Page 62 of Falling Fast

He glanced over at Hamilton. “Yeah, coming.”

It took several hours to go over everything with the taskforce leaders, investigative team and forensics people. Per standard procedure they split him and Charlie up to get their individual stories about the sequence of events, taking them separately around the site to question them. Once that was done they had a meeting with the taskforce people, and Charlie was finally offered a ride back to the city with her boss.

She looked over her shoulder at him on the way to the waiting vehicle, her eyes full of questions. He gave her a reassuring smile and nodded once. Tonight was so happening. He’d do whatever it took to get to her.

She smiled back, then turned around and walked toward the SUV.

Jamie was still talking to investigators twenty minutes later when Hamilton finally came over to break it up. “You’ve got what you need already. My guys need to eat, get cleaned up and then get some sleep,” he said, his tone brooking no argument. “Anything you need from them can be handled in the morning at this point, right?”

Damn, Jamie loved that guy.

The investigators hurriedly wrapped everything up. Jamie said goodbye to Hamilton and the five teammates who had flown up with him, then headed back to the van. Easton and Logan were waiting there for him.

Together they watched the Blackhawk power up and lift into the twilit sky. As it soared overhead, one of the guys—probably Kai—leaned out of the open door and gave them a sustained one-fingered salute during the flyby.

Grinning, Jamie turned toward the others.

“Shotgun,” Logan said as Easton headed around the other side to get in the driver’s seat.

Jamie hustled around and stopped him before he could open the door. “Can I have a second?” He needed to talk to his buddy in private before they hit the road. What he had to say had been weighing on his mind and he didn’t want to put it off any longer.

Easton regarded him for a long moment, then gave a nod and shut the door. They walked a few yards away from the van for privacy and faced the pit where Jamie and Charlie had almost met their demise a few hours earlier. It seemed surreal now.

“So, what’s up?” Easton asked, hands on hips.

There was no easy way to say it, but he had to. He couldn’t keep this from his best friend anymore. Easton was like a brother to him, and roles reversed, he’d want to know if Easton was involved with Jamie’s sister. “It’s Charlie.”

His friend’s expression never changed. “Okay.”

“I don’t want her to be alone tonight.”

“Me neither. Taylor’s gonna stay with her until I get there—”

“I’m staying with her.”

Easton blinked once, his gaze sharpening. “Really.” He paused a beat. “So you two are together? Or…?” He left the last bit dangling, but the annoyance in his tone made it clear how he felt about that latter possibility.

Shit, he hadn’t meant for it to come across like that. Jamie wiped a hand over the lower half of his face and sighed. “Look. I’ve got…feelings for her.”

“Feelings,” Easton repeated with a frown, folding his arms over his chest.

Yeah, he had to man up and say it. “Straight up?”

There was a hard glint in his buddy’s eyes. “I’d prefer it, yeah.”

Well damn, he couldn’t very well tell Easton that he loved her, could he? Not before telling her first. There was a certain protocol he needed to follow there. “I…”

Easton raised an eyebrow as the awkwardness hung there. “Yeah?” he prompted.

Jamie sighed. “It’s been building for a year now.”

“Building.”

Jamie nodded but didn’t elaborate. The less said right now, the better, so long as Easton knew the gist.

Another frown, this one more ominous than the last. “So you two have been…” He grimaced and shook his head. “No, forget I said that. I don’t wanna know. Christ, Rodriguez. Mysister?”

“I know. But I’m serious about her.”

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