I glanced at Wes who had turned a bright shade of pink. I grinned at him. “Wes, this is Mrs. Burton. She knows all the gossip around here. Mrs. Burton, this is my boyfriend, Wes.”
“Nice to meet you,” Wes said, moving closer to my side.
“Nice to meet you too, Wes, and thank you for giving me more gossip. It’s been quite boring around here today.”
I laughed. “Glad we could help, Mrs. Burton.”
“See you later, Patsy.”
We walked back inside the apartment, and I laid my muddy clothes out on my balcony to dry in the hot, afternoon sun. Thirty minutes later, we’d packed up the things we needed, going as light as possible since we were supposed to look homeless. When we each had a pack, we headed out in the Beetle for the office.
Once there, I introduced Wes to everyone on my team, but also Dr. Reeves and Lincoln Snow. While Wes sat with Snow and the doctor to hear the profile, I waited just outside the conference room, watching his reaction through the window.
“Everything okay, Patsy?”
I looked up to see Candy coming over. “Hey, boss, grand, yeah. Everything’s good as gold. I just worry about him.”
“Your friend, Wes?”
I smirked at him. “Ya can say boyfriend, even though personally, I hate the word. I like partner better.”
“Um hm.”He paused, looking through the glass and then back at me. “I hate to ask but do you think you might have jumped into this too fast?”
I stared at him for a few seconds until his meaning finally registered. “A partner?”
He nodded slowly. “You just met him, Patsy.”
I pivoted to fully face him. “Let me be askin’ ya a question, Cap.”
“Go on.”
“Have ya ever seen me interested in anyone before?”
He frowned, seeming to contemplate the question for a long time. “No, I’ve never known of you to date anyone.”
“And have ya known me for a decade or more, Candy?”
“Yes.”
“Yer right. I’ve never dated anyone. I’ve taken a hell of a lot of blokes home to bed, but ya know the truth of it, I’ve never actually cared about any of ‘em. Wes is the first man I’ve given a shit about. Before meetin’ him, the only thing I ever cared about was how fast I could get ‘em in and then out of my bed.”
Candy smiled…genuinely smiled, then surprised me when he put a long arm around my shoulders and squeezed before dropping his arm and stepping back. “I’m happy for you, Pats. Honestly, I was pretty worried about you.”
“Me? Why? When?”
“After this last shooting, Dr. Daughtry signed off on you jumping back into the field, but she did it reluctantly, due to the way you portrayed the takedown of those two bank robbers.”
“What the feck? What’d she say?” I was pissed off that she’d reportedanythingabout a conversation which was supposed to be private.
“She didn’t disclose anything about your session, but when she gave me the signoff, shedidsay she was concerned that youwere being too casual about the shootings, and that I should keep an eye on you when you’re out in the field for a while.”
I nodded. “To be fair, maybe I was a wee bit casual about it, but I think we all are to some degree. No one has seen what we have, Candy. She’s never walked in our shoes. She’s never seen combat. We’ve all experienced some horrible shit and quite frankly, takin’ down two crazed men hell bent on killin’ my best mate, won’t be makin’ me cry in my pint. It doesn’t mean I’m desensitized to it. It’s part of the job. Ya know this.” I stared at him critically. “Are ya afraid I’ll put meself in danger by tryin’ to protect Wes when we’re out there? Is that it?”
“It crossed my mind.” He looked away and sighed, putting his hands on his hips before turning back to me. “I hate to ask this, but I’m going to. When was the last time you spoke to Greg?”
“My sponsor?” Guilt washed over me when he nodded. It had been shortly after the robbery where I’d first met Wes. “It’s been a while.”
Candy reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. “Well, I suggest you talk to him right now. Open up about everything including shooting those robbery suspects. I want you clear headed before you go into this Op with Wes.”
