“But?”
Cam circled the interrogation table, debating whether to get into this with Aidan, but he had to get into it with someone.Needed to get it out.They were all supposed to have each other’s backs.“The SEAL side of him makes him want to do more.”
“It also keeps him calm.”
“On the outside.”He shrugged out of his suit coat, tossed it at the chair, and loosened his tie, trying and failing to open the collar button.“Do you know how many times we’ve argued about him staying in the surveillance van on ops?”
Aidan chuckled.“Jamie told me about the one in Boston.”
“And that wasn’t even the worst time.”
“Cam—” Aidan started, pushing off the wall.
Cam paced the opposite direction.“I feel like I’m constantly playing catch-up because no one, including you, looped me in on this until I got back from Boston.And apparently, I haven’t been looped in all the way.”
Aidan grabbed his bundled-up jacket, shook it out, and draped it over the back of a chair.“You told Nic this?”
“Yes, and now I’m telling you again.”He stopped right in front of Aidan, needing his partner’s—his friend’s—reassurance.“Is there anything else I don’t know?”
“You know what I know.”
Cam hung his head.“Fucking lawyers.”
“Hear, hear,” Lauren quipped, voice echoing over the speakers.
Cam didn’t bother lifting his gaze.“Eavesdropper.”
“That’s what you pay me for.”
He extended his arm toward the observation window, raising his middle finger, as did Aidan, and Lauren’s applause rang through the speakers.“A-plus for coordination.Now, can I bring in Agent Lorton?”
Aidan glared at the window.“You’re starting to sound like Mel.”
“Learned from the best.I’ll bring Rick in.Comm units are in the corner console.”She made a racket leaving the adjoining room, much noisier than when she’d apparently entered.Why was she working for the FBI and not the CIA?Cam wondered daily.And daily thanked whatever had led her to them as the tension in the interrogation room eased.
“Is this settled?”Aidan asked, retrieving the earbuds.
“As long as I’m kept in the loop.”
“You have my word.”He offered Cam one of the comm devices, then after tucking in his, pulled out chairs for both of them.“Now, how are we going to play this?Lauren briefed you on the money?”
Cam unbuttoned his sleeves, rolling them up to the elbows.He usually didn’t get to this point until later in the afternoon but fuck if this hadn’t been the longest day in recent memory.“She did.I’m still aiming to eliminate him as a suspect.”
Aidan lowered into the chair next to him.“You think it’s Cole?”
Cam nodded.“The way he’s been hovering...”
“All right, then.That’s how we’ll play it.”
Lauren opened the door, handed Cam a file, then ushered in Agent Rick Lorton.She ducked back out and into the observation room where she’d be reading Lorton’s biometrics during the interview, the perks of interviewing suspects and witnesses in this room.
Cam was ninety-five percent certain Lorton was neither a suspect nor a witness, but he needed to be one hundred percent.In his late twenties, the junior agent was the epitome of boy next door with his fresh face, thick blond hair, and big green eyes.“Agents, you wanted to see me?”And he had the Midwest accent to go along with his looks.
“Have a seat, Rick,” Cam said, starting out friendly.
The agent folded all his corn-fed muscles into the chair across from them.“Is there a reason we’re meeting in here and not one of your offices?”
Because of the aforementioned biometrics reading.“Because evidence exploded everywhere,” Cam said instead.
