“Her fever dropped a little. They think the experimental antibiotics may work. I’m reserving judgment.” Hope knew all about antibiotics and how they worked, considering her doctoral work. She’d explained it for the rest of them earlier. “She’ll probably still be…almost unresponsive for a…while.”
She was tearing up again. Daniel shoved back the panic. He couldn’t deal with one of themcrying.It broke a man’s heart. There had been a lot of tears earlier tonight. He almost hadn’t been able to handle it. Fortunately, Alex had been there—and he seemed pretty good at handling Coleson women when they were upset. Somehow.
It was probably a magic power no one had even known Alex possessed.
Still, he couldn’t stop himself. He stood and wrapped his arms around her, ignoring how she gave a little jump. He hadn’t forgotten what hell she’d gone through at the hands of a cop before. “It’ll be okay. Your sister is the toughest woman I have ever met.”
That was the truth. Heather had survived incredible odds before.
Daniel held her while she cried for her sister. He just wanted to make everything better for her. Somehow.
Never had he felt more useless than he did now.
Daniel just…told her good-night, at least…he thought it was good night. He just didn’t know. And he retreated. To the very room the chief of the TSP Homicide division had been in just weeks before.
Everyone knew Miguel hadn’t been thesamesince he’d been sucked into this vortex. He just hadn’t.
Daniel…Daniel was starting to understand why.
This was probably the most dangerous place a man could ever be.
He was just going to stay in his room at night. Before he did or said something completely stupid.
39
Dom was under no illusions.This guy was nothing more than a paid killer. He wasn't going to talk. Not without the right incentive. Well, it was time to figure out what that was. They’d taken him in, booked and processed him, and then made him sit overnight. While Dom got a few hours of sleep. It hadn’t been enough—he still felt pissed at the world today in general.
When he thought about what he was doing today—it was pissed for specific reasons.
Dom wasn’t in the mood to play games today. Not after word had come about Heather.
Gunnar and Daniel were out of the hospital now, recovering, butHeather…no one knew what the future held for that woman now. Cherise had told him they were concerned about sepsis and antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria and shit Dom understood just enough about to know it wasn’tgood.
He studied the young guy, looking for any tells. Late twenties, about six-two with very nondescript features. Nothing remarkable, nothing impressive. But put him in a crowd of people—he wouldn’t stand out.
That was probably exactly what the man’s employers were looking for.
From the way he held himself, the man practically shouted ex-military. He'd laid eyes on enough special forces to recognize it. Just something about the way the guy was watchful. The way he held himself. Much like Dom's own father did. His dad had a rather more illustrious background with military secrets than most people knew.
Well, Dom suspected this man had secrets in his background, too. And something broken in him. Or greed—sheer, unadulteratedgreed.
And Dom suspected the ego was the way to get started. He waited until the officer in the room with them Mirandized the man, then he sat down.
"I guess she surprised you, huh?"
The man just blinked at him.
Dom pulled out the chair and sat down. He wasn't going anywhere for a while, and he was making that known. He didn’t enjoy this part. Dom preferred to just ask questions outright, not finesse guys like this. But he’d been around the game long enough to know how to play it. First, he just had to feel the guy out. Find his triggers. They always had triggers. "Detective Miller, I mean. She just came out of nowhere, didn't she? She made a hell of a tackle, too. I’ve seen the security videos. Bam! She had you down. A man our size. Taken down by a woman. Shouldn't take any shame in it. I understand she’s trained in at least two types of martial arts. Rumor is she’s won a few competitions, too. Beautiful woman. You enjoy getting to roll around on the floor with her?”
Dom had seen video footage now. Miller studied tae kwan do and Brazilian ji jitsu. She’d tackled the guy and then grappled the guy, right to the linoleum floor, and disarmed him. Theguy’s shock had been written on his face, perfectly clear even in security videos. Dom had gotten a laugh out of that.
There. There was a flicker at that. Interesting. Guyhadenjoyed it. It had excited him. Dom would bet money on it. Fighting with an opponent, especially a female one, had gotten the juices flowing. This wasn’t a thrill killer—he would bet money on that. Killing probably didn’t excite him at all—but a woman? That sure would. "Did you notice?"
"Can't say that I did."
The guy was smirking at him in return. Playing it cool. But Dom had seen it. The man hadn’t liked being bested by a woman at all. Especially one so much smaller. It had offended his ego. But it sure as hell had turned him on.
Ego, pride, excitement. Interesting.
