Page 38 of Silver Fire

Derek gotout of a cold shower and put on his boxer shorts. It was rush hour when they finally left the hospital; Sophie hadn’t wanted any dinner and went straight to bed. Thankfully, her concussion was mild and the cut on her head was shallow enough, so the doctor could use dissolvable stitches. A couple of Tylenol for the headache and she was good to go.

He walked out of his bedroom, drying his hair and checking if there was any light streaming from under the door of the guest bedroom. None.

Derek sighed. Guess, he’d be watching sports tonight again. He went back to his room to pull on a t-shirt. It was 8:00 p.m. and he had nothing to do. A blonde siren was in his condo but not sharing his bed. He really should leave her alone for a couple of days because she was probably still processing the shock of seeing Agent Guerrero getting shot in front of her and having more than a dozen assassins trying to kill her. He flipped through the channels, getting antsier by the minute. Should he go talk to her, comfort her or something? Shit. He never had intimate conversations with women he fucked, or in this case, wanted to fuck.

Beth had called him earlier to check on her friend, and the reason she had not charged over was because Derek told her firmly that Sophie was sleeping.

His phone buzzed. He sighed when he saw it was Maia. Was he going to be a relay again?

“What?”

“Jeez, someone’s a bear.”

“You would be too, if you’re caught between two bull-headed people.”

“Sorry about that.”

“No, you’re not,” Derek retorted and heard Maia laugh.

“Listen, Derek. I thought Sophie would like to know that we have the mastermind of the fire and the attack on Silver Fire Research in custody.”

“Raid went well?”

“Yes,” Maia replied. “Anyway, Viktor is doing the interrogation. The man’s name is Tebogo Ademola. He is a high-ranking lieutenant of the Abu-Haxa Brotherhood. Tim was able to trace a hack this morning on Divergent Research Zone’s computers to someone called Jax Roscoe. Agents busted him, and he admitted to stealing the building blueprints of the research center and selling it to a Paki Dimka—a US Citizen sympathetic to the Brotherhood. He lives just outside New Park in the Cloverleaf district.”

“How did they find out about Silver Fire Research?”

“Blackstone International tracked down an Abu-Haxa spy in their mining subsidiary in South Africa. The Brotherhood worked on speculation at first. They went on high alert after a transmission was caught about a zefinium bomb.”

“Huh, tied up nicely. So what’s Viktor got so far?”

“Ademola seemed resigned. I don’t think it’ll take much time for him to break down.”

“So technically, Sophie is out of danger.”

“Should be, but I can be bribed to say that she needs to stay with you a couple of more days just to be sure,” Maia teased.

“Ha. Ha. Pierce,” Derek said mockingly. “So, you heading home?”

“No. I’m dropping by Guerrero’s parents house to make sure they have everything they need.”

“I’m sorry, Maia,” Derek said softly. It was hard when one of their own was lost.

“She was so young, but I thought she was ready.”

“Stop second guessing your decisions. Guerrero was a great agent and they were outnumbered. How about Connelly, is he still at the hospital?”

“Yes, he’s my last stop.”

“Ah, do you think that’s wise? The man’s got a hard on for you.”

Maia gave an irritated huff. “He’s still my responsibility. But I’m telling Viktor to ship him out soon.”

“Good idea. I don’t think I can take your husband in enclosed spaces for much longer.”

“I’m still pissed at you guys for taking on Silver Fire Research.”

“Maia, you need to let it go. You forget that I used to work with you, and Jack is an ex-Navy SEAL. A—Navy—SEAL.”

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