Alex and Bonnell were in the living room. Bonnell had a bag in her hand and she handed it off to Alex. “You’re awake. Get out here.”
“I, uh, need a minute,” Bryce said.
Bonnell frowned.
“They were totally about to bone,” Alex said.
“Stay out of my head,” Bryce replied.
“Dude, you’re naked and you’re not wet from the shower. Unless you two decided this is a nudist safe house—”
Bonnell’s frown turned into a scowl. “Agent Reynolds. Get pants on and get in the hallway.Now.”
Bryce nodded and shut the bedroom door. He leaned against it for a moment.
“Holy shit. Are you in trouble?” Jesse asked quietly.
“I’m sure I’ll find out.” Bryce clicked the safety back on his weapon and put it back in its holster. “You should probably stay in here.”
“I could help argue for you.”
Bryce kissed Jesse’s cheek. He found a pair of jeans in the blue bag and tugged them on. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Bryce said with more confidence than he felt. “Nothing to worry about.”
“What the hell were you thinking?”Bonnell demanded once they were out in the hall. She kept her volume soft, but the words resonated through Bryce, reminding him that he had, once again, ignored protocol.
Bryce’s back was taut, and he wasn’t sure he would ever relax. “Director—”
“You are one of my top agents, Bryce, but ever since that man walked into your life, you’ve been one disaster after another,” Bonnell said. “Allowing Alex to overuse his powers, letting a witness go, sleeping with said witness when we need to protect him. You’re my responsible team leader. What’s happened to you?”
Her questions needled him and threatened to turn nine years of experience sour. He had never questioned the job. Never wondered whether he was doing the right thing. He didn’t worry about that now. After years and years dedicating himself to the DWO, he knew which lines were the important ones. He hadn’t crossed any of them. Jesse wasn’t a hapless victim that he’d taken advantage of. He also wasn’t a con man who’d ingratiated himself to Bryce in order to reap rewards.
Bryce had done nothing wrong. That knowledge went deep into his bones.
“For once I was thinking about myself,” Bryce replied. “Myself and Jesse. He doesn’t need me the way Alex or the department does. I don’t have to guide him through a dozen steps or watch what I’m feeling. I’ve never cared about what I had to sacrifice to continue working with the department. I haven’t been romantically close to anyone in over adecade, entirely because of this job that I do, and do damn well.”
“You can say that in the face of this case?” Bonnell said.
“I can say that because with Alex, there is no amount of standing in his way that will stop him if he’s determined to help. I can say that because I figured out we needed to look into the statue at the museum. I can say that because I followed my gut, and if I hadn’t, we wouldn’t have the book from Lawson’s apartment, and someone would have succeeded in their attempt to murder Jesse.”
Bonnell waited a long moment, and her expression was inscrutable. Bryce had never shown any willful insubordination before, and he’d never raised his voice. He wasn’t sure how loud he’d gotten now, but it felt like his voice had carried too far. That somehow the world had decided to stay quiet for a moment and see if he was going to continue losing his shit.
When Bonnell took in a deep breath, she didn’t look pissed at him. She held her chin up, which made Bryce aware for the first time in a long while how much shorter she was than him. She said, “Shit. I didn’t realize how much pressure you were under.”
“It’s what the job is.” Bryce rubbed the back of his neck, feeling guilty for having used his own crap as a defense for his recent behavior.
“Should I reassign this investigation to Walker’s team?”
“We can handle it.” When Bonnell shot him an incredulous look, Bryce nodded at the apartment. “Jesse is relentless. Walker wouldn’t have a chance of reigning him in. She’s a good leader, but right now, I’m what Jesse needs.”
“You’re sure we can trust him?” Bonnell asked.
Bryce frowned. “Where’s that coming from? Someone’s trying to murder him.”
“Trying,” Bonnell repeated. “Someone did murder Stan Lawson, and they stole the statue out of evidence. I have a feeling we only have the book because Alex wound up pocketing it. He was drawn to it, which is not something I feel good about.”
