“Yeah, well, that was before I rediscovered what a complete badass you are.”
“And don’t you forget it,” she chided.
Colonel Aronson dropped into a metal folding chair set up behind a collapsible table. He tapped the molded plastic tabletop twice to get their attention.
Chapter Seventeen
Cassidy had finished her story about the Baker brothers’ arrests when another call came through.
“Picnic area is clear. Confirm deactivation.”
Jake smirked and let out a chuckle. “Sounds like Winter’s team, sir.”
Aronson nodded his understanding. When he turned away to respond to the report, she looked over at Jake. “I can’t shake the feeling he’s hanging close,” she said. “I don’t think he cares enough to set off the bomb in the Swine Barn. I think, if anything, the backpack is the one we have to worry about.”
“Agreed.” He leaned closer. “Assuming I’m correct in believing the RV is rigged and not a remote detonation.”
Max’s toenails clicked and scraped on the concrete floor as he shifted. Cassidy looked down at the dog who’d become her companion. He twisted around and was nibbling at the gauze wound around his leg to keep the dressing in place.
“Do you think he needs pain meds?”
Jake looked at his K-9, who ceased his exploration the moment he placed a quelling hand on him. “I think he’s okay. But if he can’t leave it alone, he may get stuck wearing the Cone of Shame.”
When the dog’s ears twitched and he turned his magnificent nose up, she laughed out loud. “I think he understood you.”
“Oh, I have no doubt he did.”
Colonel Aronson turned back to them. “The team at the Swine Barn says they are almost done,” he told them. “Leaves us with the backpack and the RV.”
“Ms. Walker believes Troy Baker may be somewhere in the area,” Jake informed him.
Aronson’s attention swung to her. “What makes you think he is?”
Again, she could only answer with a shrug. “Gut feeling? This is a vendetta, Colonel. He’s not going to be satisfied until he takes one last shot at me.”
Aronson quirked a single brow. “You may be right.” Their eyes met and held, his stare challenging, hers telling him she felt up to the task.
“Sir, we can’t dangle her out there like bait,” Jake argued.
“We can if I say we can,” Cassidy countered. When he opened his mouth to argue, she held up a hand. “I appreciate your concern, Jake, but I’ve been in this up to my neck since the beginning.”
“Yeah, but you’re out of it now,” he countered.
“For how long?” She tilted her head, brows lifting as she waited for his answer. She stood. “Colonel, I’m going to take a walk down to check in on Bud and the rest of the team.” She tipped her head toward the door. “You and Max coming with me, or do you prefer to skulk at a distance?”
Jake’s expression turned stormy, but before he could retort, the door opened and a silhouetted figure called to them. “Does anyone in here need water? Chief? Sorry I couldn’t get back to you, Ms. Walker. My unit needed me.”
She squinted against the afternoon glare. The trainee fireman who’d brought her a sandwich earlier stood backlit in the open doorway, but she could read the white print on the snug navy T-shirt he wore. She raised a hand in a wave. “I’m okay, thanks, T.B.”
“We’re good here,” Colonel Aronson said in a clipped tone.
When the door swung shut again, Jake smirked at her. “I think that guy has a crush on you.”
Cassidy laughed and rolled her eyes. “Well, of course he does. Look at how pretty I am after being terrorized and held hostage on a runaway merry-go-round.”
She rose from the chair and Max scrambled to sit tall. He looked so bright, so alert and ready for action, it was hard to believe he’d been injured. “You don’t skulk, do you, big guy?”
“Never,” Jake said as he stood, too. “We’re sticking with her, sir,” he said to Colonel Aronson. A statement, not a request.
