Page 12 of Cooper's Command

Sweat beaded her upper lip and dampened her palms. Had they jacked up the heat? Turned that spotlight directly on her? Her chest squeezed so tight she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t do anything but stare at those unseeing eyes. Black dots flitted across her vision, dimming the edges until she was sure she’d pass out.

“Nova?”

Cooper’s voice snapped her back just enough that she was able to tear her gaze away — turn slightly. Gasp in a quick breath. Not that it helped as those dots swam across her vision again,threatening to drop her to the floor as a series of shivers raked through her.

“Shit.”

Cooper’s strong arms tugged her against his massive chest a moment later, his lips feathering against her ear.

“Easy, sweetheart. Just try to match my breathing. In… hold. Now out.” Cooper huffed. “Not enough, try again. In. Deep. Now, hold it for a second. And out.”

He repeated the words a few times until her lungs managed to do more than hiccup, and those dots eased. Not fully, but enough she probably wouldn’t face plant in the middle of the crime scene. Embarrass herself even more.

Nova closed her eyes, wondering how she’d fallen so far, so fast — if she had even a hope of ever impressing her boss — before blinking away the remaining fuzziness. Giving Cooper’s arm a pat.

He shook his head, his lips still caressing her ear. “Two more breaths before I’ll be convinced you won’t kiss the floor the second I let go.”

She snorted. Damn she was crazy about him.

Cooper released her after she’d taken those two breaths, glancing at the dead body then back to her once she’d turned — met his gaze. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but maybe you should actually take that leave you spent investigating. I’m sure Cartwright would agree.”

“Cartwright told me to impress him. Admitting I’d made a mistake — in the field, no less — won’t do me any favors.” She waved off his frown. “It was just a momentary lapse.”

“Nova. You showed me the photos, and this is exactly how they found Tate. What I suspect has been triggering all those nightmares you’ve been having.”

She swallowed. Hard. “I’m okay.”

“You’re really not. I’d be more worried if you were. But I can tell by the way you’re scrunching up your nose and looking at me as if I’ve lost my mind that no amount of reasoning will sway you so…” He motioned toward the adjoining room. “The drug lab’s in there. Maybe focus on that, and leave the dead guy to Emery.”

She nodded. Apparently way too fast to be convincing because he shook his head, stepping over to block the guard’s face — break that invisible link tethering her to the scene. She exhaled, smiling her thanks as she shuffled sideways, keeping her back to the corpse as she walked into the next room.

“Damn.” She glanced at Cooper over her shoulder. “Coop? You’ll have to keep Whiskey clear. There’s way too much loose powder scattered around inside to chance it.”

Cooper shouldered up behind her, his chest pressing against her back — grounding her. “What the hell did they do, use it as confetti?”

“Thinking our security guard stumbled upon the scene while our perps were out doing god knows what, grabbed that open bag then tried to run but didn’t get too far before he had to drop it. Or maybe our drug runners are just nuts. How would you feel about scouting the rest of the building and the grounds? See if there’s another stash someplace?”

“Your wish, sweetheart…” He cursed as soon as the endearment slipped out. What she guessed was just habit. “You okay here on your own?”

“Most of the drug labs I go into still have cartel inside so, yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“You said that on purpose. Just humor me, and hang here until I get back.”

“Glad you’re not being a mother hen. Besides, Emery’s here. But Coop…” She smiled at him. “Don’t keep me waiting too long.”

He shook his head but took off, disappearing down the hallway as Emery moved in beside Nova.

The other woman scanned the room. “Looks like we’ve got a few bricks and what’s left of that open one lying on the floor. Not definitive proof there’s a cartel involved, but…”

“Best to err on the side of caution, yeah?”

“My thoughts exactly.” Emery nodded at the bricks. “If this is cartel related, any thoughts on where you think it might be coming from?”

Nova stayed in the doorway, wishing she’d thought to bring some sort of protection. “Hard to say. We’ve got a pretty extensive database of various chemical makeups. That might pinpoint a location if we’ve dealt with the cartel before.”

“If you had to guess?”

Nova chuckled. “I’m a bit biased and partial to Columbia. Cocaine is still their drug of choice. But see those other bags? If that isn’t fentanyl, I’ll give Whiskey a French kiss.”

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