Angus bit back a grin. Now that was completely cute. Not just kind of. Then he frowned. “Let’s go, then. West is going undercover in about five hours. Let’s get him up to speed. If there’s time afterward, you can have sessions with both Wolfe and West.” He ignored their irritated looks.
Wolfe grabbed the coffees and moved past the shrink with West on his heels carrying the rest of the food.
Nari tapped her foot, waiting until the two men had loudly settled in the other case room. She moved toward him, her hips way too graceful. “What about you? When do you want to talk?”
He stood, towering over her with at least twelve inches of height advantage. “Never.”
She tilted her head, those fine features not looking intimidated in the slightest. “I’m afraid that’s not the deal.”
He breathed in slowly. She was cute and small and smart—and she wanted to help. More importantly, part of his deal with the HDD was that he’d allow their shrink to make sure his team wasn’t going off the rails. They needed a shrink, even one who’d gotten in trouble, although they wouldn’t tell him what she’d done. He’d argued, but they hadn’t budged on that requirement. “You can talk to my team, Dr. Zhang. But my brain is off-limits.”
“Why? I’d only need about three minutes.” Her grin lit up those glimmering brown eyes.
He barked out a laugh before he could help himself. While she’d only met the team the day before, he’d been dealing with her for weeks now. And the more he was around her, the more he wanted to know about her.
That wouldn’t do.
So he gave her a polite nod. “Let’s get to work.”
“Fine, but I’m not giving up,” she whispered in his wake.
Chapter Fourteen
Malcolm settled into a chair and tried to drink the sugary coffee Wolfe had brought. “Listen, I really appreciate the coffee.”
Wolfe nodded, pleasure curving his lips. He patted his pocket. “Good. Wanted to be friends.”
Mal tossed the rest of his sentence—where he told Wolfe that he preferred plain coffee with just milk and no syrup, whipped cream, or sprinkles—away. Maybe he could order a coffee the way he wanted at some point and Wolfe would notice.
Jesus. He was turning into a wimp.
Angus Force and Nari Zhang moved into the room. The tension between them was interesting to watch, but it couldn’t become a distraction. They chose seats at opposite sides of the table.
Wolfe barely rolled his eyes, but West caught it and threw back an almost smile.
Force grabbed a remote, and a screen dropped down in front of the murder board. He pointed the remote at the lights, and they slowly dimmed.
“Cool,” Wolfe said. A plaintive meow came from his pocket. “Oh. Kat doesn’t like the dark.”
Force muttered something that didn’t sound polite and ignited a screen. “There. Light.”
“Perfect,” Wolfe said, his tone satisfied.
Force hit another button, and a picture came up on the screen. “This is our CI. She’s living with the cult but wants out the second we bust them.” The picture was of a fiftysomething woman with dark brown hair liberally sprinkled with gray. “Her name is Orchid, and she’s to be covered.”
Mal memorized her face. “Got it.”
Another picture flashed across the screen. Force’s jaw hardened. “Meet Isaac Leon, also known as the One, the Alpha and Omega, and the Prophet.”
The guy had intense brown eyes, a trimmed goatee, and thick brown hair that curled beneath his jaw. In the picture, he wore a white tank top, a silver necklace, and a gray bandanna across his forehead.
Nari whistled. “Most guys can’t carry off the bandanna look. He can.”
Force cleared his throat. “Isaac was born John Landers in Iowa. Lived with his single mom until he was sixteen, when he moved to Los Angeles to make his fortune in movies. Changed his name to Emanuel Jordan.”
Guy looked like he could be an actor. Even in a still shot, he seemed charismatic.
Force clicked another slide, and Isaac appeared with very nice arrest numbers across his chest. “Has priors for fraud and burglary. Served two years in a California minor-security facility.” More slides clicked across. “Moved to Dallas when he was twenty-five, changed his name to Isaac Leon, and created An Teaghlaigh.”
