Page 44 of Stalked

Derek Waterman, head of the Omega SWAT team, was always aware of what was going on around him. He was focused and deadly and an asset to the team for multiple reasons.

But right now Steve wanted Derek because of what he wasn’t: friendly. Steve needed Rosalyn escorted down to an interrogation room. Most of the other men on the team would be friendly, try to set Rosalyn at ease. That’s not what Steve wanted. He wanted Rosalyn nervous, uncomfortable, unhappy.

That’s how he would get answers.

And if a little voice said he was making a huge mistake, well, he’d just squash that. He was done giving her the benefit of the doubt.

“Derek, will you please escort Ms. Mellinger to interview room 2?” It was the starkest of the interrogation rooms, the least comfortable.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Andrea stiffen. She didn’t like how he was treating Rosalyn. But then again, Andrea tended to be tenderhearted toward everyone.

Derek didn’t even bat an eye. “No problem, boss.” He turned to Rosalyn. “If you could come with me, ma’am.” Respectful yet distant. He took her arm and escorted her down the hall.

Steve turned back from them and found at least a dozen of his team watching him.

“All right, people, let’s get back to work. I know you have other things to do besides gape at me.”

Many of them sat back down at their desks or went back to their normal tasks. Liam Goetz, hostage rescue team captain and resident smart-ass, just walked closer.

“But, boss, how are we supposed to go back to work when we know there’s such a big, bad criminal nearby?”

That got a couple of snickers. Steve turned to Liam. “I can fire you, you know.”

“If I had a dollar for every time you said that,” Liam muttered, but eased back down to his desk.

The good thing about his team was that the members knew each other well enough to know when to leave something alone. He also knew he could trust them to provide him with the information he didn’t seem capable of getting himself. Or have the neutrality required to do it.

“Brandon, Andrea, Jon, I need to see you in my office.”

He turned and walked out of the main room. He didn’t check to see if the people he’d asked for were following. He knew they were. If for curiosity’s sake as much as anything else.

He walked through his outer office door. Cynthia and his other assistants stood when they saw him, all with pressing matters that needed his attention, he was sure. He held out a hand.

“For the next few hours, unless there is a national or international crisis, consider me still unavailable. I don’t want to know about it.” He saw Brandon and Andrea make eye contact with each other at his words but didn’t care. For his own sanity, unless there was some sort of real emergency, he had to get this issue with Rosalyn settled.

“Do you need something for your arm?” Andrea asked. All eyes flew to it. Damn it, he’d been trying not to let anyone know about the throb and what he was sure was going to be stiff and painful tomorrow. He glared at Andrea for bringing it up. He should’ve known she’d be able to read his nonverbal communication too accurately for him to hide or fake.

“Sorry.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t that noticeable, but I could tell.”

“What happened?” Brandon asked.

“I was on the wrong side of a steel telescopic baton.” Steve grimaced. “I’m fine.”

“I’ll get ice and ibuprofen. It will help with swelling and pain. We’ll handle everything, Steve.” Cynthia, the assistant who’d been with the team the longest, the one he trusted the most, nodded at him. “You handle your crisis. We’ll handle anything else.”

Steve opened the door for his inner office and held it for the others. Jon Hatton and Brandon Han were two of the finest profilers—honestly two of the most brilliant, trustworthy men—Steve had ever known. Andrea was much quieter and kept to herself more due to her past, but as a behavioral analyst she couldn’t be beat.

“What’s going on, Steve?” Jon asked. “I’m assuming that woman you walked in with was the Rosalyn Mellinger you had me looking into.”

Steve went over to the window looking out at the Rockies. Normally the view gave him a measure of peace, but not right now. “She is.”

“You didn’t mention she was having a baby.”

“No.” Steve shook his head. He really didn’t want to get into that yet if he didn’t have to. “I didn’t.”

“You also didn’t mention that she was a suspect.” He could hear the frustration in Jon’s voice. “That would’ve changed how I was reading the information.”

Steve turned and looked at them. “She wasn’t a suspect until lunchtime and then about an hour ago.”

---