Page 61 of Operation: Sharp Angel

“Okay,” Briana replied, understanding, but still disappointed.

“Did Brielle find anything on the laptop?” Jackson asked.

Tessman had kept him apprised of their find at the house. “Yes, Nicole DeSoto left a video telling her sister that Nick accidentally poisoned himself in the lab and somehow it infected the entire family. They knew they were sick. The in-house doctor at Well-Life treated them and said they were fine, but Nicole knew they weren’t. She also directed us to a cloud drive with proof, not sure what kind. Brielle’s pouring over it now.”

“Makes you wonder if the toxic chemical he was working with came with an MDS or SDS,” Smith interjected. “If the company purposefully hid that from the guy working with it, that’s a big OSHA no-no.”

Tessman fixed his stare on Becca. “Would you know anything about that at Well-Life?”

“Here’s about all I know. Material Data Sheets, or Safety Data Sheets are included in all chemicals and compounds that are in any lab, even organic compounds. The last time I was at Well-Life was well over a year ago, before my parents died. The sheets were prominently displayed in the labs at that time.”

“So, this is looking more and more like it’s linked to Well-Life,” Jackson said.

“Yes,” Tessman agreed. “Once we have whatever proof Brielle finds, we need to go back with a new search warrant and go after their in-house medical charts and MDS sheets.”

“Is there any way to see if anyone else who works at Well-Life has died in the last year?” Becca asked.

Tessman nodded his head. “You’re thinking if Nick accidentally poisoned himself and his family, did anyone else?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m thinking,” Becca said. “Nick was experienced. I don’t believe for a second that he accidentally poisoned himself or didn’t know how concentrated and potent a compound was that he was working with.”

“We’ll have Brielle look into that after she’s done with the cloud storage,” Tessman said.

“Okay, we’re signing off now,” Jackson said. “I’ll catch up with you after we get back to HQ.”

Romeo

After the call was disconnected, Briana excused herself, leaving Becca and Tessman standing alone in his office with the door closed. Becca glanced around, checking out the place Tessman spent more time at than his own apartment. She walked up to a large poster that hung over the couch, where he’d said he slept often. It was a stunning photo of the silhouette of a scuba diver in beautiful blue water with a vibrantly colored coral reef to one side and thousands of brilliantly colored fish swimming all around him, but mostly above him where the water was a lighter blue that transitioned to nearly white at the waterline, the bright sun shining into the top layers of the water.

“Don’t fear death, fear the un-lived life,” she said aloud, reading from the poster. Her gaze then settled on him. “Said Angus Tuck in the bookTuck Everlastingby Natalie Babbitt.”

“Was it? I wouldn’t know,” he said, impressed she knew that off the top of her head.

“Does that pretty much sum up your approach to life?”

Tessman grinned that half-smile, half-smirk at her. He wasn’t sure how to interpret that statement, nor could he read her attitude towards it. “You’ve figured me out.”

Her lips spread into a grin. “I doubt that.” She stepped into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “But I’d like to see more inside of Carter Tessman’s world, so just maybe, I could figure you out.”

Tessman glanced at the door to be sure it was closed before he wrapped his arms around her lower back and pulled her all the way into himself. “I’m a pretty simple guy. What you see is what you get, unlike you, who continually surprises me.”

She shook her head, disputing it. Their eyes locked, and they both felt the magnetic draw. Their lips neared, and they shared a kiss that was lengthy and passionate. After a few pleasurable moments of enjoying the kiss, she pulled away, just far enough to break the contact with his lips.

Gazing deeply into her eyes, he saw unasked questions and maybe even a statement by her that was bubbling there, wanting to get out. “I don’t think I’d ever get tired of doing that.” He tightened his arms just enough so that she’d feel it. “But you have something else on your mind than how incredible that kiss was.”

Becca nodded. “It was incredible. This closeness is incredible.” She paused.

“But?” he prompted.

“I wouldn’t ever pick someone who does a dangerous job to be involved with, but I can’t deny the attraction I feel to you or how amazing it feels when we kiss. Or how much more I want when we touch. I haven’t felt this way in a very long time. I wish I’d met you at a different time in my life.”

He wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but he was sure it didn’t bode well for him or any continuation of this relationship. “We can’t pick the timing. And I don’t think we should let whatwe think is supposed to be the right timing or the wrong dictate anything. And as far as what I do, my job, it’s who I am. If you don’t think you can deal with it, I’d first ask you if you’d give it a try before deciding. And if you won’t do that, then I’d ask you to give me one incredible night before you walk away. Memories are better than nothing, and I’d rather have the memories to go along with the heartbreak of never seeing where this could have gone, than have nothing at all.”

She sighed an emotional release and dropped her head against his shoulder. “And if I completely fall for you and something happens to you?”

Tessman gently lifted her chin until she looked him in the eyes. “You’ll live through it just as you’ve lived through the horrible loss of your sister and her family. I can’t promise nothing will ever happen to me at work, and I can’t promise nothing will ever happen to me anywhere else, either. I’m not an adrenaline junkie. I don’t put myself in dangerous situations for the thrill of it. I do what I’m trained to do, training that few others have, to protect people from the very bad people who are out there. I’ve served my country all of my adult life and I’m not going to stop doing it anytime soon. I’ve seen a lot of death, Becca, caused my fair share of it, too. But since meeting you, I’ve realized my life is lacking one special person in it, who I can say is mine and that I’m hers, someone I can be all in with. I never thought I wanted that until you were in my life.”

Becca saw nothing but honesty in his return stare. She felt vulnerable and raw. Her heart pounded in her chest. She’d professed her feelings, but she wasn’t ready to be what he wanted and needed. “I want that with you, but I don’t feel I’m in a place to be all in. And if you were, and I wasn’t, that wouldn’t be fair to you, and it wouldn’t work. Can you give me some time?” If he couldn’t, she knew it would crush her.

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