Angus partially sat up. “Deputy Administrator Zhang. How are you?”
A bandage covered part of Zhang’s forehead and he walked as if his bones hurt. “I am well. How are you?”
Angus could use a big old dose of painkiller. “I’m fine. Bullet just went right on through.” What were the correct words of sympathy for somebody whose girlfriend had turned out to be a psychotic killer who had just been using him? “Nari was really brave and put Opal down, if I remember right.”
Zhang shuffled his feet. “I was wrong about you, and I apologize.”
“You were wrong about Nari,” Angus countered evenly. “She’s the one deserving of an apology. For a lot of things.”
Zhang sighed and looked down. “I know. You’re right.” He breathed in and then met Angus’s gaze. “I don’t know who will be made administrator, but I’d like to reinstate your team, if you’d like to remain employed and working together.”
Hope filled Angus, along with the persistent pain in his arm. “With full pay for the time we’ve been off?”
“Yes. Of course.” Zhang touched the bandage on his head and then put his shoulders back, looking more in control than he had when he’d walked inside. “Please take a couple of days, talk to the team, and then let me know. Good job today.” He turned on a polished loafer and exited the room.
Angus sat back. If Nari didn’t show up soon, he was going looking for her. Where the hell was she?
* * *
Nari hugged her mom as she rested on the bed, ordering the doctors around. “Let them do their jobs,” Nari whispered.
Her dad, his blond hair wavy, sat next to her, patting her hand. “Let her boss everybody. It makes her happy.”
Nari chuckled. “That was so brave, the way you jumped in front of the Taser, Mom.”
Her mom grinned. “It was the only way your crazy plan of Angus strangling you was going to work.” She coughed and then laughed. “I was terrified, but I acted well. When Angus threw his arm, I acted like he’d hit me.”
Nari sighed. “He didn’t connect?”
“Of course not. I can fake a hit.” She pushed Nari in the arm. “The nurse just told us that he was out of surgery. You should go reassure that boy that he didn’t hurt you. Well, maybe play it a little soft so he stays mellow, but you know what I mean.” She leaned toward her husband. “Nari used the L word. The real L word.”
“Wait a minute. I haven’t met this guy yet,” her dad protested, his blue eyes gleaming.
Nari sighed. “I’ll be back.” She hugged her dad and exited the room, almost running into Quan. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he said, leading her around the corner. “I want a moment to speak with you before I go home. I’m sorry for, well, everything.” He awkwardly patted her shoulder.
Her eyebrows rose. “All right.”
He stepped back. “I’m not a demonstrative man and I don’t know how to be parental.”
She looked at the bruise on his head. “Do you not want me around because you sucked as a dad?”
His smile was a surprise. “Yes. Well, it wasn’t that I didn’t want you around. I just couldn’t figure out why you’d want to be around me, so I figured it wasn’t a good thing.”
She shook her head. “Working for a super-secret governmental agency makes everyone paranoid. Maybe I just wanted to get to know you.” She could finally see the flawed human being in the father she’d never known. Nari looked back at her mom’s room. “Besides, don’t worry about it. I have the best parents in the world.”
He nodded. “That’s what I thought. But I would like to know you and maybe be friends?”
That was odd, but what the heck. “I’d like that.” She needed to see Angus, and now.
“Good. I told Agent Force that he could put his team back together, and if he does, you have the choice of working with that team or taking the job Opal offered you. It was actually my idea—that job, I mean. It’s needed.” He shuffled his feet.
The team was back in action. Nari nearly hopped. “I’ll think about it. Thanks.” She’d consider everything later. “I have to go now.”
He nodded. “We’ll talk soon.”
She turned and walked as sedately as she could toward the room where Angus was supposed to be. Upon arriving, she had to make her way through the entire team. Wolfe had somehow gotten the kitten inside, and the animal was perched on Angus’s chest, purring contentedly.
