The phone’s ringing woke Anjali up.
She blinked a few times, adjusting to the dark of the room.
Beside her, Scott murmured into the phone. “What time? Nothing since then?” He hung up and softly cursed.
She sat up, pushing her hair back from her face. “What happened?” And then as realization dawned on her. “Coulter…the others?”
“Lieutenant Jacobs’s men called in at eleven to touch base. She hasn’t heard from them since or from anyone else.”
“And what time is it now?”
“Three.” Scott grabbed the phone and called Eddie, quickly filling him in on the details. “Be ready in ten minutes,” he said and hung up.
She sat there watching him get dressed. “You guys think you’re going alone, don’t you?”
He didn’t answer, stepping into his shoes.
She yanked off the covers and grabbed her jeans and a shirt. “Have fun trying to keep me here.”
He caught her face between his hands and kissed her hard.
“I’m going with you,” she said against his lips.
“No.”
She pulled away. “You think I’ll pull a Hans and hurt someone.”
Scott reached for his kit, which he always kept packed and ready to go. “You’re nothing like Hans. The person I’m worried you’ll hurt is yourself.”
She stared at him for a long moment. “I adore you but you’re an asshole.”
He smiled. “So you tell me.”
She began pulling on her jeans. “I’m going, you know. You can fire me if you want.”
There was a loud knock at the door. She heard Scott open it as she pulled the shirt over her head.
“Good, you made it,” he said, and she assumed he was talking to Eddie.
Until a tall, heavily muscled officer entered the room, practically having to duck his head just to clear the door.
“I’m going,” Scott said. “She’s staying.”
Anjali moved toward him but the officer blocked her path. She stared up at him and then at Scott. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Scott was at the door. “Promise you’ll never stop calling me an asshole,” he said.
“Scott!”
She watched him leave in disbelief. “You bastard!”