His determination struck Bryce. His need for answers, the need to carry on. He had such a strength to him, even in the way he let himself hold on to Bryce for support.
They were up to their necks in trouble, and yet, that was the moment Bryce knew he was in love with him.
He held on to that feeling. Relished it for the span of several heartbeats. He was in love.
But there were humans willing to throw open their reality and let monsters treat it like a buffet. They had to get back to work.
Bryce pulled out his keys. “Where do we go from here, Jesse?”
“It doesn’t make sense that Milton would tell Ronald that we were off the case before we were actually off the case,” Jesse said. “If the SLMPD had taken over the case, he would’ve told me when we were at the museum. That asshole wouldn’t have gone with me if he didn’t think he had to.”
“Asshole?” Bryce repeated.
“Yeah. The guy’s a prick. Pretty sure he’s a bigot, too.”
Damn it. How had he missed that? Jesse hadn’t said one word about trying to update anyone from the FBI the day after the fire. He’d only cared about his family. He’d never mentioned a partner at the bureau. Bryce had been so caught up in Jesse, so distracted by digging around for clues, he’d never stopped to think about what he had experienced.
“Fuck me, I can’t believe I didn’t see that,” Bryce muttered.
Jesse had stopped and was standing in front of him, worry clear in his gray eyes.
“Milton called during the chaos of the fire. I had your phone—you’d dropped it at Lawson’s and I was trying to give it back to you but forgot—and it rang. I thought it was mine and I picked it up. From the sounds of it, he isn’t the kind of guy who would offer to let you stay on his couch.”
“I didn’t think he was the kind of guy who would check up on me,” Jesse replied. “Unless… that wasn’t what he was doing.Fuck.”
“Wait,” Alex said as he slid to the end of the hood and climbed off. “Hold on, you’re saying your partner tried to kill you?”
“Yeah,” Jesse said.
“And I thought Celia pestering me was bad. At least she’s never tried to murder me.”
“Then we go to the bureau and confront him,” Bryce said.
Jesse shook his head. “We call it in. We’ve got a bigger problem on our hands. Megan Valless chosetodayto poison her husband. Whatever they’re planning, they’re in the middle of it. I’m sure.”
“The question is, where?” Bryce asked.
“We start at the Crowley building,” Jesse replied.
Bryce clutched his keys. Jesse had wanted to get away from that building the other night, before the fire. He’d said that it had a pull on him. The time in between probably only worsened the effect, and taking Alex and Jesse into the middle of the unknown meant putting them in danger.
But it wasn’t his place to decide for them. As much as he wanted to protect them, he couldn’t shield them from their own decisions. He could only help them get through.
“We don’t have to go there, either,” Bryce said. “I could call Bonnell. Get another team on it.”
“Screw that,” Jesse said.
“I’m with him,” Alex replied.
“It could be—”
“Dangerous.” Alex headed for the passenger door. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Jesse reached past him and grabbed the door handle. “Back seat.”
Alex snorted. “Can’t blame me for trying.”
The three of them piled back into Bryce’s car, then they were on their way.
An ice-cold knot was forming in Bryce’s stomach.
God, he hoped he wasn’t taking them to their deaths.
