Page 36 of Cooper's Command

She hitched out her hip, glancing at Cooper, again — encouraged by the grin he flashed her. What looked oddly like pride. “I have more connections in Bogotá than even Tate did. I could disappear in a heartbeat. So stop acting like I suddenly lost my ability to strategize and pretend like I’m still one of the good guys.”

Porter chuckled. “Cartwright was correct about one thing. You’re not afraid to go to extremes. Can you get these results without my colleagues breaking down your door?”

“I can’t, but she’s removed enough from me that someone already inside the DEA could.” She looked at Bellamy. “If there were trustworthy and IT geniuses.”

Bellamy groaned. “My parents?”

“They’re the only ones who might not out me.”

“You know this means I’ll have to offer them something pretty damn epic as payback, right?”

“So, you suck it up and invite them to an actual wedding instead of eloping with Octavia like you two planned. Not exactly a sacrifice compared to my ass in jail for the next fifty years.”

Cooper coughed, stepping up beside her. “You two were going to elope?”

Bellamy groaned. “And Octavia says I can’t keep a secret. She’s a thousand times worse. And I was going to tell you guys, just not everyone else. Which isn’t the point of this conversation.I’ll contact a friend and get them to have my dad call me on a secure line. But I’ll need your friend’s information.”

Nova nodded. “I’ll write it down as long as you promise to burn it, after.”

“Always the agent. And yeah, I’ll burn it.” Bellamy glanced at his watch. “Give me a couple hours. That should be enough to contact them, have them backdoor their way into the database and get the intel back to me while the office is mostly closed for the night. Assuming they don’t disown me on the spot.”

“Fair enough.” Porter looked at her. “We’ll reconvene in two hours. Let’s hope this pans out or you might have to resort to Plan B and look into becoming that drug lord.”

The monitors winked out, leaving Porter’s final words hanging in the air. Like a damn premonition of how things would end if she didn’t get ahead of Simmons and whoever those thugs worked for.

Bellamy shook his head, handing her some paper. He didn’t speak just looked at the name, snorted, then walked over to one of the computers. What she assumed was him preparing a secure line.

Cooper nudged her, leading her out of the room and back into the main section. He stopped in the center, watching her as she made her way over to one of the walls.

Nova cursed inwardly, aware she needed to address everything she’d just confessed but wishing she could hide a bit longer. “Just say it.”

Cooper shrugged. “Not sure there’s anything to say. Bringing those samples to Virginia was…”

“Insane? Risky?” She swallowed, coughed then sighed. “A step too far?”

“Gutsy for sure. And maybe a bit… rash.”

“Rash?” Ethan shook his head. She hadn’t even realized he’d entered the other room until she’d turned and spied him leaningagainst the door. “It was either insanely brilliant or borderline psychotic. Not sure which right now. I’m just impressed you didn’t get caught.”

“No one knows how to smuggle drugs better than a DEA agent.” Nova cursed at their joint raised brows. “And that sounded really bad. Can we chalk it up to being temporarily insane because Tate had just been killed instead of the likely possibility I might have been going off the rails, just like Cartwright claimed?”

Cooper tensed at the mention of Cartwright’s name, his kissable mouth curving into the beginnings of a frown. He shifted his weight and she knew he’d come to some kind of conclusion. That he was likely done waiting for her to initiate that conversation she’d meant to have a week ago.

He crossed his arms, glancing at Bellamy when his buddy tripped to a stop behind him, as if he’d realized too late he’d stumbled into something serious. “Speaking of Cartwright, we need to talk.”

Nova arched a brow. “Right now? With your team standing here?”

“I’m finding it hard to care about that when they’ll ultimately know the outcome, anyway. But if you want them to leave…”

Did he think she’d shy away? That she cared if all his colleagues were watching?

“All right. Then, let’s talk. You think I’m upset because I got reassigned.”

Cooper held his ground, strangely detached. “I think you’re more than upset, Nova. I think it made you reevaluate your priorities, with returning to Bogotá landing at the top of the list. And while I know, without a doubt, that you went to that meeting with Paulin because you honestly believed his intel was worth risking your life for, I can’t lie and say there isn’t a part of me that wonders if you also thought that collaring Paulin andexposing whatever operation he’d been involved in — alone — might be the level of dedication it took to truly impress your boss. That it would prove you still have what it takes to confront cartel assholes and mercenaries.”

Had Cooper left the burner on? Because she felt suddenly hot. As if that propane was burning right next to her.

Cooper didn’t waiver, standing there with his back rigid, his jaw clenched. “I’m not saying you don’t care. And I’ll help you figure this out regardless of what happens between us. But I’ve spent the past week watching you fight your way back to life, and I can’t spend another second wondering where we stand. If I’m the only one who doesn’t want you to leave when all along, this has been nothing more than one hell of a speed bump on your way back to Bogotá.”

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