His voice was pleasant, but Alex’s ire at his younger partner multiplied.
“I’m not resisting you.” Her voice throbbed, thick and pulsing with hate, proof of her struggle not to strike at Lucas. “Let Teresa and Joseph go.”
It was time to intervene. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t end well. He couldn’t see any easy way out. His mind scrabbled at scenarios, flipping through and discarding almost as rapidly as he could form the thoughts. He stepped out, a smile on his face. Lucas and Lena both caught the movement and turned. Neither of them seemed happy to see him.
He sauntered down the short hall toward them. Venomous intent glared through her eyes. He could feel his body begin to respond, his throat constricting around the urge to cough. But he’d spent a good portion of the ride to and from Fort Nevada deconstructing what she’d done to him. He couldn’t reproduce it. He could damn well resist it. When he reached them, he cocked his head to the side and smiled at her.
“Did you really think that little trick would work on me again?” He raised his hand and shook his index finger in the air, making a tsking noise. “Fool me once….”
Her face reddened with rage, but she behaved. She was probably plotting her next move. He imagined it would be painful. She’d make a hell of a weapon.
She’s already one hell of a woman.
Thanks to Lucas, he’d lost any influence he might have gained from Ace’s trip out to reassure her of his intentions. She had worked up the courage to come directly to him, made the choice to do what would be best for her family. Now, whatever kernel of trust had started to grow, Lucas had destroyed. Regret for that loss weighted Alex’s belly.
He swung to face to Lucas. When he spoke, he had lowered his voice to a near whisper. “And speaking of fools,” he said. “What in Dust do you think you’re doing?”
Lucas had the gall to sneer at him. He wasn’t even bothering to hide his dislike for his superior. He thought he’d completed a coup.
Speaking of fools, indeed.
“I just lured in a dangerous, illegal Spark. By myself,” Lucas declared, allowing his voice to carry. “And I did it in spite of the interference and delay tactics of my supposedly superior officer, who is clearly too much of a coward to do his job.”
From the corner of his eye, Alex caught her reaction. He paused a moment to allow the realization of what Lucas had said to sink in. See? He told her in his mind, not involved. Not this time. She turned the force of her blue-green, venomous eyes, and her fury, from Alex to Lucas.
He gave his attention back to his puffed up junior partner. “Actually,” Alex said evenly, allowing his own voice to carry without it being obvious, “what you did was break into my office, forge my signature, and illegally use my seal to gain access to the Councilor’s vehicle, and then taunt a dangerous, illegal Spark in a lobby full of unprotected citizens of Azcon, and in the building where our Councilor works.”
Would that be enough for her to figure out he wasn’t responsible for any of this? That he hadn’t betrayed her? It should be. She was a clever woman. Whether or not she would realize he didn’t have a choice about what came next was the question. That, and whether she’d forgive him.
Citizens who had been waiting for appointments with various Council officials began to move away from them. With the movement came whispers and fear. Alex caught a brief flash of fabric and skin to his right. An agent who’d been coming around the corner from the other side of the building sank into a crouch and moved into position behind the low wall separating the back of the building from the lobby area.
“But you’re right,” he told Lucas, “you did do that alone, in spite of the direct orders of your senior agent.” He needed her to strike out at Lucas. Surely knowing what the ass had done would incite her. Any time now, Lena. “Orders that were born of caution and experience, Junior Agent Lucas, and extrapolating what one Spark like this woman might be capable of doing if she’s brought into a room full of people while she’s still conscious.”
Hello, Lena? Any time.
Lucas looked uneasy. The agent crouched just to Alex’s right, out of sight of both Lucas and Lena, was also distinctly uneasy. He removed a Taser from his belt. The weapons were even more effective at controlling Sparks than the regular population.
Alex hammered his point home to Lucas, raising his voice as if genuinely worried. He had the attention of the captured audience of agents and citizens. He hoped it would be the final push for her. “Have you forgotten what the woman did to us yesterday? Two experienced agents? You’re a fool, Lucas!” He turned to Lena then, raising one hand in a calming gesture.
Her lips were turned upward in a mean smile directed at Lucas. “Maybe he’s not a fool, Agent Reyes. Maybe he’s just a slow learner?”