Page 60 of Cast in Shadow
“I’m not letting you go.”
What was I supposed to say to that? My thoughts and emotions were all over the place. Having him back in my life was like being swept out to sea by a riptide. I could see the shore, and I kept trying to swim back to it, but every time I came up for air, safety was farther and farther away.
“I don’t know what you want from me, Emerson,”I finally sent through the link.
He was silent for a breath before his voice rumbled through my head again.“I want you to give me another chance.”
No. Hard pass. Absolutely out of the question.
Those were three shining examples of things I probably should have said, but the words refused to manifest. My heart was at war with my mind. Logic and reason said giving him another chance would kill me, while my heart—the idiot organ that was responsible for all my best and worst decisions—was apparently as masochistic as ever.
“I’m giving you the chance to help me with Megan. Take it or leave it.”With that, I put the Jeep in gear and headed out.
A few minutes later, he responded,“I’ll take what I can get.”
22
I made it back to the hotel and headed straight up to my room. After my “run” in the woods with Emerson, there was no way I was going downstairs to talk to Nguyen and the others without a shower and clean clothes.
My second-in-command was already edgy. If he smelled Emerson’s scent on me again, I had a feeling it would make for a long damned day.
By the time I made it downstairs in a fresh pair of indigo jeans, a black knit sweater, and my damp hair twisted into a tight bun at the base of my skull, the place was crawling with activity. I’d missed the morning meeting, but Dennis and Shay were still in the conference room and deep in discussion about something serious by the look of it.
“Am I interrupting?” I asked, though it was obvious that was exactly what I was doing.
“Nope.” Dennis edged away from where Shay was perched on the table. “How’s it going, boss?”
That was a loaded question. Setting aside the way he was putting space between himself and Shay now that I was in theroom, and how much that tiny move irked me, I offered him a half-shrug. “It’s going. What did I miss?”
“Morning meeting was eventful.” He punched a few keys on his laptop and the smartboard lit up with images of my least favorite witch. “Mimi’s facial recognition isn’t really built for this kind of thing, but I’ve managed to patch into a few of the public feeds so we can try to monitor Navali in real time. Well, real-ish time. These shots are a couple hours old.”
One by one, the images expanded so they took up the entirety of the screen. It was her, but even with the sketchy resolution, it was easy to see the dark circles under her sunken eyes and the shadows in the hollows of her cheeks. Whatever she was up to, it was taking a serious toll.
“Where is this?” I asked, pointing to a shot in what looked like an affluent residential neighborhood.
“Andreno Heights,” Dennis said. “Nguyen took Bravo to patrol the neighborhood, and I’ve got Golf gearing up to hit the surrounding area.”
“Good. Let everyone know to keep it low key. There’s no need to scare people with a tactical presence. And remind them that they are not to engage if they don’t have to. We want eyes on her, not more bodies in the morgue.”
“Nguyen’s going to buck that order,” Dennis said.
He might. We’d all seen what Megan was capable of with the slaughter at the campsite. He might also be itching for a fight, but no matter how frustrated he was, he would never sacrifice his team for revenge.
Then again, he was also one of the best sharpshooters in the country.
“Fine. If Nguyen can get a clean shot, he can take it. But only if he’s damned sure that shot will take her out.” I pulled in a breath, bracing for the next part. “And tell him to meet me atThe Sly Fox at seven tonight. Bravo can handle the evening surveillance without him.”
Dennis and Shay both shot me a look like they weren’t sure they’d heard me right.
“You’re going out drinking?” Dennis asked, sounding annoyingly impressed.
“Not exactly, and I’ll need you and Shay there too.”
“What’s going on?” she asked, perking up.
Something that would undoubtedly piss them all off. “We need to talk, but not here.”
“Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?” She eyed me suspiciously.
