Page 53 of Cruel Salvation

Chapter17

A perfect nightwas broken early the next morning as his and Naz’s phones began to ring at the same time. He grabbed it and saw it was an alarm of some kind that Watchdog had put on his phone when he’d gone after Naz a few weeks back when all this began. He groaned and turned to pull Nazareli into his arms, but she was already up and dressing.

“Hurry up.”

The soft pliant woman of the night before was gone and in her place was the tough, focused soldier. “I’m coming. What could possibly constitute an emergency at five in the morning?”

She pulled her T-shirt down her torso and went on tiptoes to drop a light kiss on his lips, which he tried to deepen but she was already stepping back.

“Poor baby isn’t used to having his nap broken.”

“I can give up the sleep. It’s that sexy, naked body I have trouble giving up.”

“You’ll live.”

He pulled on jeans and a black hoodie and shoved a cap backwards over his hair which was stuck up from having her fingers pulling at it.

“I know I’ll live, I just don’t like it.”

“You’re grumpy in the mornings.”

“Am not.”

He was and he knew it, but she seemed to take it in stride as she grabbed his hand, and they hauled ass out of the apartment and headed for the tech room. When they got there, everyone else was already waiting and they all looked bright and sharp, leaving him feeling even more bleary-eyed.

Bás eyed him and Damon felt his stomach churn as his arms slipped around Naz from behind. He expected her to pull away, but she laid her hands over the top of his on her belly and leaned into him. He kissed her hair as they waited for the axe to fall.

“We just got word that Tim Cooper went on a violent rampage at the centre and killed two of the staff members.”

He felt Naz physically sag in his arms and held her tighter, giving her his strength quietly so she wouldn’t lose face with her teammates.

“Who?”

“Kathleen, the cook, and Gerald, the guard.”

“Fuck.”

“Where are we on Andrea Peston? I need answers, people.”

“Naz and I have a meeting with Smithy today, but Simon was of little help yesterday.”

“Talk to him again. Make him understand that his freedom rests on his ability to give us something useful. Why did Tim snap? Why was he a target specifically? The man is a decorated soldier with, up until now, an impeccable record at the centre.”

“We’ll get some answers, Bás. You have my word.”

Naz stood up straighter and he let her go, knowing she needed to hold her head up high and not show how much this was affecting her. He’d personally prefer it if she never came into contact with this centre again. The constant reminders of her past were, in his opinion, not good for her, but it wasn’t his call. His role as her partner was to be what she needed him to be and that was to take her worries and bolster her when she flagged and stand behind her, not block her.

“Good. What else?”

But Naz wasn’t waiting to hear more, she was heading for the door and with a chin lift from Bás, he followed her. “You okay?”

She stopped and spun on her heel. “No. I’m fucking fuming. How dare someone fuck with these men again. Kathleen had just welcomed her second grandchild and Gerald was saving for a trip to Australia to visit his son and grandkids. How fucking dare these people take that away.”

Damon gripped her shoulders. “You have every right to be angry, Naz, but don’t lose focus. Let it guide you and don’t you dare take on any blame.”

“But—”

“No, I won’t hear it. This is on these assholes, and we’re gonna catch them and when we do, they’ll pay the price.”