He stiffened. “Yes. Who is this?”
“This is Sally Weston from North Valley Hospital. You’re listed as her boss and an emergency contact for Nari Zhang.”
Angus went cold. “Is Nari okay?” He pushed to his feet and the world spun.
“She’s injured and is here after an attack, so I’m notifying you.”
Angus limped toward the detectives, heat now flashing down his arms and then up his neck to burn his ears. “I’m on my way.” He clicked off. “You can interview me en route to North Valley Hospital—which is where I need to go. I’ll tell you everything, but I need a ride now.”
Chapter Thirteen
Nari sat on the examination table as the doctor finished stitching up the wound along her hairline. The myriad of HDD agents who had descended on the hospital had finally dispersed, reassured that one of their own was okay. At times like this she remembered why she liked working for the agency.
Vaughn stood in the corner and finished typing on his tablet. “I’ll have agents rotate security for your apartment until we find this guy.”
In that second she remembered why she’d originally liked him.
He looked up, his gaze veiled. “Special Agents Fields and Rutherford have checked in and volunteered for rotation. I take it you made friends?”
Not exactly. “Rutherford offered, too?” she asked, her head still ringing.
“Yes.”
Well, maybe the straitlaced agent wasn’t so bad.
“We’ll need to go through all your cases to see who might’ve wanted to attack you,” Vaughn said, setting his tablet aside.
“I already told you. There’s a copycat serial killer, and it looks like he’s targeted my former team. We need Angus Force on this.” Just saying his name made her body hurt worse. She actually had no clue where Angus was, darn it. His cabin was somewhere in the Kentucky wilderness, and he probably wasn’t even home yet. Maybe he’d gone to Vegas for a weekend of debauchery to forget his problems. It was shocking how badly she wanted him to come charging in and taking over in that way he had.
The doctor finished. “You have a minor concussion, but so long as you don’t get dizzy or vomit, you should be okay in a couple of days.” The woman turned and walked out of the room, taking off her gloves as she did so.
Quan strode in at that moment and she barely concealed a groan. That was all she needed.
He looked her over, his dark eyes sharp. Tonight he wore gray slacks with a light-green shirt, and the scent of aftershave reached her. Had he been on a date? “You are all right?”
Nari nodded. His concern almost warmed her. “Yes. I’ve made a report and agents are canvassing my apartment complex.”
Quan turned toward Vaughn. “I’m sorry you had to be called in on this. Weren’t you at the fundraiser for Senator Jones?”
Vaughn nodded. “My date is handling things, and I’ll return when I’m finished here.” He was the perfect agent, wasn’t he? “I think this is a problem left over from that subpar team Nari was on.” Was that a smirk? Yep. That was a smirk. Oh, yeah. That’s why she’d broken up with him.
Quan sighed. “Yes. I figured.” He glanced at his watch, no longer paying attention to Nari. So much for parental concern. Her shoulders sagged. “Why don’t you return to the fundraiser? I’ll handle things here,” he said.
“This thing can handle herself,” Nari said before she could bite back the words.
Both men turned to look at her.
Vaughn straightened. “It was a good fight. You taught her well, sir.”
“My mom and my dad taught me to fight. Mom’s family owns a series of martial arts gyms, and she’s amazing,” Nari said, keeping her gaze on Quan. It wasn’t as if he’d been all that involved in her life. “My dad is an ex-marine and he’s a tough guy. Hopefully you can meet him someday, Vaughn. He won’t like you.”
Vaughn apparently caught the tension because he edged toward the door. “All right. I should get back. Nari, take tomorrow off. If you’re feeling up to it, report to work on Monday.” He exited the room.
Quan shook his head when they were alone. “Must you be so emotional?”
Emotional? She’d just been attacked by a psycho in her own home. Her head hurt, her body ached, and she just wanted to crawl into bed and stay there for the next three days. “Please, Quan. You’re smothering me with your concern and kindness,” she drawled.
His chin lifted and irritation crossed his face. “This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t had to reassign you to that team for a brief time.”
