Chapter 33
Kane
Seated behind the management desk, Arran folded his arms and waited on Tyler to finish detailing my role in the trafficking takedown. My team leader stood to the side of the desk, one shoulder to the red-brick wall in a lean I knew was anything but casual. Tyler gave off such controlled energy, but last night, he’d stabbed a man to death in front of me.
He’d taken pleasure in the killing.
That spoke to something deep inside me. An admiration generating even greater respect.
“What happened to the lasses?” I asked.
“We moved the bodies of the traffickers, leaving the lasses on the boat until help arrived. They’re in a safe house now. They’ll be taken care of.”
I shook my head. “The girl he threw at me can’t have been more than sixteen.”
Dangerous anger flashed in Tyler’s eyes. “Just a child who that fucker decided was an object to be sold. Ye saved her, Kane. That’s the salient point. For that, you took a bullet.”
I rolled the shoulder Lovelyn had tended. I’d been careful not to get the bandage wet when I showered, not such a challenge when her showerhead was so low it hit the centre of my chest.The butterfly stitches she’d laid on me had held. “A scratch. It barely bled.”
The men swapped a glance.
Arran steepled his fingers. “You proved yourself. If you’re willing, there’s a permanent place in the skeleton crew with your name on it.”
My gaze swung between them, surprise taking me over. If anything, I’d expected a reprimand. Probably a removal of me from their team. In every one of my previous jobs, I’d been a tool. An on-tap provider of violence and aggression. But there were always consequences. Quitting a job before it ended was a reason for getting reamed out by the boss.
Tyler took over. “I want ye on my team, Kane. I can’t promise easy work. It will be more of the same as last night. Long hours of waiting. Potentially deadly outcomes. But it’s violence with a purpose. My question is, did ye enjoy it?”
I took a deep breath, separating out how I’d worried for Lovelyn with the events of the night. I preferred being out in the field, and I wanted to do what Tyler had done. Stab first and ask questions never. The men we’d taken down deserved nothing less. “I did. Got to say I’m surprised at the offer after I ran.”
Arran’s gaze turned speculative. “You got the job done first. Convict told us what happened after. For future reference, if you’re away overnight and that leaves your woman vulnerable, we’ll handle it. She can stay in the warehouse or we’ll assign a guard. Whichever works.”
Lovelyn wasn’t my woman. I’d never had a woman. Yet in the same breath, with my shirt smelling of her and their neatly packaging us up as a couple, for the first time in my life, I felt like I could. It wouldn’t be just me against the world with no protection for anyone I loved.
That last word tightened my chest to the point of pain.
“I’ll bear that in mind,” I forced out.
“Take a day or two to consider your answer.” Tyler let me go.
Outside, I checked my phone, my damn pulse jumping at the name on my screen.
Lovelyn: We’re going up to the roof. Technically not leaving the building, but outside, so I thought you’d want to know.
Kane: On my way.
With the help of Riordan, I found my way to the flat roof of the warehouse, a low brick wall around the edge and steam coming from a tower vent in the centre. Lovelyn stood with her friends, one of them holding binoculars. I joined them, ignoring the expansive view of Deadwater for the better one of her.
Lovelyn shot me a shy smile. “You came.”
“Ye called.”
Her pretty smile flashed bigger then reduced. “We’re watching the police activity at the murder scene downriver. The body is covered. We can’t be sure if it’s Karla.”
Cassie offered the binoculars to me.
I refused with a hand raised. “She came looking for me but ended up dead.”
Cassie inclined her head. “That and an interview, though nearly all staff appointments still go through me, and her name wasn’t on my radar. I’ll check with Clem when she comes in later if it was a bar job. It’s possible she intended to ask for work on the fly.”
