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And knocked. She just…
He hadn’t been okay.
She didn’t want him to have to face whatever he was feeling alone.
He had showered and pulled on sweats, tried to get his head on straight. Jarrod knew himself well—he would never take nights like tonight easily. He'd watched a man die tonight. And the second probably wouldn’t make it.
Two men who would have not hesitated to kill Gunnar, Heather, or Jarrod in an instant. Jarrod would be okay eventually. He just needed time.
He'd text Heather before he finally crashed. Make sure she was okay. Like a good partner would.
Someone needed to keep an eye on her while she kept an eye on all those gorgeous Coleson women running around out there. He was damned sure of it. As her partner, that was probably going to have to be him. He needed to for himself, too.
Sometimes he suspected she was afraid to get close to anyone in Major Crimes except Miguel. That she didn’t trust them at all. They were going to have work through that.
If she had been killed tonight, two precious little girls would have lost their mother. But tonight? Tonight the good guys had won. Bad guys who had thought nothing about shooting at Heather and Gunnar and Jarrod were off the streets.
When the knock came, Jarrod expected it to be Gunnar. The guy was a talker. He probably needed someone to listen to him after tonight. He hated seeing that look in Gunnar’s eyes.
He opened the door.
His little rabbit stood there. Waiting.
42
"Well, this is a surprise."
"I just...wanted to check on you. Find out what happened out there tonight. Was it a trap?" The Major Crimes team had been ambushed before. She lived in fear of that happening again. Now, every time she sent a forensics team out she remembered. Feared someone she cared about wouldn’t make it back in one piece. "How badly was Heather hurt? For real?"
"She was grazed. From about here, to here." Jarrod ran his finger over her arm, just above her elbow. "She saw what we didn't—there was a second man in the truck this time. Unlike the last dozen shipments. There was an armed passenger. And Gunnar made a damned big target. He was aiming at Gun, and Heather took him out. Then the driver aimed at her. She got him, too."
She pulled in a sharp breath. As she imagined it. "Where were you?"
"I was last. Heather was between us when they first fired. She dove for cover—I followed. She was already aiming and shooting before I even realized what was going on. Thank God. She saved Gunnar's ass. She took out both men within seconds. That woman…she is a damned fine shot and cool in a crisis. The good guys made it home, babe. That's what I am concentrating on now." He shot her a look of challenge. But she could see the shadows. "If you want to snuggle me, I am game for that. Just...I'm pretty exhausted. So don't expect acrobatics."
She knew what he was trying to do. To hide what he was feeling. Of course, he was. Jarrod Foster had to be the tough guy out there.
Tough guy—well, she didn’t believe it one bit. She’d seen him cuddling Brynna’s baby, Slade, at the barbecue today. There was a side of Jarrod that wasn’t all that tough guy at all. Her heart hurt—for everyone out there tonight. "Was it a trap?"
"Honestly, I don't think it was. I think the tip was genuine. The passenger is dead. I don't think the driver will make it either."
"Who took out the passenger?"
"Heather got them both. Dan and the others were too far away, and Heather was in front of me."
That was what bothered him. The fact that Heather specifically was the one. She studied him, trying to figure him out. He was the biggest puzzle she had ever studied in her life. "It bothers you. That she took the shots, specifically?"
"Yeah. A little." He pulled his T-shirt over his head.
He was challenging her. She wasn't an idiot. Haldyn forced herself not to react. "Because she's a woman?"
He paused. Smirked at her. "Wait. Are you saying Heather is a woman?"
"I know you've noticed." She'd seen the appreciation in his eyes when he'd looked at Heather before. In his, in Gunnar's, and Dom's...and Daniel's. She'd seen it in Daniel's eyes frequently when he looked at Heather now. She wasn't blind. "All the guys at the TSP have. Hope has said before that all the hot guys look at Heather. And, well, not Hope. It bothers Hope a little, I think. You've noticed Heather."
"Hope’s as hot as Heather, in her own way. It’s just a different way. And yes, I’ve noticed. That first week, maybe. Then she scared me too much. And she definitely has keep off signs." He turned away, almost stalked across the suite. Haldyn followed. He went to the bay of windows. They could see the sky above—the stars. It was a clear night. "It bothers me that Heather took the guys out. And it has nothing to do with her being a woman."
"Then what?"
