Laughter rumbled through him. “If I wanted to get out, I would’ve, but I woke up about five minutes before you did. And as for being late, I think everyone at work would’ve been surprised if I’d turned up on time after what happened last night.”
At the mention of the previous evening, Steff tensed in his embrace, and he cursed himself for snatching away her relaxed sleepiness.
“Oh yeah, I suppose I should go over there and start the clean-up process.” Her voice hitched, and Jag tightened his hold.
“You can go whenever you’re ready. And when you do, I’ll be right beside you. And if I know everyone I work with, there will be a band of helpers as well.”
“I couldn’t ask them to do that,” Steff protested.
“I don’t think you could get away without them not pitching in. They want to help.”
“That’s so…unexpected.”
Silence fell between them, and Jag didn’t do anything to break it, enjoying the quiet moment with her. It had been a long time since he’d had a woman in his arms. Most of his past liaisons had been…almost clinical. Both him and the woman he was with were only slaking a desire. Neither one of them seeking anything deep and meaningful.
It had been what he’d wanted at the time, with his focus on his job, and nothing else.
Now though, after one night of having Steff sleep in his arms, he wanted more of it. Considering she hadn’t tried to bolt from his hold the second she woke up, he hoped she wanted it too.
The trill of his phone in the kitchen shattered the peace between them and, once again, Steff stiffened in his arms. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
He extracted himself from Steff and strode toward the kitchen. He’d set his phone to ring for as long as possible before switching to voicemail.
Fox’s name flashed on the screen, and he swiped to answer it. “Hey man, what’s up?”
“Checking to see if you’re okay. We were getting a bit worried something had happened for you not to be in yet. If you hadn’t picked up, we would’ve headed over there.”
Jag loved how much his teammates cared and worried about each other. “All good. Just had a sleep in. Steff is fine too.”
“Okay. Good.”
Jag sensed there was something Fox wanted to say. He glanced toward his bedroom, but couldn’t hear or see any movement to suggest Steff was up and about. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just come out and tell you. Someone fucked with the building’s security system. The feed is nothing but a blue screen, from around five in the afternoon, until two in the morning when the forensic team walked out.”
“Fuck me. This is not a coincidence. Someone deliberately fucked with it.”
“Agreed. Cass is checking the surrounding cameras to see if they picked up anything.”
“She shouldn’t waste her time. Like before, whoever we’re dealing with knows how to keep themselves out of the line of cameras. They’re fucking professionals.” Frustration filled him. “None of this makes any sense. Why Steff?”
“I wish I knew, but you know we’ll get to the bottom of it. We’re going to find out who and why.”
No way could he leave Steff alone today. Not after hearing this. “I know. Listen, I’m not coming in today. I need to stay with Steff.”
“I get it. If something like last night happened to Cynthia, I’d want to be with her. I’ll let Ox know. I don’t think he’ll have an issue with it either. If we find anything with the footage, we’ll let you know.” Fox paused. “Do you think you’ll head to Steff’s place today?”
It was the last place Jag wanted to visit, but if Steff wanted to go back to her home, he’d take her. “That’s up to Steff. I’ll let her decide what we do.”
“If you do decide to go, call me. I’ll come to help if you need it. I’m sure Cynthia will too.”
“Thanks, man, appreciate it.”
“Talk later.”
“Later.” He disconnected the call and stared at the wall.
