Point made, she lifted her chin and left the office without another word.
“Where the hell is she going?” Canker asked.
Cody growled, “Shut the fuck up, Hoyt.”
“Babbitt.” Chase’s deep voice issued his order in a word.
“On it.” Cody’s automatic response told Gray two things. She’d picked up a two-hundred-pound tail. And Chase Mackenzie wasn’t about to let her go so easy.
Yeah. Like she gave a fuck.
Without a clue as to which direction she should go in, she started running.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Sitting behind his desk,the colonel looked as tired as Chase had ever seen him. “Is there something going on between you and my daughter I should know about?”
“Not yet, sir.” And probably never if she had her way about it. Nuclear explosion Gray, he could deal with. Quiet fallout Gray had him on edge. He had to get her alone as soon as possible, because as far as he was concerned, never was not an option, and right now wasn’t soon enough.
“And your fiancée? Holly, is it?”
“Holly hasn’t been my fiancée since she broke it off seven months ago.”
“Then why the phone calls?”
Chase shrugged. “I’m behind on the paperwork, and she needs my signature to sell the house and close our accounts.”
“Jesus, Mackenzie. You’re taking your sweet-ass time.”
“Been a little busy, Colonel.”
“And Grace?”
“Not too busy for her, sir.”
“I don’t suppose I have to tell you. She’s hard on the head.” The colonel rubbed a hand over his face, and Chase noted the dull metal of the wedding band circling his finger. A lifetime of nicks, scratches, and dents etched in gold.
Despite his worry, Chase couldn’t help but smile. “No, sir.” She was her father’s daughter, after all. Hard on the head came with the territory.
“I don’t suppose I have to tell you. She’ll try to bolt as soon as possible.”
“I’ve already taken the necessary precautions.” Chase trusted his five JTT sidekicks with his own life. Putting Gray in their hands when she wasn’t in his was a no-brainer. Not that he intended to let her get too damn far from his hands, although, at present, she might have a different opinion on the matter.
The colonel took a moment, his gaze critical. “She’s not going to make this easy for you, Sergeant.”
“I’m aware of that, Colonel.”
“Well, you never did take the easy road.”
“No, sir.”
The colonel shook his head, his less than sympathetic expression indicating his appreciation of his daughter’s capabilities. “Well, good luck then, Mackenzie. I’ll leave her to you.”
“Thank you, Colonel.”
“Don’t thank me yet, dumbass. Grace is about to feed you your own balls for breakfast.”
Chase laughed. “She’s definitely going to try.”
