Page 20 of Devoted

The moundof paperwork on my desk seems to be growing instead of shrinking. It's entirely Ten's fault. I can't keep my focus on boring ass paperwork when I keep reliving the kiss. There was nothing harder than walking away from those lips getting nothing more than akiss.

Silvana walks past the desk area to the room where's he's doing research on my least favorite subject. On Clark's orders, my latest partner has been keeping shit to himself. With Clark down the hall in a meeting, I decide it's time to see just what Silvana's upto.

Silvana's wide eyes peer over the top of the monitor at the sound of the door. His two cyber research partners are both out on patrol. He's got the room to himself. It seems I've found him at just the righttime.

"Maddox, it's you." He sounds slightly nervous. His hand quickly clicks on the mouse making sure to close out anything of importance before I reach hisdesk.

I laugh. "Pulling the quick trigger on the mouse." I grab a chair across the way, turn it and sit backwards, resting my arms along the top of it. "I used to pull the trigger a lot as a teenager whenever my dad popped his head into my bedroom and my monitor was showing half-naked women instead of my English paper. I'm pretty sure he knew what was going on too." I look pointedly at his computer. "Did ya find something ofvalue?"

Silvana scoots his chair back and picks up the soda he just grabbed from the break room. "You know I can't talk about it. Clark will take me off the assignment, and I'm just getting to the good—" He seals his mouth into a thinline.

"Getting to the good stuff, eh?" I wait for an answer. He pretends to be very interested in hissoda.

"I know you're passing stuff along toTen."

He sucks in the soda and drops forward in a coughing fit. I pull a few tissues from the box behind his computer and hand them to him. His face is red but the choke fit is over. He wipes his mouth. His eyes get a little bulgy when he's upset. Right now they are about to pop out of hisskull.

"Relax, I won't tell Clark. I saw a list of names sitting on a paper at the beach house and recognized yourwriting."

His eyes haven't sucked back into their normal position yet. "Did you say something toTen?"

I shake my head. His eyes recede to normal. "The last thing I need is something else to stoke the fire with Ten. But do you think it's smart for her to read up abouthim?"

Silvana rolls back to the desk. "Actually, yes, I do. I think it'll help her to understand Freestone." He looks at his computer and seemingly remembers he clicked out of the web page he was reading. "I'm onto something right now. If it pans out, it's going to change everything we know about theguy."

"Yeah? Whatis—"

My question is cut short by a gust of air as the door bursts open. Silvana's face blanches, letting me know the visitor is Clark before I even turn to facehim.

"Just what the fuck are you doing in here, Maddox? Actually, I'm glad you're here. Follow me. There are some people I need you to meet. Let's go.Now."

I wink at Silvana, to assure him our conversation isn't over. I stand up and swing the chair back to the other desk and follow Clark down the hallway to the meetingroom.

"Hey, if you're going to include me in on your budget meeting, I'd like to suggest a barbecue out back in the parkinglot."

"Yeah, I'll be putting you on a fucking hot grill if I catch you near that research room again." Clark grabs the door and scowls at me as he ushers me into the room. A woman and man are sitting in the room. Both are dressed in crisp business attire, looking plenty arrogant andstiff.

"Maddox, this is Dr. Renfrew," he points to the woman, who smiles faintly at me. "And Mr. Winter. They will be the team working with DetectiveTennyson."

I sit hard on the seat across from the two important team people. "Working with her onwhat?"

The woman clears her throat as she sits forward. She has her hair rolled into a tight little bun and she's wearing glasses with narrow rectangular lenses. "Mr. Winter and I will be spending the next month debriefing Miss Tennyson on her months in captivity in Lace Underground. Mr. Winter specializes in cults that control their abductees with drugs. I'll be here to make sure we approach Miss Tennyson with the right amount of caution to make sure the debriefing goessmoothly."

I stare at the woman for a second, making sure she's finished with her ridiculous speech. A laugh shoots from my mouth causing Clarks' red face to snap my direction. "Maddox," hestarts.

"Come on, Clark. They're talking about Ten. She doesn't need all this shit. Just take her statements and call it a day. I guarantee if you start subjecting her to cautious, careful tiptoeing, then she's going to seal rightup."

"You two are very close," the doctor says. She eyes me as if she has a pen and paper in her head and she's ready to write down and psychoanalyze myresponse.

"We've been partners for three years. When you face down possible death together, it brings you prettyclose."

"You're in a relationship other than the partnership." Mr. Winter, it seems, is less tactful and more to the point than Dr. Renfrew. He's a severe looking guy with greasy, dark hair and thinlips.

I lean back on the chair. "Not sure what that has to do withanything."

"We've been discussing the debriefing with Captain Clark," Dr. Renfrew says. "And we've decided it would be in the best interest of MissTennyson—"

"Detective Tennyson," I correct. "I guarantee if you start withMissTennyson, then you've already losther."

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