didn’t happen around Tamilya because they always worked all of that out together. He hadn’t realized how much he had come to rely on Tamilya talking him through a case until now.
