Page 20 of Cooper's Command

He looked at Bellamy, then took a few steps away as he answered it. “This had better be you, Nova.”

A raspy breath, followed by what he swore was a low moan. “You already know.”

“Not nearly enough.”

“Where are you?”

He warred with the voice in his head, wondering how much to say out loud. “Ohana’s. Your turn.”

Nothing but silence for a few moments before she grunted. “Some obscure dirt road a good twenty miles from the office. I assume your team’s with you.”

“They are.”

“Emery?”

He looked up at the woman in question. “She’s standing several feet away, along with Flint.”

“Crap. Am I on speaker?”

“No.” He frowned. “Do you want to be?”

She sighed. “What I want isn’t an option right now. Shit, hold on…”

Had she dropped the phone? Because it sounded like the speaker hit her lap. An engine revved in the background a moment before a few loud pops echoed through the phone. Glass broke in the distance followed by what sounded like a car spinning across some gravel.

“Nova? What the hell was that?”

Something rustled before she grunted again as more pops carried over the cell.

“Is that gunfire? Nova!”

She muttered a curse, her breath wheezy and fast against the mic. “I’ve got cartel on my ass. Of course, it’s gunfire.”

“I need you to talk to me. Now.”

“I… Not over the phone.”

“This is obviously a burner.”

“But yours isn’t. And it’s no secret who I’d turn to for help, which is why Emery’s already there. For all I know they’ve got someone outside with a parabolic mic. Maybe a drone hovering overhead.”

Cooper frowned but gave Rusty and Ethan a twirl of his hand before pointing toward the door. His buddies nodded, darting past Flint as they rushed outside.

“Then, just answer me this.” Cooper switched ears, trying to distance himself a bit more. “Simmons claims you killed Paulin. Is that true?”

Utter silence for several heartbeats before her breath sounded in his ear. What could have been a sob or a moan. “No.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“That sounds like a question only you can answer.”

More silence and he knew she was deciding whether to actually ask for that help she’d mentioned or just hang up. Go it alone like he was sure she’d done a hundred times in the field when Tate was off investigating Moody instead of backing her up.

“Sweetheart—”

“As I see it, you’ve got two choices, Coop. Either you put your faith in me — in the person you know I am and everything we’ve been building between us since the day we met, or you can believe Simmons.” Another pause, as if she was catching her breath. Or maybe her nerve. “Honestly, I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

Cooper sighed, glancing over when his buddies returned. Ethan nodded, giving him the all-clear signal before moving back beside Bellamy. “What do you need?”

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