Page 49 of Fast Justice

Lockhart joined him and together they moved to the living room off the kitchen. After the phone incident, they’d been ordered to maintain an eyes-on policy except for bathroom breaks and when the women slept, although Mal and Lockhart would check on them at intervals through the night.

Mal sank down onto the end of the couch nearest the kitchen. Close enough to keep watch over the women and see what they were doing, but not so near that they felt imprisoned.

“Man, Taggart owes us for this,” Lockhart muttered in a low voice, removing his customary ball cap to scrub a hand over his dirty blond hair.

“He knows it.” Their commander was a good guy, and fair. He’d probably do something to make it up to them later. “So, the inquisition’s over?”

“For now. She cleared her poly with flying colors.”

So had Anya.

Lockhart shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and leaned against the wall. “You sweep the place?”

“FBI techs checked for bugs, and I went through the place myself just before they brought Anya back.” There was no way in hell Mal would have been able to stomach guard duty for her now unless she’d been cleared of any involvement with the bombing, or of leaking Rowan’s name. To the point that he would have taken a temporary leave of absence to avoid it, and taken whatever consequences came from Taggart and the DEA.

Lockhart grunted. “Helps that you and she don’t speak the same language.”

Mal couldn’t help but grin. “Silver lining.”

“Lucky bastard. Wanna swap?”

“Nope.”

The hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Lockhart’s mouth. “So. How’s Rowan?” he asked casually.

She’s holding my heart in her hands without realizing it, and I hope the hell she won’t break it again.“Doing well, all things considered. New security detail took over this morning.”

His teammate nodded. “Any leads yet?”

“Not a solid one. Apparently the two parking lot security guys at the U.S. Attorney’s office disappeared at the same time the video feeds went dark, and haven’t turned up since.”

“Perp paid them off, then. My bet is they’re either already out of the state and thinking of how to leave the country, or floating facedown in the Potomac.”

“My money’s on the second.” That’s how theVenenosoperated. Total warfare, didn’t matter who got in their crosshairs. They used whoever they could to get what they wanted. And if they saw a threat, they eliminated it immediately, be it man, woman, or child.

Speaking of threats… He shifted his gaze back to the two women, who were walking toward the kitchen table now, Oceane’s steadying arm wrapped around her mother’s shoulders. “They’re damn hard to figure out, aren’t they?” he said quietly so only Lockhart could hear him. It wasn’t their job to analyze the women, but he couldn’t help but wonder about them.

“Christ, yeah. And after that stunt they pulled with the phone, they’re both lucky they’re not locked up or being deported right now.”

“Must have given the agency some good intel, to warrant them this kind of protection.”

Lockhart gave another grunt. “Honestly? I think they gave only exactly as much as they had to, and the government’s keeping them safe in the hopes of getting something even better later on.” He watched the women as they sat next to each other at the table, speaking in low tones, Anya’s spiral-curled head resting on her daughter’s shoulder. “The daughter’s smart. I think way smarter than a lot of people are giving her credit for. She’s using that.”

Mal cocked his head, intrigued by the observation. Lockhart had been a Ranger sniper. And snipers were the world’s best observers, seeing things most others didn’t. “What makes you say that?”

“I’ve been watching her. Those gears in her head never stop turning. I can’t figure her out. At times she seems so young and naïve, and at other times she’s guarded. She’s careful in what she says and does, and she knows how to mask her emotions better than most people.”

Huh. “You make it sound almost like she’s had training.”

“Oh, I’m betting on it. But I’m not sure she even realizes what she’s been taught.”

“You don’t think the agents figured that out while they were questioning her?”

“Yeah, but I think they’re still underestimating her.”

Interesting. Mal looked back at the two women. Oceane’s eyes flicked up, moved from him to Lockhart and held for a moment on his teammate, almost as if she was assessing him before lowering her eyes again. Even more interesting.

“What’s their reasoning for not joining WITSEC now?” Mal asked. Because surely to God, by this point someone as intelligent as Oceane must see the wisdom in it.

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