Page 33 of Cooper's Command

“Only that it was to discuss the case. And you were definitely antsy.”

“That’s because the Paulin I knew before was a back-stabbing asshole who would have sold out his own mother if it had benefited him.”

Porter chuckled. “That sounds like motive.”

Nova glared at Porter. “If I killed every man who fit that description, I’d have a few hundred graves scattered around Bogotá. It’s part of the job, though I got lucky because Tate wasn’t...”

She inhaled as more images shuffled inside her head, making the room spin. Tate, spread out on the floor, his sightless eyes staring at her. Blood pooling around his body. Something blue peeking out from between his clenched fist.

Fingers snapped in front of her face and she jerked back as Cooper yelled at Bellamy to get some water. Her stomach roiled and she turned, dry heaving against the rush of nausea. Kian was talking in the background, the entire room buzzing to life.

Cooper went to scoop her into his arms when she finally managed to suck in some air — wave him off.

She held up her hand, accepting the glass Bellamy offered her. “I’m fine, I just need…”

“To lay down. Hell, maybe get a freaking MRI of your head.” Cooper braced her weight when she finally got her feet under her. “Seriously, Nova.”

“Forget about my head for a second. That crime scene… Can you describe it to me?”

Cooper frowned. “And have you pass out for real this time?”

“It was like Tate’s wasn’t it? Someone was dead and it looked just like Tate’s photos.”

Cooper glanced at the monitors — probably asking Kian if he thought Cooper should answer — only to nod. “Damn near identical.”

“And I freaked out then, too, right?”

“Yeah. Which was why I thought it was odd you were standing in that room when I came back.”

“My clothes.”

Cooper arched a brow. “Your clothes?”

“From that night. Did you find anything in them?”

“Kian? Brother, you cut them off her.”

Kian furrowed his brow. “I only went through them to see if there was a wallet — maybe some kind of medical alert card I should be concerned about before treating her. But the only unusual thing I found was a piece of tape. I think it might have been blue or green, but it was soaked with blood. If there was anything on it, it was long gone.”

Tape…

That one word had it all coming back. How Paulin had confessed he’d been dealing. That he wanted out and needed her help. That he had additional intel regarding Tate’s death.

She leaned more heavily against Cooper, trusting he’d keep her from falling as she focused on breathing — letting all thememories filter into place until the worst of the pain had passed, and she felt confident she could straighten without puking.

Cooper tsked when she raised her head, tugging her fully against him. “A few more breaths because you still look like a damn ghost.”

She smiled. She loved that about him. How he understood her in a way no one else had. As if they had some kind of connection etched into their DNA.

That being together had been an act of fate.

Cooper grunted when she finally inched forward, giving her a hard stare. What clearly indicated his next step would be hiking her up on his shoulder and carting her back to bed if she so much as shivered.

Kian cleared his throat. “Are you good or should I let Cooper act on all those protective instincts practically radiating off him?”

She gave Cooper’s hand a pat, still bracing some of her weight on him as she looked at the monitors. “Having a night’s worth of memories slam into my head was bound to have an effect.”

Porter perked up. “So, you remember why you went to the DEA office? Alone?”

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