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“Wait,” I said suddenly, pausing mid-bite. The process was almost physically painful, but now that I had some food in my system I was thinking clearly and something was fishy. I went so far as to drop my chicken back onto my plate.
“You being here at noon . . . with an offering of food? What did you do?” I asked, wiping my mouth and hands with a napkin and taking a swig of water as I watched him suspiciously.
Colt eyed me back. I could see him trying to figure out whether I would call him on it if he offered me some kind of BS excuse so that we could eat the rest of the meal in peace. I was sure he would at some point tell me why he was here, but he’d probably hoped to get more than a few bites of food into me before he revealed all. He knew my secret: the better fed I was, the less likely I was to be upset about something.
I narrowed my eyes at Colt and he shook his head in defeat. Good, he’d read me accurately. I wanted the truth. Now.
“Aria’s case is no longer active,” Colt said, setting down his piece of chicken as well and showing respect to the conversation. My admiration for him rose higher, even as my heart sank at his words.
“What?” I asked, my eyebrows pulling down. I didn’t understand.
“Aria was found. We’ve searched every inch of those tunnels. The two thugs don’t know anything more. The Chief knows there are others out there, but for now these guys we have in custody will have to do. The prosecutor’s office will try them for Aria’s kidnapping.” Colt paused, shifting uncomfortably. I knew I wasn’t going to like what was coming next because I was pretty sure I’d figured it out.
“They want to pin it all on the two of them, don’t they? The women we found in the tunnels under the bar, all of it.” I tried not to raise my voice. This wasn’t Colt’s fault. He was just the messenger.
“That’s the plan,” Colt admitted, his eyes on his plate. He seemed ashamed of his office’s course of action, but I could tell the decision wasn’t in his hands. This was why I worked for Aurora. Sure, Susie made the call most of the time, but she respected us and our opinions enough that we almost were never put in Colt’s position, forced to accept something we felt was truly wrong.
“Can they even place the guys at the bar?” I asked. “I thought they told Ella they’d only ever worked in the tunnel Aria escaped from.”
Colt shrugged. “According to the Chief, that isn’t my problem.”
Of course Colt had already asked the same question.
“I think the Chief knows you all will keep the investigation going,” Colt continued, trying to defend his boss.
I nodded, allowing Colt to think the best of his boss. It wasn’t fair to him otherwise. What more could he do? And the Chief was a good guy overall. Maybe a little lazy—he was more than happy to let us take care of work for him—but I had to agree with Colt. If the Chief found out we were giving up, he’d probably stay on the case. But he knew we’d never let this go. Not when the Beast Boys had taken one of our own.
“You aren’t going to rip me a new one?” Colt asked, a grin playing at his lips as if he almost hoped I would.
The man knew no fear. He shouldn’t be hoping I would tell him off. Had he seen me mad? Of course he had. And yet he didn’t run. In fact, I could swear he liked riling me up. Idiot.
I shook my head, my annoyance with Colt vaporizing as I sniffed the air. How could I stay annoyed at a man who brought me fried chicken?
“Not your fault your Chief is a lazy fool,” I said, reaching for my chicken again. No point in letting it get cold just because the police were no longer on the case. In some ways it would actually make things easier. I just didn’t like the idea that the Chief wasn’t treating the Beast Boys as the threat they appeared to be. To me, the entire force should be trying to shut down these operations. I had a feeling that the closer we got to these guys, the more we’d discover just how despicable they really were.
“But at least this means you’ll get a chance for some real rest?” I asked, taking in a very attractive but also very tired Colt. The bags under his eyes had gotten dark in the last few days. I knew the hours of Colt’s job had to wear on him. Sure, he was the strongest man I knew, but all humans needed sleep. And I wasn’t about to make the mistake of thinking Colt was anything other than human. That would hurt both of us too much.
“Yup. I’m going to actually go to that place that I pay a mortgage on every month but never get to see,” Colt said as he took another bite of chicken.
Yet despite his exhaustion he was here, taking time to give me the message in person with a side of chicken. He knew that I would take it hard and was taking some of his precious time off. For me.
My heart soared and then quickly fell. Even as much as a part of me hoped that someday Colt and I would work out, I knew it would never be. Attraction wasn’t enough. Even deep and abiding friendship wasn’t enough. I was too broken for anyone, but especially one as good and true as Colt.
Besides, I had to remind myself that my life wasn’t like other woman’s. I didn’t have the luxury of falling for the perfect man and creating a happily ever after. Anyone too close to me could get hurt . . . would almost certainly get hurt, once my past caught up with me. Plus, I hadn’t trained for the past fifteen years to allow a weakness now. And that’s what falling in love with Colt would give me: a weak spot to be attacked. I couldn’t allow that. I had to stay focused. I had to be ready. For October 30th.
THIRTEEN
nadia
We wereall at the office again. One of us bright-eyed and bushy-tailed . . . Ella. Another of us was trying to figure out how to navigate life after seeing a side of it that couldn’t been unseen . . . Aria. Yet another looking ready to beat down anyone who got in her way . . . Shai. And then me. I was here and ready to work my butt off. But I kind of felt like I was perpetually in the state Aria was navigating. And I’d never been able to find my way out.
Susie had called us all—the entire floor—into the conference room at ten am. Personally, I found it too early for any kind of human interaction, but Susie was ever the optimist.
I propped my elbow on the armrest and leaned my forehead against my palm. I hadn’t slept well the night before. I’d had trouble falling asleep and when I finally had drifted off, nightmares of being tied to my ex filled the periods where I was actually able to get some rest. I used the term ‘rest’ loosely.
I’d already had one cup of coffee that morning but I predicted another in my near future.
I nodded greetings to people as they passed, while Ella and Aria grinned and waved. One good thing about being known as the office grump was that people didn’t expect much from me.
