by Julie Rowe
Rodrigues’s eyebrows rose. “Of course. Henry is threatening to quit if I don’t give you back to him.”
She glanced at him, but he was busy giving grumpy face to his boss.
Henry and Gunner moved her cot to the next room.
Henry helped her follow them, depositing her on the cot. “I’m staying right next to you for the foreseeable future, and I’ve got a gun in my pocket.”
“Does that line work for you most of the time?”
“Smart-ass.” He kissed her lightly on the mouth, then dropped from sight.
As much as she’d like to kiss him for a lot longer than that, she really needed to figure out where they went from here.
The door to the office opened a crack. Nate looked at her then at Henry, who’d sat up.
“What the hell are you doing?” Nate asked him.
“I’m sick and tired of people trying to kill her the moment my back is turned,” Henry said, a rough growl in his voice. “So I’m staying right here until every last fucker who might be after us is arrested or dead.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “Ooh, the melodrama.”
“You feel the same way, or you wouldn’t be checking on her.”
“A quick peek isn’t the same as lying on the floor in front of her like some kind of guard dog.”
Henry responded by barking.
“If you two don’t stop arguing, I’m going to make you both leave.”
That shut them up. For about two seconds.
“Do you actually want him here, Ruby?” Nate asked.
“He makes me feel safe.”
Henry sat up a little straighter but didn’t say anything.
Nate’s gaze flickered from her face to Henry’s and back again. “What do you want me to tell Mom and Dad?”
“How about that I’ll be here until Rodrigues says I can go home?” She sighed. “Why don’t you encourage them to kick the investigation into high gear?”
“Okay.” Nate nodded, deflating a little. “Sure.”
He nodded again, glanced at Henry one last time, then shut the door.
It was several seconds before Henry said softly, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not kicking me out.”
There was only one response she could think of, but it was a lame one. “You’re welcome.”
Chapter Twenty
Friday, May 10, 10:12 a.m.
When Henry woke, Ruby wasn’t on the cot. He was on his feet and opening the door, adrenaline surging through him. Where was she?
He took one step outside the office he and Ruby had used as a safe place to sleep and found her in the office across the hall, sitting in a chair, wrapped in a blanket, and cradling a cup of something steaming hot in her hands. Next to her sat Joy. When he stepped closer, he noted Gunner was also in the room.
“You get enough sleep?” Joy asked.
Henry shrugged, finding it difficult not to stare at Ruby, who was studying her coffee intensely.
Gunner grunted. “I don’t think he’s interested in small talk.”
Henry had always liked Gunner’s cut-to-the-chase attitude. He grabbed a chair, positioned it so he could see everyone and down the hall a little ways, and sat on it. “Find anything out?”
Gunner launched into an explanation of the investigation so far. Hoffman and the SG had refocused the investigation, and finally it was bearing fruit. Hoffman had kept meticulous paper records in a safe in his house. They’d found evidence of a number of crimes, including terrorism, several counts of murder, destruction of government property, falsifying records, tax fraud, and more. The evidence also implicated several members of his family, but they were disavowing his claims, saying he’d been radicalized.
“What about the money?” Henry asked. “Is there a trail? Can we connect him with the rest of his family in this?”
Gunner was about to answer when someone approached the room and stopped in the doorway. The drill sergeant.
The old man had a couple of long scrapes on the left side of his face and bandages wrapped around both hands.
Ruby sucked in a breath.
Henry stood then hesitated over offering the other man his hand or a hug.
DS grinned. “You missed me?”
“Yup.”
Henry’s agreement seemed to faze the other man for a second, then he grinned again. “My mama always said I was a charmer.”
“Is that how you injured your hands?” Henry asked. “Charming people into doing what they’re told?”
DS snorted. “I burned my hands rescuing a young mother and her baby. I must have been charming or something, because that little gal didn’t cry at all. She blinked those sleepy baby eyes at me and dozed off.”
“Holy shit,” Gunner said. “I think he’s in love.”
DS didn’t refute it.
“You need some grandchildren to spoil,” Gunner said.
“I’d need kids for that.”
“We’ll get you a puppy,” Henry told him.
DS tilted his head to one side. “You know, that has some appeal.”
“Did you see anyone suspicious while you were helping the evacuation and recovery?” Henry asked.
“No, and trust me, I was looking. Whoever planted that bomb gave us just enough time to get the patients and staff out.”
“You just said you had to rescue people?” Joy asked.
“That was after the explosion. It started a fire, which was as much smoke as flames. She’d made a wrong turn and gotten separated from her escort out of the building.” He glanced at his hands. “Burns aren’t too bad. Some blistering, so I have to keep them wrapped up for now, but nothing to really hinder me doing my job.”
“You know,” Joy said in a speculative tone, “I don’t think anyone told me what your job title was. What is your job, DS?”
“I’m the personnel and security assistant to the director of the Outbreak Task Force.”
“What does that even mean?” Gunner asked.
DS rolled his eyes. “It means I’m Dr. Rodrigues’s Man Friday. I deal with problems she doesn’t have time to tackle but still needs to get done. Usually involving staffing issues, staff security, and communications during emergencies.”
“We’re still going through the texts and phone calls on Hoffman and the SG’s phones. So far, we haven’t found anyone new,” Gunner reported.
“How long had they been working with terrorists and mercenaries?”
“Almost from the beginning. After the FAFO attempted to release a pathogen in El Paso, the SG decided to contact them with an offer of assistance: money, weapons, and intel from inside the CDC.”
“So they used the terrorist group as a front, a distraction?” Henry asked.
“That’s what Hoffman claims. He was in it for the money, by the way.”
“What about the SG? Anything on him?”
“Yeah, his plans for a run at the presidency based on the his leading the country through a terrible outbreak.”
The presidency?
“Fucking politics,” Ruby muttered.
Everyone stared at her with varying degrees of shock on their faces.
“What?” she asked sharply. “I’m not allowed to be angry?”
“No one said that, princess,” DS said, wearing his drill sergeant face. A face that dared her to talk back.
“How many people are dead because of him?” she asked, her voice flat. “I can swear if I want to.”
Shit. How had he forgotten that? No wonder she wasn’t acting like herself. “You can say whatever you want.” The words were out of Henry’s mouth before he realized he was even talking. “Throw some more F-bombs if you want.”
“Yeah,” Joy said nodding hard. “Speak your shit.”
Gunner rolled
his eyes, but one corner of his mouth curled up in a crooked smile. “Let it all hang out.”
Everyone looked at DS.
“What do you think I am, some kind of party pooper?” He grinned. “It’s cute when she swears.”
She laughed, for all of a second, then held her side with one hand. “Ouch. Don’t make me laugh.”
“I thought laughter was supposed to be the best medicine?” DS asked.
“Not when you’ve been shot, knifed, and blown up,” Henry pointed out.
Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at it. “My folks will be here in an hour to pick me up.”
They were what?
“I’ll give you prescriptions for your medication,” Gunner said.
“Will you need any help with your dressings?” Joy asked. “I can do house calls.”
Henry’s gut churned and twisted until his insides felt like they were outside. They were actually entertaining the idea of her going home? Today? Alone?
“My mom is pretty good at that stuff,” Ruby said with a wan smile. “So I think I’ll be okay, but if anything looks off, I’ll call you.”
Henry got to his feet and focused hard on keeping his voice low and level when he wanted to let his freak fly at all of them. Especially Ruby. “Can I speak to you for a minute?”
She looked up at him with sleepy, soft eyes. “Sure.”
And now he just wanted to kiss her. His heart was going to get whiplash at how fast his emotions were changing. Keep it together.
When she didn’t move, he added, “Privately.”
“Oh, okay.” She got up slowly, like her joints were nearly rusted shut. She kept the blanket around her shoulders with one hand while the other had a white-knuckled grip on her cup.
He stepped back and indicated she should precede him out of the office they were all in and into the office across the hall.
She moved in fits and starts, the way injured people do when everything hurts. It made him want to shake her. She wasn’t okay, not even close, and she wanted to go home?
Henry followed her into the room then very carefully closed the door.
She shuffled over to the cot she’d slept on and sat on it.
He stood in front of the door with his arms over his chest. “Leaving is a bad idea.”
“I don’t want to stay here.” Ruby’s voice was back to flat. “Joy and Gunner agreed that going home was acceptable.”
“I disagree. The investigation isn’t over, and we don’t know if everyone’s been caught yet.”
She shifted and dropped her gaze. “You’re right, I shouldn’t go home. I should be one of those in custody.”
“What?”
She sucked in a breath and said, “I took a sample from the freezer without permission. I should be under arrest.”
The thought of her incarcerated made him want to punch something. “Shut that shit up.”
“No.”
He was beginning to hate that flat tone.
“I made a mistake. I need to atone for that mistake.”
He took two steps toward her then had to make himself stop. “You were pushed into a corner and given an impossible choice between two horrible options. So you created your own answer. Cowpox isn’t a deadly disease. For fuck’s sake, it was used as a fucking cure for its deadly relative.”
She squared her shoulders. “I still took it. I still lied to you. I betrayed you.”
Holy shit, was that what she was thinking? That she’d betrayed him all because she tried to save her brother’s life?
“You didn’t do anything criminal.”
He watched her swallow hard. “Yes, I did.”
He threw his hands in the air. “Stop arguing with me.” He turned away before he gave in to the furious need to touch her.
“You can deny it all you want,” she said softly, the flat tone gone, replaced by a sadness that sounded bottomless. “But I saw your face when you confronted me after I took the cowpox. You hated me.”
He spun around and strode up to her. “I saw you take something on the security cameras and jumped to the wrong conclusion,” he said, anger at his own stupidity vibrating his voice. He bent until he was almost nose to nose with her. “I was an idiot.”
She started shaking her head.
“I knew better,” he said, maintaining the eye contact. “I know you, and I know you’d never, ever violate your oaths.”
“But—”
“You were trying to salvage an unsalvageable situation; you were willing to take on all of the risk so no one had to. You did not betray me.”
“I lied to you.” Tears fell down her face, and her breathing turned choppy. Pain etched lines around her mouth and across her forehead.
He squatted in front of her, crowding her, pulling her into his arms. “Shh,” he whispered into her ear a second before he kissed it. “I would have fucked up Nate’s chance to escape.” He nuzzled her temple and kissed it, too, then he let his lips feather across her cheek until he reached her lips. “You taught me something important.”
“I did?”
“Yeah.” Every word he said caused his lips to brush hers. “I don’t have to go it alone. I don’t have to be alone.”
“Henry—” she said. Just his name, but it was filled with shame and remorse.
“Listen to me,” he pleaded. “Listen.” He put one hand under her chin and lifted her face. “I’ve been alone since I lost my battle brothers and my leg, but you—” He had to stop and swallow tears before they choked him. “You changed that. You brought something back into my life I thought I would never have again.”
She was staring at him now, her chest moving up and down rapidly. “What?”
“Someone to belong to. Someone who belongs to me. You.” He kissed the corner of her mouth, then the other side.
Her lips were soft and caught at his.
The tight, painful ball in the center of his chest unwound. She was kissing him back.
But she was also still crying.
“Hey, do you need pain meds?”
She shook her head.
“Do you need more kisses?”
He watched her eyes dilate.
“Do you…want to kiss me?” she asked so softly he wouldn’t have heard her if he wasn’t so close to her.
“All the time.” She needed to know just how much he felt for her, but she was nodding, her lips parted as if begging for another kiss, so he gave it to her and kept kissing her until they were both out of breath.
“I…” he said, his voice a hoarse rumble. He was done hiding his need for her. “Want to keep kissing you for the rest of our lives.”
“What does that mean?”
He kissed her, the soft, plush feel of her lips sustaining him in ways no food or drink ever could.
Her hands, buried in his hair, started to shake.
He pulled back. He shouldn’t be kissing her like this—she was covered in bruises and probably needed a week of rest.
He took her hands in his, holding them to his chest, right over his heart. “I’m beat up and I’m grumpy. I’ve got scars on my scars and a whole lot of shitty emotional baggage taking up space in the back of my head. I’m sure as shit no Prince Charming, but…I love you.”
She blinked, and her breath caught. “Say that again?”
“I love you.”
She stared at him, not breathing for so long he wondered if he should give her mouth to mouth—all in the name of first aid, of course.
“Your scars are hella sexy,” she said finally. “And Prince Charming would be boring.” She sniffed and smiled. “I love you, too.”
He buried his face against her neck and slipped his arms around her so he could hold her close. For long seconds he savored the feel of her warm and wanting in his arms.
Eventu
ally, he pulled back so he could make eye contact. “I know you need to sleep, but I want to get a couple of things clear.”
“Okay.”
“We’re together.” He almost phrased it as a question.
“Yes,” she agreed with a brilliant smile.
“We’ve wasted enough time apart. I’d like to be together. Will you marry me?”
The breath whooshed out of her. “You’re asking me to marry you?” It came out in a squeak.
“I know what I want, and that’s you.”
She searched his gaze for a moment before that smile came back. “I know I want you, too, so…yes.”
He wanted to scoop her off the bed and into his arms, but he couldn’t, not yet. “Are you wanting a big wedding or would a quick trip to Vegas work for you?”
Her smile got even brighter. “I hate big weddings. They’re such a waste of money. Vegas sounds perfect.”
He let go of her to pull the dog tags he wore on a chain around his neck up and over his head. He put it around hers and laid the metal tags on her chest. “This will have to do until I can get us some rings.”
She looked at the tags, which were as beat-up and dented as the rest of him, happiness a bright light in her eyes. Her gaze was warm on his face when she said, “I want to go home to sleep and recover for a couple of days.”
“Fine.” The woman was nothing if not tenacious. And it was a good thing she was. “The faster you recover, the faster we can get hitched.”
“I love you,” she said still holding the tags with one hand.
“Hearing that is never going to get old.” He kissed her. “Love you, too. Let’s get you home.”
…
3:32 p.m.
Henry drove Ruby home and went inside with her. Her parents and brother were waiting for them.
“We’re going to give Ruby an update on the continuing investigation of this whole mess,” her mother said. “Would you like to hear it?”
“Absolutely.”
Nate, Ruby, and her parents grabbed seats in the living room. Ruby took his hand and hauled him over to sit next to her on the sofa.
No one said anything about the fact that she didn’t let go of his hand.
“Let’s start with the Hoffman family,” her mother said.