He took off his jacket and hung it on the hanger beside his desk. Wouldn’t do to get it crumpled. But he didn’t sit down. Instead, he moved toward the window and stared out for a moment. Running his hand through his short dark hair, which—unlike Ryan’s—fell back perfectly into place.
Shit, he was going to take her off active duty. The bastard.
She clamped her lips together in case she said something she’d regret. Then plonked herself down on the wooden chair in front of his desk and waited for him to speak.
He turned back to face her. “You’ve been reassigned.”
About to take a sip of coffee, now she placed the cup carefully on the desk. “What? Where?” She didn’t want to be reassigned and she had a nasty feeling about this.
“MI13. A group attached to military intelligence. Other than that, I can’t say. They’re based in offices in Westminster, and they want you over there now.”
“And if I don’t want to go.”
“I’m sorry, Faith. I tried to refuse. We don’t want to lose you right now. We’re already one detective down until we replace Ryan.”
Aw, wasn’t that sweet. Not. She’d thought he was going to get personal and say he’d miss her or something. She should have known better. “So what did they say?”
“Actually, nothing. They hung up on me. I thought that was the end of it, but five minutes later I got a call from the big boss. And I mean as high as you can go. As of immediately you are reassigned. So get your things packed up and head over there.”
“For how long?”
“Permanently.”
“What?” She got up and paced a couple of times. “They can’t do this to me. I don’t want to be transferred. They’re total nutcases. I can’t work for them.”
His eyes narrowed. “So you’ve met them before?”
“Yeah, they approached me yesterday. I pretty much told them to piss off.”
He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Diplomatic as ever,” he murmured. “They obviously tried you first and when that didn’t work they went over your head. They must want you badly. Have you any idea why?”
“Yeah, I know why. Damn.”
“And are you going to share?”
“They want me to spy on Ryan.”
His brows drew together. “Why would they want that?”
“Because they’re investigating Christian Roth, who Ryan works for now.”
“Christian Roth? But these guys are not just any ordinary spooks—they go after spooky things. Why would they be interested in Roth?”
Faith eyed him suspiciously. “I thought you didn’t know anything about them?”
“I talked to a few people. I had to call in a couple of favors, and it took some deep digging, but I found out that much. I also got a second call from that big boss who told me—in no uncertain terms—to stop digging.”
“Well, thanks for trying.”
“I told you. I don’t want to lose you—you’re a good detective. But you really have no choice. And it could be interesting.”
“What? Investigating a load of make-believe bullshit. I mean Christian Roth, a vampire? Come on.”
He grinned. “It does seem a little far-fetched. Okay, you’d better get off. Here’s the address you’re to report to.” He handed her a piece of paper. Then in a totally unexpected move, he took her hand. “You know there is one positive thing to come out of this.”
“There is?” She couldn’t think of one, but she was too busy trying to unscramble her brain from the fact that her captain—actually ex-captain now she supposed—was holding her hand. She waited for some reaction. Last night when Ash had taken her hand, it was as though she’d been shot with a jolt of electricity. She’d have expected something equally impressive from the man who she’d fantasized about for the last two years. But nothing.
“You no longer work for me,” he said.
“And that’s good?”
He smiled. “You know I’ve always been attracted to you?”
No, she didn’t. If he had, he’d done a fantastic job of hiding it. “Actually, no.”
“I thought we might see each other.”
“See each other?”
An expression of exasperation flashed across his face. “A date, Detective Connolly.”
“Oh.” She tried to think about it logically and failed. Hadn’t she wanted this for so long? And she might be dying. Didn’t she deserve some fun first? Why did Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dangerous flash across her mind when she thought of fun. Fun and the captain with his immaculate suits didn’t seem to go together. “Why not?” was all she came up with.
He shook his head but released her hand and stepped back. “I’ll give you a call.”
“Great. Now, I suppose, I’d better go.”
“Good luck.”
“You think I’m going to need it?”
“Probably.”
…
Pete’s far from encouraging words flashed across her mind as she followed Father O’Brien through the fourth set of security. What the hell did they have in here?