I whipped my head in his direction, my hackles instantly raised. “Excuse me?”
He met my gaze. “I’ve got the space. The security—Leo’s sending in more men tomorrow. And we both know what those DNA results on Tessa are going to read when I have them ordered tomorrow. Elisabeth isn’t real excited about taking the little girl from Clare, so yeah, you heard me. They’re both coming home with me.” He turned his attention back to Tomlinson, but his words were aimed at me. “And, the way I see it, she needs all the people she can get at her back, so you are more than welcome to come with her, Heath.”
While I would have felt miles better with the DEA watching her ass rather than whoever Leo James had sent Roman, options were never a bad thing to have.
I smirked at Tomlinson. “Sounds like she won’t be talking after all.”
“Light,” he warned. “You try to pull this shit on me and you might as well turn in your badge now.”
Digging in my back pocket, I retrieved my badge and then offered it his way. “Not a problem if this is the kind of man you are, using an innocent woman and kid to get a conviction.”
My woman. My kid.
Jesus fuck.
I needed my head examined.
He crossed his arms over his chest and glowered, making it known he wasn’t accepting my half-assed resignation.
Our gazes were fused in a stare-down. He was my boss, but I didn’t back down. Not even an inch. Not when it came to Clare and Tessa.
Never when it came to them.
“Either take my badge or give me your word,” I demanded, breaking the silence.
His gaze flashed to my outstretched hand then back again. “Fuck, Light. What are you doing? This isn’t like you.”
He definitely wasn’t wrong about that. I was known to be steady and emotionally detached. I thrived on well-thought-out strategies. But, then again, I’d never met Clare.
“I will ask you one more time,” I replied evenly. “And only because I respect the hell out of you and I know you’re working on a snap judgment of what you saw on that video from Noir’s place. You have a man she trusts, Lieutenant. Use me. I won’t cross any lines. I’m not sleeping with her. It’s not like that.” And, as much as it burned on my tongue, I had to remind myself that it never would be. I cleared my throat and forged ahead. “I’ve spent the last three months getting to know her. We have the same goal here—her survival. There’s nothing, and I mean nothing, I won’t do to ensure that. You could put a dozen different agents with her and none of them would keep her safe like I will.” I held his gaze but shoved my badge back in my pocket. “Put me with her and let me do my job.”
He closed his eyes and grumbled.
Hope swirled in my veins.
“Shit.” He groaned. “You better get me something good here, Light. I’m putting my ass on the line.”
A victorious smile split my face. “She hates him. I won’t have to get you anything. She’ll gladly give it all.”
“You know he was gone when our boys got there,” he informed me.
I’d figured as much. We had surveillance on the Noir house, but it wasn’t like the old-school movies where we had guys around the corner in an unmarked van.
“Yet another reason we need to be vigilant here,” I retorted.
He nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll send a team out to Leblanc’s as soon as she’s released.” He turned his attention to Roman. “You working with Leo James?”
Roman nodded curtly, the big guy behind him relaxing a fraction.
“I can’t imagine where you got his name,” he said sarcastically. “I’m sure you had nothing to do with that, Light.”
I grinned. “Nope. Pure luck.”
“Right. Well, Leo was my team leader before he left the Administration. You’re in good hands. I’ll give him a call and get things set up. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I got a shitstorm of phone calls to return.” He turned on a toe and walked away, leaving me smiling like a maniac in the middle of the hospital hallway.
Roman waited for Tomlinson to round the corner before asking, “She asleep?”
“They both are.”
“Good. They need it.” He tipped his chin to where Tomlinson had disappeared. “He gonna send someone to guard the door?”
“If I had to guess, there’s a sea of men downstairs, but yeah. I’ll shoot him a text about getting someone up here,” I muttered and offered him a hand.
He clasped his with mine but didn’t immediately let go. When I looked up, his eyes filled with a determination that matched my own.
“We’re gonna do right by them,” he vowed.
“Fuck yeah,” I agreed.
“No. Heath. We are gonna do right by them. No matter the cost. No matter the sacrifice. Priority number one and two are behind that door. The way we rank those priorities might be a little different, but that does not mean we aren’t in this together. You got me?”