Page 9 of Room Nine: Masters of Control

I guess I should say thank you.

But I’ll wait to see if they turn me over to the Feds before I issue my gratitude.

4

DEM

Iwait for the water to come on in the bathroom, confident she’s not eavesdropping at the door, before I turn to Kerr—a man I have known for over thirteen years—and say, “Holy shit, she’s beautiful.”

“Duh,” Kerr says from his position on the couch, his M4 and a cleaning kit laid out on the table. “Why do you think I’ve been jerking off to her for the last two weeks?”

“Because you’re a pig,” I point out. “And we’ve been stuck in the boonies for too fucking long with no relief. It’s been a long time since we’ve been out to Club Sin.”

He shrugs. “That’s true, on all fronts.”

“There’s no way you could tell from our video surveillance what she actually looks like; you just got the basic shape of her body.”

“Which is phenomenal, by the way. She’s got a great ass.”

I snort from my seat in front of the video monitors. “I like her because she almost kicked your ass.”

Kerr’s smile falls. “She’s one of Pemshaw’s students.”

“Penelope Pemshaw?” I raise my brow. I know what that means—we all know what that means. She only picks up sexual assault survivors, teaching them the tools they need to protect themselves from future attacks.

“The very one. Add in a psychopath stalker like Bobby Lash, and Kyra has had some very bad luck with men.”

O’Dell comes into the living room from the back bedroom and plops down on the couch.

“What’s the word?” I ask.

“Scrub the scene, pack up, head home. We have a nine o’clock at the office.”

“What’s he say about her?”

O’Dell glances between the two of us. “He didn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Kerr asks.

O’Dell shrugs. “He left it to us until tomorrow. I don’t think his initial report to the Feds will include her.”

“You know… she was wrong to think this little stunt would deter Bobby. If he thinks his life is in danger, he’s smart enough to know that DiFallo will cut him out and tie up any loose ends. Bobby’s next move is to run, and if he’s nearly as obsessed with Kyra as these love notes lead us to believe, he’ll want to take her with him.”

“She won’t go into protective custody,” Kerr grumbles.

“Maybe she’d be willing to hang out with us for a couple weeks until we can lock Bobby down.”

They meet my bright idea with silence, my partners side-eyeing each other.

“Locking ourselves up in the house with her is a bad idea. We all know I want to fuck her.” Kerr looks at me. “I saw the sparks between the two of you as soon as y’all made eye contact, so I know you want to fuck her. How are you feeling below the belt, O’Dell?”

“Warm and tingly.”

I roll my eyes. “What are we, animals? We can keep our shit together for a couple weeks while protecting a woman.”

“I’m telling you, she’s not going to be down with our protection. This chick has fought hard to feel safe on her own. She’s not going to appreciate three alpha males beating their chests and pounding their fists on the ground to protect their woman,” Kerr grumbles, throwing down an oiled rag.

Their woman. There it is. We’re claiming her without knowing what she thinks about us.

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