Page 12 of Cruel Savior

Her voice behind me slid down my spine and caused a slight shiver. Having her this close irritated the fuck out of me. Especially since I wanted to get through this with no reaction at all. And yet...

I opened the file and pushed those thoughts away. I had more important things to worry about. This case had a lot of moving parts and a lot of details I needed to digest before I could decide what direction to go next. Although I was going to bring Tel in here and let him do his thing with this information. Between her brain and his tech skills, they might get a better picture of what they were up against.

"I think there's a lot of information here we need to go through."

"That's true. That was a big part of the job that hardly anyone ever talks about. Sure, running after bad guys with guns and going undercover sounds sexy, but most cases are solved like this. Staring at the facts until they make some kind of sense. It's all about getting into their heads, which isn't exactly a pretty place to go."

I turned and faced her, focusing on the beginning part of what she'd pointed out. "Was? Am I to take it that you no longer work for the government? Because you having all of this," he waved around the room, "tells a different story. What's the deal?"

"Technically, I'm still on medical leave. But that's just a temporary measure while they file their formal complaints against me with HR and push the paperwork through and I’m terminated permanently. They already took my ID and my government issued weapon. I'm done. There is no way back in. Hell, they won't even take my calls."

I could hear the sorrow of loss in her voice, but I couldn't quite muster up the same feeling in myself. When you get down in the shit with pigs like Frank, you don't come out clean. "I guess you play with fire, you get burned."

Her eyes narrowed, but her mouth stayed shut. I didn't know what that look meant, but whatever regrets she might have, those were her demons, not mine.

It was a good thing she didn't work for the Feds because we were already riding a line on this as it was. This case stunk to high heaven and if the government caught a whiff of it, we ran the risk of getting caught in the crosshairs.

"So, what was your plan? Or what was next on the agenda? You've gathered this information, you've brainstormed some scenarios, now what?"

"Usually field work. Hitting up contacts, using CIs to pick up new rumors on the street. Checking alibis for any suspects we might be looking at. That kind of thing. Except, I have a hunch that none of that is going to work in this case. This whole thing feels extremely personal and private. But I've read those case files backwards and forward, and I don't know what I'm missing. Nothing seems to fit."

I nodded, my mind circling back to Frank for a moment before shaking free. I had to keep an open mind to all the possibilities, not just focus on the man I hated the most. But that left me little else to do except think about the obvious. While she seemed to be lost in thoughts of this case, I took stock ofher. I'd learned a long time ago, the longer you ignored the elephant in the room, the bigger it got. And in this case, I wanted to keep my perspective clear and my head on straight.

Not the easiest thing to do as she stood there chewing on her bottom lip, staring off into space, reminding me of another time and place. The messy blonde bun aside, she didn't look that much different than she did back then. A little curvier, but that was an improvement if anything.

Basically, she was even more beautiful than I remembered. And while looking at her now had made my dick twitch in her direction, I wasn't ruled by my dick, anymore. My heart, on the other hand, had a lot to say right now, and that, I would listen to. Specifically, the fact she'd shredded it and it had been a bitch to stitch back together again.

I closed my eyes and willed the memories to stop. They had no place here. The only reason we were in the same room again was because I had a job to do and it was critical that I kept focus on that. Thinking about how soft her lips might be pressed against my skin, or what her hips would feel like clenched in my hands was a sure-fire path to destruction.

"How about we go over each of these files together?" I asked. "I'd like to hear your thoughts on each and come up with my own as we pick them apart."

She blinked at me, looking at me as if she too had been so lost in thought she almost forgot I was there.

"Uhm—okay."

"We should probably get some food. Your stomach is growling," I pointed out. "When was the last time you ate?"

She shrugged. "I probably ate something yesterday. I've been a little busy. Besides, this is my true life blood," she said, lifting her cup to indicate her coffee.

"Don't get me wrong. I live and die by my coffee in the morning as well, but that's no substitute for food. What do you feel like? Pizza? Mexican? Chinese? Burgers? That's about all we can get delivered in Sultan. No one around here has embraced the Door Dash concept yet. Not that we have many other choices."

"Some things change and some don't," she said, sounding wistful before seemingly pulling herself together again to continue. "Unfortunately, no one is going to deliver this far out, and we don't want anyone to know where we are. So, if we want to eat, we're going to have to make it. Lucky for you, I stocked up on cold cuts and chopped veggies to nibble on. My father also keeps the pantry and freezer stocked out here year-round, so tomorrow we can cook if we have to."

He wrinkled his nose. "Cold cuts and chopped veggies? Do I look like a rabbit to you?"

A half smile lifted up one corner of her mouth. The first I'd seen from her in a decade, and as much as I hated to admit it, it looked really good on her.

"No, you definitely don't look like a rabbit. A bull maybe. Those are pretty stubborn and force their way into places they aren't wanted, right?"

I snorted. "If you say so." I brushed past her and headed into the kitchen. If I stood here much longer, staring at her lips, I was going to do or say something stupid.

The kitchen out herewas bigger than the industrial one we had in the clubhouse, and it was decked out with what I expected would impress even a top chef. "What else do you have in here? Surely something to cook right now."

She followed me towards the fridge and stopped to prop her hip on the island and watch. "I could put together a charcuterie board. It's all finger food, but it would be pretty hearty with the selection of meats and cheeses I have."

"Mmm, I don't know what the hell a charcutafuckall is." I hummed, opening the fridge to take stock. "Cheese, though? Now you're talking more my speed." I quickly took in what was available and noted she had not lied about our limited choices. There were stacks of little bags from the deli that looked to be filled with a variety of meats and at least—I counted the bags—eight varieties of cheese. That was about four more than I usually considered.

Fortunately, there was a large, cooked rotisserie chicken as well. Now that, I could work with. I grabbed all the cheeses, the chicken, and a few of the peppers she had probably planned to chop and nibble on. I placed everything on the counter and went in search of a pantry. "What about bread? Any tortillas?"

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