Eli moved up one step, then another. Close, but not too close. He could smell the faint scent of her shampoo, something clean and barely floral. He didn’t let himself linger on it, but his body sure noticed.
She didn’t move back. Her gaze met his, and something held there. Long enough that the air between them shifted. Tightened.
Eli let out a slow breath. “Delaney.”
She tilted her head. “Yeah?”
He started to say something. Hell if he even knew what. But the words tangled behind the heat building in his chest. Instead, he reached up and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Just that. His fingertips barely grazed her skin.
Her breath caught. She didn’t step away.
“Probably not the smartest idea,” he said, his voice low.
“Definitely not,” she agreed, but her voice was softer now, almost a whisper. “But for a second, it didn’t feel wrong.”
Yeah, and that made this a big-ass problem. Why, why, why wasn’t there an off switch for his dick and any kind of dick thinking?
Eli stepped back, slow and controlled, the heat still simmering. He cleared his throat. “We should get ready. Noah said we’d roll out by eight.”
Delaney nodded, still watching him. “Right. Gear up and prepare for whatever twisted show Hale wants to put on for us.”
But she didn’t move right away. And neither did he.
Delaney turned and placed her coffee mug just inside the cabin, shut the door and then stepped out, falling into stride beside Eli. They walked up the gravel path toward the main building, boots crunching lightly, the morning damp still clinging to the trees and hills around them.
Eli kept his hands at his sides, resisting the urge to reach for hers. He was still feeling the buzz of their earlier moment, still hearing her voicewhen she said it hadn’t felt wrong.
They reached the steps leading to headquarters just as the front doors opened. Noah stepped out, a tablet in hand and his expression alert.
“I was about to contact you,” he said. “Olivia’s being discharged from the hospital this morning.”
Delaney straightened. “Already?”
“The docs signed off, but she wants to talk to you before she leaves. There’s time,” Noah added. “Hale didn’t give an exact arrival for the tour, so we’re assuming he’ll show up sometime late morning. That gives you at least an hour or two to talk to Olivia and get a read on her.”
Delaney glanced at Eli. “Let’s do it,” she agreed.
“I’ll meet you both at the institute,” Noah added, motioning for them to follow him to his vehicle. “I’ve got another meeting first, so I’ll catch up with you there.”
Both Eli and Delaney made sounds of agreement and watched as Noah opened the back hatch and pulled out two tactical bags, handing one to Eli and the other to Delaney.
“Gear up with the new body cams,” Noah said. “They’re already in your bags.”
Delaney arched a brow. “You mean the lapel ones?”
Noah nodded. “Not lapels. Pins. They’re embedded in the Crossfire Ops logo—those black shield-shaped clips. Flame-and-compass design. Looks like a regular team insignia, but the lens ishidden in the flame. Streams audio and video to our internal system, encrypted.”
Eli clipped his to the front of his jacket. “Subtle.”
“Exactly the point,” Noah said. “We don’t know what Hale’s really walking us into. These might be the only witnesses we get.”
Delaney gave her pin a glance, then looked at Noah. “Voice activated?”
“That, and remote sync. Isla’s on standby to monitor the feed.”
Eli zipped up his bag and stepped back as Noah shut the hatch of the SUV. After Delaney had her own clip in place, they headed to the SUV, loaded their gear bags into the back, and climbed in. Eli took the wheel. The drive to the hospital was quick, less than ten minutes, but the moment they pulled in, the tension hit like a wall.
Two local cruisers were parked near the entrance, lights flashing. Eli’s gut tightened.
