Page 43 of Raider Unleashed

Piper decided she might as well be frank. “I’m not following you, sir. Are you firing me?”

Fielding shook his head. “On the contrary, I’m offering you a promotion. I’d like you to run your own team.”

She stared at him while what she wanted to do was jam her finger in her ear to be sure she was hearing okay. Was he being serious? “Really?” she asked her voice squeaking.

He smiled. “Yes, really. I hear through the grapevine that you have a bit of an impetuous nature. I understand it gets you into a bit of trouble now and then. You’ll have to work on that.”

She grinned. “Definitely.”

Fielding’s face clouded over again. “There is one thing.”

Aw, shit.She’d known there had to be another shoe. The sound of it about to crash down accompanied the thudding of her heart.

She fisted the blankets once again. “And what would that be sir?

“With there being quite a few more people to arrest and lots of cases to sort out, it might be better if you didn’t return to San Diego. A little time and distance would help keep you safer I think.”

She stared at him. “You’re worried about revenge.”

He nodded once. “I think there are quite a few names on that list that scare me a bit. In your case I think it’s a bit better if it’s out of sight, out of mind. Just for a while until the dust settles.”

“That’s fine, sir.” And it was. It was more than fine.

“Great,” he said as he got to his feet. “Please let me know what office you want to work out of for the time being when you’ve made your choice.”

“I will. Thank you, sir.”

“Thank you, Agent Holloway,” he said as he shook her hand and then promptly left the room.

Piper leaned back into the pillows and closed her eyes. She wasn’t fired. It was a miracle. And she was getting a promotion. Her own team! How awesome was that? Except that the first person she wanted to share it with was Raider and even though he said he loved her, he’d walked away.

What had she expected? She’d lost their baby and kicked him out. It didn’t matter that they loved each other. She’d destroyed everything.

She sunk into the pillows. Maybe Hawaii was the place to come. It would be far away from San Diego and all her past mistakes.

19

Raider sat back and admired the sunset. The eruption of Kilauea was doing some funky things to the sky, making the sunsets spectacular. He sipped his ice-cold beer. The bartender asked him if he wanted another, but he shook his head. He was taking it slow. He hadn’t had much sleep and just wanted to sit and relax for a few minutes. The shower had been amazing and the bed was calling but he thought it might be nice to just watch the sunset and drink a beer before he slept for the next twenty hours.

“Hey,” Harlan greeted him as he claimed the bar stool next to Raider.

“Hey yourself.” He gave his friend the once over. “You look a little worse for wear but not too bad.”

Harlan snorted. “I could say the same about you, except you look like shit.”

“Thanks,” Raider said sarcastically, but he knew his friend’s assessment was spot on. He did look like shit. The shower helped but he needed some serious rack time. “Nothing twenty-four hours of sleep won’t cure.”

Harlan ordered a beer from the bartender. “You sure about that?”

Raider glanced at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you just spent how many days with your ex-wife, whom you are still in love with, and discovered that she got pregnant and subsequently lost the baby. That’s a whole lot of deep shit to work through. I’m thinking sleep isn’t gonna be the answer to this one.”

“I’m starting to regret telling you everything,” Raider sniped.

“No, you’re not,” Harland said and then took a sip of his beer. He set the bottle on the bar. “You love me and are gagging for me to impart my wisdom.” He smirked.

Raider let out a whoop of laughter. “Yeah, that’s it. I’m hangin’ on your every word, bro.”

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