“Sorry?”
“Don’t fucking do it again.” And then, before either of them could overthink it, Gunnar grabbed Bryn’s T-shirt and pulled him close. Their lips met in a fierce, desperate kiss, all the tension, fear, and heightened emotion from the day melting away.
When they finally broke apart, both breathless, Bryn grinned. “Now, are you done yelling at me?”
“Not even close,” Gunnar murmured. “Let’s get out of here.”
“You’re the boss.”
“Maybe you could try to remember that.”
Epilogue
“I should put you two under house arrest,” Warden said. “Of all the idiotic… Do either of you haveanysense of self-preservation?”
“It was my fault,” Bryn said, sitting up a bit straighter in his seat at the conference room table. “It just kinda came into my head that I needed to do something. There’s no doubt Romano would have killed that woman.”
“But you didn’t think it was possible he might killyou? The GRC’s most valuable asset.”
“Well…no. I knew Gunnar would find a way to rescue me, I just had to stay alive long enough for him to work out how.”
Gunnar stared at him. Warden shook his head. “You two raise my blood pressure to stratospheric levels, you know that? No, don’t say anything else. You.” He pointed at Bryn. “You ever do something like that again and I will personally cane your ass. And you.” It was Gunnar’s turn. “You should know better.”
“I think I should be calling human resources,” Bryn muttered. “That kind of sanction can’t be in the staff handbook.”
“There’s a special fucking chapter written just for you. Don’t push me.”
Bryn pouted. “So not fair.”
“We’ll put a line under this fiasco and be thankful that neither of you ended up in the mortuary. The FBI is very pleased with yesterday’s result and Romano is singing like a canary. He’s talking about fifteen other killings across four states. Seems to be proud of not being caught for so long.”
“Jesus, what a nut job,” Bryn said.
“Quite. What he said to you about drugging Frederics was also true, Bryn. The autopsy showed cause of death was drowning but there were massive amounts of LSD in his system. That stuff works within one to four hours and the effects can go on for up to twelve, so the Lord only knows what he was seeing when he drove off that bridge.”
“The fifth Boston victim then,” Gunnar said.
“Indeed.” Warden leaned back in his chair. “I have other news. Salvatore Russo has left the country. The feds tracked his private jet to Colombia last night. They believe he’ll wait for the dust to settle following the accountant’s trial before returning.”
“That’ll give him time to cook up more ways to get to Bryn,” Gunnar said.
“Possibly, but for now, he’s out of your hair and has plenty of other things to worry about.”
“So just an escaped maniac and half the criminal underworld to look out for then,” Bryn said. “That’s a relief.”
“You can both take the rest of today off to have a break. No going out. You can go, Bryn. Emmett has been frantic with worry so go reassure him that you’ll try to develop some common sense.”
“Yes, boss.” Bryn slunk out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Gunnar eyed Warden. “I take full responsibility for what happened yesterday. I put Bryn in that situation.”
“I don’t hold grudges, Gunnar, and he’s as culpable as you. It’s done. The most revealing thing out of all of this is that he trusts you completely. I was right to bring you in.”
“You meanyouasked for me? I wasn’t suggested?”
“That’s right.” Warden steepled his fingers.
“Wait a goddamn minute…” Lightbulbs flashed in Gunnar’s brain. “You’re a fucking augur, aren’t you?”
