Page 22 of Fast Fury

Maka had a fish on the line. And Mal was pretty sure he knew what kind. “So who’s this girl? Your old neighbor, the blonde?”

“Abby. It’s no big deal. She’s coming to Maui for a work conference this week. She’s a pharmaceutical rep.”

No big deal, huh? Mal had known him for a long while now, and couldn’t remember seeing his teammate so amped up about seeing a woman before. Mal had met Abby once, when he’d gone to help Maka move last month. She seemed nice and was a hard worker, ready to help without any expectation of something in return. And sure as hell, Maka deserved someone nice after the shit show he’d stuck through with Shelley for so long.

“I liked her,” he said. Not that his opinion mattered, but he wanted Maka to know.

“She’s awesome. Been a really great friend to me.”

Seemed like Maka was way more into her than he was letting on. Mal hoped it worked out for them. Their job as FAST operators took a toll on them and the people they were close to. And it was a damn lonely life when you had no one special to share it with and continually came back to an empty house when the team was back in Virginia.

Leaving his teammate to his texting, Mal turned his attention to the TV above the bar showing a baseball game back on the mainland, except now his thoughts were on something else entirely. A beautiful face from his past that still haunted his dreams.

Hamilton slid onto the stool on Mal’s right, wearing one of his Captain America T-shirts that had earned him the nickname Cap. The rest of the team settled around them, taking up two sides of the bar. “You two friends again, or what?” the team leader asked.

“For now,” Mal said with a wry grin. But if Maka shot any more Nerf darts at him, the truce was off.

“Is there still food available, or did Maka empty the kitchen already?”

“You’re safe,” Maka answered. “Haven’t placed my order yet.”

“Thank God for that,” Hamilton muttered, perusing the menu. “I need to get mine in before you do.”

Mal ordered a steak sandwich with fries. Maka ordered two double cheeseburgers with a salad on the side. As if that meager serving of veggies was gonna do anything to save his colon.

Hamilton gave the waitress his order, then took a phone call. A few seconds later, he groaned and sat up straighter. “It’s only been a few weeks. She’s been through hell, it’s no wonder she’s refusing to testify against those bastards right now. She needs more time.”

Mal hid a wince and tried not to listen in, but it was hard not to with Hamilton sounding so frustrated and borderline angry. Their team leader was as steady and levelheaded as they came. Whatever had him upset must be pretty big.

Hamilton hung up a few minutes later and let out a harsh sigh. “They’re pressuring Victoria Gomez to testify against Ruiz and his crew,” he said.

The investigative reporter who had been held captive by the formerVenenolieutenant Carlos Ruiz. Hamilton and two others had found her in the woods the night they’d gone in to rescue her. Naked, beaten and bleeding, after being held and abused in every possible way for weeks. In the nick of time to save her from being sold into a human trafficking ring.

Hamilton had spent quite a bit of time with her in the past few weeks, sitting in on interviews and other debriefings she was involved with. “They know her testimony would bury them,” Mal said.

Hamilton nodded. “She knows it too. But Jesus Christ, give her a minute. She’s not even healed up yet.”

Physically, he meant. Mentally and emotionally, Miss Gomez would never be the same. God, it made Mal sick to think of a woman being treated that way. TheVenenoswere freaking rabid animals, not men. And they needed to be exterminated, because that was the only way to stop it. Otherwise they would just keep doing the same damn fucked-up shit over and over.

Hamilton straightened and turned toward him slightly. “Hey, don’t you know someone who works for the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office?”

Mal’s fingers froze around the beer bottle and he looked away from those steel gray eyes. Hamilton’s timing on the subject was damn spooky. “Used to.”

“So you’re not in touch anymore?”

“No. Not for a few years now.” Not by his choice. But it was what it was, so he’d respected her wishes and stayed away from her. He still thought about her all the time, though.

“Do they still work there?”

“Yes.” She was an Assistant U.S. Attorney now. On track to follow in her hallowed father’s footsteps and become the U.S. Attorney.

Suddenly the beer tasted sickeningly bitter in his mouth. Mal set the bottle down in front of him.

Hamilton turned back to face the bar. “Might need to have you introduce us so I can get a meeting. They need to back off with Victoria. She’s a fighter, and she’s motivated. When she’s ready, she’ll take the stand and nail those assholes to the wall for what they did to her and the others. But if they keep pushing her like this…” He shook his head, jaw set.

“Sure,” Mal answered, even as dread coiled like a snake in the pit of his stomach. Even after all this time, reaching out to Rowan would be like ripping the bandages off the half-healed wound in his heart. She probably didn’t even think about him anymore. He wished he could say the same about her.

Some things, a man just didn’t get over. Like finally working up the courage to risk his heart on a woman who was way out of his league, only to have her slam the door in his face.

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