Page 76 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

“No,” Red sighed. “Give me a minute.”

He shoved his chair back and walked out of the room. A moment later, he was swinging the door open and strolling in.

“Yeah, I got it,” I answered before he could beat me to it.

“And to think, you almost went full-on Betty on the woman.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, blowing out a harsh breath. “Fuck. She’s still involved.”

“Let it go, boss,” Red shook his head. “She was there, an innocent bystander. She was unlucky enough to be caught in the elevator with the dude, but lucky enough to get out with her life. She lied because she’s terrified. You don’t know what they said to her. They could have threatened her life.”

“I know!” I snapped, pissed at myself for ignoring my initial instincts about her, all because I was hell-bent on catching a terrorist. That’s how lives were ruined. “Fox, take her home.”

“What about the job? Not gonna offer for her to keep it?” he grinned.

“Yeah, I can see her coming back here now. Just make sure she gets inside and she’s safe.”

He stood and clapped me on the shoulder. “Will do, boss. Do you want to talk to her before I take her home?”

“What for?”

“Oh, I don’t know. To apologize. To tell her what a gigantic asshole you are.” He shrugged. “Something along those lines, but don’t rely on me to tell you what to say. Just speak from the heart.”

I rolled my eyes at him and stood, shoving my way past Red and Fox. Walking into the interrogation room, I knew they were watching, using this against me in all future meetings I would have with any woman. Beth was leaning back in her chair, her arms crossed over her chest.

“I want to apologize for taking up so much of your time. After much consideration, we’ve determined that you’re not a threat.”

Her eyes slowly raised to meet mine. I expected relief or something similar, but all I saw was anger. She stood, not bothering to speak even a single word to me. Her eyes flicked to the door, and then she moved, walking right past me without so much as a mutter of disapproval. Red walked in afterward, his hands shoved in his pockets as he watched me.

“It could have happened to anyone, boss.”

“I was so sure she was involved.”

“Yeah, I think you saw what you wanted to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, my gaze snapping to meet his.

“It means, you like that chick, and when you saw her on the footage, you let your mind put her in a box so you didn’t have to deal with her.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“Of course it does. You put all your women in a box.”

“I do not.”

He quirked an eyebrow at me. “Betty is in your pocket, and Sally is in your rifle case. Tell me I’m wrong.”

I held in my frustrations until he walked out of the room, and then I slammed my fist into the wall. Some protector I was. I just scared the shit out of a woman who was already terrified for unknown reasons. And worse, I didn’t have the time to dig into her any further because I had other shit to deal with. Fucking Rafe and his stupid ideas.

26

FOX

“You knew!”she spat as she walked away from me in the parking lot.

“Hold on,” I shouted, gripping her arm and spinning her, careful not to touch her injured side. “I knew you were innocent, which is why I put you in that room. Nothing good ever comes from hiding the truth.”

“Oh yeah?” she asked, her eyes gleaming. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re hiding?”

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