Nari nodded, tears pricking the backs of her eyes. “I’m so sorry about this.” She leaned back and held Opal’s hand while the EMT went to work on the wound. “It’s my fault.” Who would’ve thought the guy who’d attacked her would be so brazen as to try to take her while she was with the HDD administrator? Maybe he didn’t even know who Opal was. But Lassiter would know. Had it been he?
Opal faded, her eyelids closing.
Nari tightened her grip. “Opal? Hold on. Please.”
* * *
Angus stormed out of the police headquarters, more pissed off than he’d ever been before. Night had started to fall, and with the darkness came the rain. Hard, cold, biting rain. “Why couldn’t I get hold of Nari?” He’d been lucky Tate had allowed him a second call, and that Raider had picked up.
“Get in the vehicle.” Raider Tanaka waited by his Jeep at the curb, arms crossed and black eyes searching. Apparently he didn’t mind getting wet; his thick, black hair looked drenched. “I’ve scouted the area and haven’t detected any threats to you.” He motioned Angus into the vehicle. “Let’s move, though.”
Angus opened the passenger side door and jumped inside, dropping the bag holding his belongings. His temper wanted to be let loose, but he held back. Not only was there another dead woman, but now he’d wasted almost an entire day being charged, arrested, and then bailed out.
Raider slid behind the wheel.
“Thank you,” Angus said. “I can’t imagine what kind of favors you had to call in to get me out today.”
Raider drove away from the curb. “The entire team called in favors. We even contacted Millie at some spa to have her contact a couple of her friends for help. The end result is the same—you’re out for now. Any word on your lawyer?”
“No,” Angus said. “And I haven’t been able to call anybody else. Who picked up Nari?” He wanted her safe and locked down until he got out of this mess.
Raider drove through traffic, his hands capable on the wheel. “I need you to take a couple of deep breaths. Nari is fine. Now breathe.”
Angus stilled. All the thoughts rioting through his brain stopped cold. “Where is Nari?”
Raider took a sharp left, keeping an eye on the rearview mirror. “She’s visiting Opal Clemonte in the hospital.”
“What happened to the administrator?” Angus asked, watching the traffic stream by outside and looking for any threats.
“She was shot by a man who was trying to kidnap Nari. This happened in a public place—well, in a private club, actually.” Raider switched lanes, glancing at his side mirror.
Angus grabbed his arm, fire lancing through him. “The same guy who tried to take her before? Was it Lassiter?”
“She fought back and the administrator was shot,” Raider said evenly. “Nari is fine right now. She’s at the hospital, surrounded by a multitude of armed HDD agents.”
“Take me to the hospital,” Angus said, his heart speeding up as adrenaline flooded his system.
Raider nodded. “That’s where I’m driving.” He switched lanes again. “She’s at the one on the east side, not the one where your lawyer is.”
Angus ran his hand down his worn jeans. Even people on his periphery were getting hurt now. “I don’t think Lassiter has ever shot anybody before.”
Raider glanced at him before retuning his focus to the road. “No, but most people don’t fight as well as Nari. He might’ve used a gun with his hostages before; it would make sense, he managed to take so many. But this would be a first, right? Going into a place with so many other people was an incredible risk.”
Angus tried to work with the profile in his head and not freak out that Lassiter had been so close to Nari. Again. “Yeah. For him to take a risk like that, he’s upping the stakes.” Even so, it was out of character for the prolific serial killer. “We have the team pretty much locked down—perhaps that was his only option?”
Raider took another left to the small hospital on the other side of the city. “We’re not going to get in to see her, you know.”
Angus paused. “You can’t be here with me.”
Raider snorted. “I bailed you out, Force. That’s on record, and if DHS wants to fire me because of our association, it’s going to happen whether or not I walk into the hospital with you.” He jumped out of his Jeep.
Angus stepped into the rain, hit again by the loyalty of his team. What would his life be like if he left town and never worked with any of them again? He owed them all, and not only for recent events. Knowing them and leading them had probably saved his sanity as well as his life. “Are you happy with DHS?”
“It’s only been a few days.” Raider ducked his head against the rain and hurried toward the entrance. “But I miss the team already, if that’s what you mean. We were odd, but we got things done.” He reached an overhang and paused, shaking out his hair. “Brigid really misses everyone. She doesn’t like the new computer room or the other techs, and they don’t allow dogs or kittens in the offices.”
Brigid had enjoyed working with Roscoe snoozing on her feet and Kat curled up on her keyboard. “I wish I could think of something,” Angus said, eyeing the several agents milling around the waiting room.
Raider opened the door. “Well, if these agents beat the shit out of us, we can sue and maybe retire on a beach somewhere.”
