“Hey, look at that, maybe youwouldmake a good agent. You know, for something like the FBI,” Alex replied.
“Do you have to be such a smart-ass?”
“No, but I’m damn cute when I am.”
Jesse laughed. Alex’s cocky attitude was too ridiculous, and yet, entirely perfect for him. The laugh felt good, and wrong at the same time. Lawson wasdead. Jesse should have seen it coming, somehow. Should have done more.
There was nothing he could do for Lawson except find his killer.
The door to the apartment opened and Bryce and Bonnell came back in. Bryce had his pinched, nearly brooding expression. Jesse had done his best to chase that look away with kisses that morning. He wouldn’t get away with doing so in front of Bonnell.
“We need to talk about what happened and what you do next,” Bonnell said.
Jesse nodded, though he kept an eye on Bryce. Bryce was tense again. Apparently, the hallway conversation had not gone well.
“The guesswork so far is that the fire started in your bedroom. Considering someone took a shot at you, I think we can assume that the fire was an attempt on your life,” Bonnell said.
A cold, hard knot formed in Jesse’s throat, and competed with the rough feeling left over from the smoke damage. He ran his hand through his hair. “But why?”
“That’s what we’re going to figure out. In the meantime, you and Bryce will stay here.”
“And do what?” Jesse asked.
“I promised you a look at Uttley’s journals. I’ll get you set up with that.”
“You already have a sanitized version at the ready?” Jesse frowned. “How?”
“That would be my fault,” Alex said with a shrug. “I was really bored and they wanted to keep me interested and sane. Though I did argue to get the sex scenes back. No one had ever told me kissing boys was totally normal until then.”
“The point is,” Bonnell said, “we have the version and you can read that.”
“Basically, I won’t even be participating in grunt work. You just want to keep me occupied,” Jesse said.
“For now,” Bonnell said.
Jesse scowled more and turned to Bryce. “And you’re okay with that?”
“We don’t have a lot of choice,” Bryce replied.
“Sure we do. You and I go into the office and sift through whatever crap they can save from my apartment,” Jesse said.
“It’ll take at least a day before we could get that,” Alex said.
“You’ll want to get your hands on my safe ASAP. Besides my gun and badge, I’ve got two hard drives in there. And my car title. Assuming it didn’t turn into ash. It wasn’t supposed to, but if the fire got too hot, it could’ve crapped out.”
“Someone tried to murder you,” Bonnell said. “You need to lie low.”
“Do I get a say in this?” Jesse asked. Judging from Bonnell’s expression, he didn’t. Needing to find some measure of support, he turned toward Bryce.
Bryce was quiet and reserved. He kept his gaze on a spot on the floor, probably measuring the line where the linoleum met the crappy beige carpet. All emotion lay behind his carefully blank expression.
When the shooter had fired the previous night, Bryce had been scared. In control, in motion, but scared. He hadn’t let fear control him, and Jesse was grateful for that. While Bonnell wanted to dictate what Jesse had to do, Bryce was giving him space.
But he knew what Bryce would want him to do. Listen, for a change. Stop running into situations without information. Jesse tapped his fingers on the table.
“I’ll stay put,” Jesse said. “Bryce stays as my protection. If he wants to.”
“Protection,” Alex drawled.
