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“It’s Special Agent Walker, sir. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No. What is it?”
Cody told him, quickly and concisely.
“Let me know when you get confirmation from the explosives team,” the other man said. “I want the specifics.” Cody noted he didn’t even question Cody’s reading of the situation. Any other man might have said “if.” But D’Arcy, who never said what he didn’t mean, who never used one word when he meant another, said “when.” It was a little thing, but that positive assessment of his judgment was something Cody needed right then. Especially since he’d had to tell D’Arcy about....
“I will, sir,” Cody promised.
“And stay where you are for now, unless something happens. I’m going to send a team to protect the two of you until we can talk about this tomorrow morning. I am not going to lose an agent if I can help it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Have you warned Callahan and McKinnon?”
“My next call.”
“Good. Keep me posted.”
Cody hung up when D’Arcy did. He pulled out the disposable cell phone he used exclusively to contact Callahan, and when the phone was answered he didn’t even bother to identify himself.
“Someone tampered with my truck earlier tonight.” Keira came back into the room just then, fully dressed, including the jacket he knew hid her shoulder holster. He mouthed the word “Callahan” to her before continuing. “An explosives team is on their way, but I wanted to warn you.”
“Since you’re calling me, I can safely assume it didn’t go off?” Callahan said dryly.
Cody was surprised into laughing. “Yeah. Go figure.”
“How’d you manage that?”
“Dust,” Cody said. “That wasn’t there.”
Callahan grunted his approval. “You know, Walker,” he started, but Cody beat him to the punch line, laughing.
“For an amateur, I’m not half bad. Yeah, I hear that a lot.” Then he turned serious. “Watch your back, okay? Mandy would never forgive me, if...” He didn’t have to finish.
“I’ve got McKinnon,” Callahan said. “He’s enough for now.”
“Just do me a favor and double-check everything, okay?” Cody didn’t wait for Callahan’s response. He disconnected and pocketed the cell phone, then told Keira, “At least he’s warned. He says McKinnon is enough for now, but...”
“What did Baker Street say?” she asked.
“He wants us to sit tight. He’s sending a team to protect us until we can figure out what we need to do. And he wants to see us first thing tomorrow.”
A stricken look came over her face. “You told him?” she whispered. “You told him about us?”
Cody stiffened and smothered the slash of pain her words engendered. Is she ashamed of loving me? he wondered, before he said, “I didn’t tell him the specifics, but, yes, I told him where I was and how long I was here.” He gazed down at her. “I had to, Keira,” he said softly with just a hint of pleading in his voice, willing her to see the necessity. “He needed to know—it’s relevant to the situation.”
“I...” She threw him a wounded look. “I had to tell him about you rescuing me,” she said, and he saw her swallow visibly. “What will he think of me now?”
Cody thought he understood then. “That you’re human, like the rest of us?” he offered.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand more than you think I do.”
“You can’t. You’re not a woman.”
“Then tell me so I’ll understand.” Cody knew the issue was more than just a lack of understanding; he knew somehow he was fighting for Keira herself. If they were ever to have a future together, if their relationship was ever going to be more than just fantastic sex, he needed to understand where she was coming from...and she needed to understand him, too.
Something McKinnon had said to him weeks ago suddenly came back to him. She comes from a large family—four brothers, all older, all former marines, too. Maybe that’s why she has a thing about wanting to do her job as well as, or better than, a man could...
