Page 88 of Overstaying His Welcome

“Hey, doc. I need you and Fabian at the office. There’s been a problem.”

She hummed. “What kind of problem? What supplies will I need?”

“Not sure. The team has been drugged. I was too, but not as much as them. That or they gave me something to wake up.”

“Do you know the drug?”

I turned to Pratt. Lune was still muttering to himself. He wouldn’t be any help.

“What did you give us?” I asked him.

He turned away from me as he replied, “GHB.”

“Did you catch that, doc?”

“Sure did. Can I say that it’s not surprising you have the assailants in custody already? NightShade never ceases to impress me. We’ll be there in half an hour or so. If anyone stops breathing or convulsing, call 9-1-1 immediately. Understood?”

“You’ve got it. We’ll keep an eye out.”

I ended the call, then handed the device back to Stabler. “Half an hour til they get here. We need to get some fresh water. We’ll all need it, and I don’t trust those machines anymore.”

“I don’t either. I’ll leave Mindy here with you while I hunt down some sealed bottles. That ok?” He left after I agreed we’d be fine.

Mindy leaned against the desk, her gun still ready should she need to let out another round into one of our bad guys. Her eyes told a different story than her posture though.

There was amusement in her features. “I’m guessing you’d prefer I not tell my cousin about this when we speak next?”

I groaned. “Please don’t. He’s enough of a pain in the ass. I don’t need him teasing me, or worse, checking in.”

“You’re right. He probably would try to step in under the guise of being helpful. He never could take a hint.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” I smiled despite the exhaustion weighing me down. “What will you do after this? You going to become Stabler’s partner? Seems like you make a good team.”

Her gaze moved to the door. “It’s up to him and the director. Not a lot of people want to work with a female agent. Sucks, but that’s the way of it.”

“Stabler doesn’t mind.”

“No. It doesn’t appear that he does.”

“Then I think you should go for it. You won’t know until you try.”

Her voice was gentle, yet firm, when she replied, “Neither can you. Live the life you want, Tank. Don’t let anyone else take it away from you. Don’t let them take HIM away from you.”

CHAPTER 32

CHANCE

“I can honestly sayI didn’t think we’d be here like this again so soon.”

Tank shook his head at my lopsided grin. He wasn’t all that amused by my joke. Not when I was the one on bedrest after waking up from being drugged by our enemies.

Oddly enough, I wasn’t all that upset about how things played out. According to the tapes we watched after the fact, this was an inevitable thing.

Lune was always going to come after Tank. And being part of my boyfriend’s life meant I wound up in their crosshairs.

It just so happened the entire team was hit with a blow this time around.

“Don’t joke about your health,” he said as he stroked over my jaw. “I want you around for a very long time. We can’t make light of you nearly dying.”

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