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ChapterTen
In person, Alexia hadn’t seen bodies that had been frozen for months and were now thawing at an alarming rate, and she was too tough to admit she wasn’t handling it very well.
However, Tripp had examined the dead man enough to recognize him as Kelsey’s boyfriend. Also, it was impossible not to note that the way his head was placed…that his neck had been snapped.
A fall wasn’t likely. Only someone with military training would be able to snap a neck like that.
In his arms, Alexia shivered again.
He rubbed his hands down her spine. “Let’s get you warmed up in the Humvee. Come on.”
She didn’t protest like he expected her to, which had him worrying even more as he led her through the trees and across the yard to the parked vehicle. Once they were seated, he started the engine and let it warm up a minute before turning on the heat full blast.
“You sure you don’t want to go? We can find a hotel and food.”
“I want to be here when the team arrives.” She sat stiffly. After a few minutes, she began to relax bit by bit until she seemed more herself.
“I’m going to step out and make a call to Rafe. Keep him posted on what’s going on. Okay, Alexia?”
She met his gaze. “I’m fine.”
Was she saying that for his benefit or hers? Looking at her, all he saw was big eyes and pale skin. He still felt her shivering in his goddamn arms. Was she even cut out for this line of work? The people he’d met in similar shoes seemed to be unaffected.
Then again, maybe that was the problem with the world—everybody was so desensitized that nothing mattered anymore.
Hell, was he that way? He’d just spent minutes examining the body of a person he had known. Had drunk beer and flipped steaks with during summer cookouts. The man had professed to love Tripp’s niece, who he loved like a baby sister. But he’d detached his emotions in that moment and done what he had to do.
Alexia hadn’t done the same. Whatever her reasons for that, whether on purpose or just because she didn’t know how to distance herself on this particular case, he didn’t know.
Without thinking of her reaction, he reached over and stroked his knuckles along the crest of her cheek. She blinked. Before she could nail him with a sucker-punch or, knowing her history for getting the law involved, hit him with a restraining order, he jumped out of the vehicle, leaving it running.
He walked a few steps away to make that call to Rafe. When he answered, Tripp thought of a few different reasons why his commanding officer was out of breath.
“Either I interrupted you fucking your woman or you’re just getting in from an op.”
“Asshole,” came his instant reply.
Tripp did something he never thought he’d do again while on the property where his niece had lived—he smiled. “So I’m right?”
“No.”
“About which one?”
“Neither one. We just got back from a three-mile run up the mountain.”
“Glad I missed it.” Actually, he wasn’t. He loved pushing his body to the limits and beyond—it was what drove him to be not only a SEAL but one of the best and also put him on the MT Ops team.
“What’s going on? Did you make it to the crime scene?”
Rafe’s question gave him a moment’s pause. He twisted to throw a look through the side window. Alexia sat there staring straight ahead. Her reaction really was bugging him. What was going on in her mind? Whatever it was, he was certain to hear about it soon. The woman held nothing back. Hell, not even the fact that she suspected him of murdering Caden.
As quickly as possible, he filled in Rafe about the situation, leaving out the part where he ravished Alexia’s sweet lips and might have gone further if she hadn’t seen what she’d seen.
“Damn, man. That’s rough. I’m sorry.” Rafe’s voice radiated genuine concern.
“It was no post-op bonfire at the base, but I’m fine. Look, I’ve got some questions for you about that couple you found in the cabin on the mountain.”
Silence beat between them for a moment.
