This was the first peaceful evening she’d had since she arrived. It felt, in a way, as if she’d dropped off the face of the earth as she knew it. That’s what happened when routine was scrambled all to hell.
She sat on the top step and pulled out her phone to make a call. “Hey, sis. How are you?”
“I’m fine. But I haven’t heard from you all week.” Becca sounded peeved. “Where are you?”
“In Virginia.”
“You left the state without even telling me?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be psychic about things like where I am?”
“It would be a whole lot simpler if you just told me. Are you, you know, doing that thing we talked about?”
“I don’t think anyone’s tapped my cell, if that’s what’s bothering you. It’s not that kind of operation. And, yes, and no to your question. I’m here for training.”
“What kind of training? Are they teaching you how to raid crack houses?” Her sister’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Defuse bombs?”
“My partner’s a dog, remember? We don’t do SWAT. We do search, apprehension, and rescue.” Cole heard an engine in the distance. “So tell me, how’s it feel being pregnant?”
“Like I’m on a rowboat in the middle of a hurricane. Any and everything makes me want to hurl. I can’t believe I once liked bacon or tuna fish. Do you know how nasty over-easy eggs are? It’s scrambled or nothing from now on.”
“Yep, sounds like you’re preggers.” Headlights of a truck swung onto the gravel lane that led to the barracks. It was moving fast, when it braked suddenly and gravel went flying. The door opened and Scott leaped out with Izzy at his heels. He stopped short when he noticed Cole.
“Oh. Sorry. I got to pack.”
Cole stood up. “Why? What’s wrong?”
Scott kept walking past her into the barracks.
“Who is that?” Becca’s voice could be heard clearly though Cole had lowered the phone from her ear. “Is that Scott? That sounds like Scott.”
“Sorry, Becca, I have to go.” She pressed the end button and went after him.
She paused at the threshold of his room. He was cursing and tossing things into a backpack. “Scott, what’s going on? You can tell me. Maybe I can help.”
He wasn’t listening. “Have you seen my shield? I took it off my wallet. Fuck. It should be here.” He grabbed up his pack and headed straight for the door.
Only she was blocking it. She braced herself for impact.
He didn’t touch her but his snort of hot breath in her face would have been enough to back off a smart mortal. Cole set her jaw and glanced up into his face.
He was looking beyond her with a fierce don’t-fuck-with-me expression. But she wasn’t about to back down.
She gripped his biceps, digging her thumbs into the muscles until she knew she must be hurting him but he didn’t even blink. “Scott?”
It took him a full three seconds more to focus. When he was looking down at her panic grabbed her by the throat. The truth was there in his eyes. Something awful had happened.
She’d seen that look on his face only once before, after the phone call telling him Gabe was dead. “Scott?”
“My mom called. There was a break-in at home. Dad’s in the hospital. They say he had a heart attack.”
Hearing the anguish in his voice, Cole felt as if her own heart had been stepped on. But she shoved those feelings aside in favor of the law-enforcement training that kept her on track in crisis. “Okay. You’re ready. I’m coming with you.”
He shook his head. “Don’t have time.” He shook off her touch and tried to push past her.
She stepped in front of him and grabbed his chin in her hand to jerk his face back to hers. “I’m coming. Don’t give me any bullshit.”
He didn’t glance at her again but after a second he nodded once.
When she ran to get her purse, Hugo appeared. He moved in close to Scott and butted his shaggy head under Scott’s dangling hand.
Scott reached down to absently pat Hugo and felt metal press into his palm. Hugo had Scott’s DEA badge in his mouth.
CHAPTER TWELVE
They rode to New Jersey in silence. Izzy was in back, in her crate, while Hugo rode up front, wedged between them. Not ideal, but neither of them wanted to have to stop and break up a dogfight if their partners decided they didn’t want to share a crate.
For once, Hugo ignored Scott. In sleep, he even stretched out and leaned his big head against Scott’s thigh. Cole noticed that, when Scott thought she was sleeping, he reached out under the cover of darkness and stroked Hugo a couple of times.
They made the two-hundred-plus-mile drive in under three hours. Scott had always had a heavy foot. This time it was concrete. Yet she knew he was in complete control, all emotions shut down to get the job at hand done.
When he stopped for gas, Cole had offered to call his mother and check on his dad. The look Scott sent her way made her back off. She suspected what he was afraid to say aloud. He didn’t want to know if he would get there too late.