How dare he insinuate that she couldn’t handle this case.
Faith’s annoyance propelled her away from his door and back toward the recovery room. She’d wanted to dump his little ice bucket all over him and watch him squirm in that stupid hospital gown.
Lucky for him, he was rather appealing with his always-smoothed hair all disheveled, not to mention the day-old growth on his usually clean-shaven jaw that highlighted the angular lines of his face in an unexpected way. But that wouldn’t have saved him from her wrath if she hadn’t seen the raw pain in his eyes—eyes the exact shade of the wood on her grandfather’s boat...
Get a grip.
Who cared about Luke Powell’s eyes? No one. Especially not her. She had a case to solve. And dealing with Luke Powell was going to be ... complicated. Everything about Luke was complicated. He was infuriating and funny. Churlish and charming. Sometimes she wanted to punch him, and sometimes she wondered what he would do if she kissed him.
Her phone chirped. She stopped and leaned against the wall before she answered. “Agent Malone.”
“Are you still at work?” her mother asked.
How many times had she told her mom not to call this number unless it was an emergency? How many times had she asked her to please text, not call, for things that could wait?
She counted to five.
“Are you there? Do we have a bad connection?” Her mother knew there wasn’t a bad connection.
Faith counted to five again. “Mom, I can’t talk to you right now. You’ve dialed my work number again.”
“Sorry. I don’t know how that keeps happening.”
Right. “I’m working, Mom. No idea when I’ll be home. Everything okay with Hope?”
“Hope’s fine. She called this afternoon, but I haven’t seen either of you in a while.”
“I won’t have time to come by this week. Things are—”
“Are you working on the Secret Service case?” Her mom wasn’t as obtuse as she tried to appear.
“You know I can’t talk about my cases. I’ll check in with you later. If you need me, please use my personal phone, okay?”
“Be careful, honey.”
“I will. Love you.” Faith disconnected the call, checked to be sure she hadn’t missed any calls, then retrieved her personal phone from her back pocket and sent a quick message to her sister.
Hey! Miss your face. I know you’re killing it in court this week. When you get a chance, can you research a way to legally stop Mom from calling me on my work number? #notkidding
The blinking dots kept her finger paused over the phone a few moments longer.
LOL! Can’t be done. Court’s going fine. Love you!
Love you too.
She slid her personal phone back into her pocket. The next time she was with her mom, she was removing her work number from her mom’s contacts.
One deep breath later, she continued to the elevator. Ten minutes later, she was standing outside Zane Thacker’s room. When she’d tried to see him earlier, he’d been in between the recovery room and his new room on the fifth floor. Hopefully he’d had time to get settled and would be able to see her now.
“Any news from the outside?” the police officer guarding the hall asked her after studying her badge.
“Nothing new.”
“Good,” the older gentleman said. “No news is good news. At least on a day like today.”
“True.” She pointed to the door to Zane’s room. “Any changes in Agent Thacker’s condition?”
A shrug. “I’m not supposed to know anything, but I heard him talking a few minutes ago. Sounded like he was joking with the nurse. I don’t think he’s in much pain. Yet. When the meds wear off, he’ll be feeling it. You ever been shot?”
