Page 22 of Guarded from Danger

“I overcooked them again,” I admit. “I got distracted for one second…”

“It’s okay.” Lucy steps out of my embrace and walks over to the fridge. “Sarah made a couple of breakfast casseroles. We can have one of those.”

Well. Putting one of Sarah’s casseroles in the oven sounds significantly easier and more delicious than my sad attempts atcooking. Plus, it gives me some time to talk to Lucy about the team meeting I really should go to after putting it off for the last couple of days.

Once I put the dish in the oven, I take Lucy’s hand and guide her over to the couch. As she sits down next to me, her brows pull together in a little worried V. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. It’s fine. But… Dante wants to have a team meeting this morning. Partly to discuss some upcoming jobs, but also…” I trail off, not really wanting to refer to Lucy as a case.

“To talk about my case,” she finishes. After a deep breath, she says, “Well, you should go. It’s your job. And of course, I want this… game stopped.”

“Yes, but are you going to be okay alone?” Taking her hands in mine, I turn towards her. “Sarah’s working, but Jade is off today. She could come keep you company.”

Fine lines etch into her forehead as she stares at me. After a long pause, Lucy asks, “But your meeting… don’t you need to talk to me? Ask questions about people I know who might… be involved? All the stuff you usually ask your clients?”

Yes. We really should. But I’ve been putting it off, not wanting to upset Lucy. Which I know is unprofessional, but damn it, she’s my girlfriend. I’m already watching her suffer. Is it that terrible to want to give her a little more time?

“We can wait until you’re ready,” I finally say. “You’re safe, and that’s the important thing.”

I’m certain she’s going to agree, but after another pause, she lifts her chin. Her jaw sets. “But there are other people out there. People like me. And if I wait… They might not be as lucky as I was.”

Shit. Of course, she’d think of other people instead of herself. Which is something I love about her, but I still hate the thought of putting her through a line of questioning that’s sure to be upsetting.

“It might be… difficult,” I warn.

“Probably. But not worse than being locked in that cabin.”

There’s no argument for that. And I know damn well if it were anyone else, I’d be insisting they do this right away. But my team hasn’t pushed because they know what Lucy means to me, or at least they have some idea of it.

With a sigh, I pull her into my arms and press my lips to the top of her head. “Okay. You’ll come to the meeting. But if it gets to be too much, just tell me, and we’ll stop. We don’t have to get it done all in one day.”

But as we sit at the conference table an hour later, after a breakfast Lucy barely touched, I’m having serious second thoughts about her being at this meeting.

Her chair is pushed right next to mine, and I’m holding her trembling hand under the table, but it doesn’t seem like enough. Not when she’s gnawing her lower lip and all the color in her cheeks is gone. Not when I can feel the rapid flutter of her pulse in her wrist, much faster than it should be.

As Erik and Niall take the remaining seats, I murmur, “It’s not too late to change your mind. No one would mind.”

Her fingers tighten around mine. “I’m here, Xavier. It’s not going to get easier if I wait. I can do this.”

From the head of the table, Dante casts a gentle smile at her. “Since you’re here, Lucy, we’ll talk about your case first. Then we’ll move on to other team business.” He taps his tablet a few times with a stylus. “We’ll start out with what we have so far, so you’re fully updated. Then we’ll move on to questions. Okay?”

She swallows and gives him a tiny nod. “Okay.”

“Alright.” Dante glances at me before turning his gaze to Matt. “So, Matt. What have you found so far?”

Matt’s at the opposite end of the long conference table, his laptop open like usual in front of him. He glances at it for a second before answering. “Okay. So I got a copy of the reportfrom the FBI. They didn’t find any usable evidence at the cabin. The only fingerprints were Lucy’s, and the same with the blood residue.”

Dante frowns. “I’m sure I know the answer, but what about satellite images in the vicinity of the cabin? Tire tracks? Any evidence outside?”

“Nothing.” Matt shakes his head. “Given that so many days had passed from when Lucy was dropped off there, all they found were some unidentifiable tracks. Nothing they can use.”

“Dammit,” I grit out. “So they have nothing.”

“I think we’re going to have better luck searching online,” Matt replies. “That’s where the FBI is concentrating their efforts, and so am I. Well,” he amends. “Me and Leo. And I pulled in Beth, as well. With her experience with the dark web, she could really help.”

“Who’s Beth?” Lucy asks.

“Beth is married to Sledge, who’s a firefighter with the San Antonio fire department,” Dante tells her. “We know Sledge through our local connections. He’s close with Cruz, who you met, and a number of our friends in the area.”

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