have to handle Raiden. I can already hear him ordering me to stay at his place.”
Gemini patted my shoulder. “Just tell him what you told my husband. You’re not ready.”
It was the truth. As much as I loved our banter and sexy times, I wasn’t ready to live with the man. We barely knew each other.
“Yeah and that will go over like a lead balloon.”
“Men. They sure like to wear the pants, don’t they?”
I laughed along with her. “It makes them feel strong. And to be honest, I don’t mind him showing that bossy side occasionally.”
“I know exactly what you mean.” She waggled her brows.
The protectiveness Drex displayed around Gemini, I was certain she did. My inner self giggled. “I wonder if it’s safe to go inside. I need to gather some of my things.”
“Let’s check.”
We located the bomb squad and asked. They accompanied me, just to be sure. It wasn’t long before we were done. I thanked them profusely.
“Just part of the job, ma’am.”
“What about the house? Won’t people break in?”
“We’ll board it up but come back tomorrow as soon as you can. You’ll want to call your insurance company too. You can pick up the police report tomorrow, although we won’t complete it until we run our analysis on the materials they used.”
“Thanks. I’ll call in the morning.”
I had a chat with one of the detectives before I left. It was to ensure it was okay that I leave the premises, and I also gave him my contact information.
Gemini and Drex had offered to drive me, but I took my car, knowing I’d need to go into the police station in the morning. I also didn’t want to interfere in their personal lives. They’d been much too kind already. Accessing the apartment wasn’t a problem since I worked at WI and knew all the codes to get inside. The security team also knew me, but Drex had called ahead just in case.
When I finally made it to bed, sleep evaded me. Even though I was bone-weary, my eyelids refused to remain closed. I finally gave up around five a.m. and showered. I went into the office and put a pot of coffee on to brew. By the time the others trickled in, I was hard at work.
Huff approached my desk. “Damn, you’re early today.” He usually was the first one in.
“Yeah, I stayed here last night.” Then I explained why. The more I talked, the higher his brows arched. Then they crashed as he frowned.
“Not good, Scottie.”
“Ha. Tell me!”
“You must be getting too close.”
“Too close to what? I haven’t found much of anything. Besides, I’m pretty damn sure it was a warning.” I described the tripwire and timer.
“I agree with that. They didn’t want you dead. I wonder if they know about your bodyguards.”
“If they didn’t before, they do now.” I checked the time. “Do you think it’s too early to call the hospital and check on Jeremy? I don’t want to wake him if he’s sleeping.”
“Don’t you remember from the last time you were in the hospital? You never sleep there.”
“True.” I tried his cell, but he didn’t answer. Next, I called the hospital and asked for his room.
“Hello,” a frog-like voice answered.
“Jeremy?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s Scottie. How are you this morning?”
“Tired, but I’ll make it.”
“I heard. How’s the head? You took a good hit.”
“My ears have stopped ringing, but the headache is still with me. It’ll go away. Concussions suck. Had a few, so I know. This wasn’t my first rodeo with explosives.”
“I figured. What can I bring you? I can bring food or whatever you need.”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Call me when you’re home.”
“Okay. Thanks for the call.”
“Thank you for saving my life.”
My next call was to Jason. “Hey, it’s Scottie. How are you?”
“I’m fine. Sorry I didn’t make it up there this morning.”
“How did you know where I was?”
“Drex, how else? He’s assigning Dustin to us. He should be there this morning.”
“Okay, I’ll be on the lookout. Have you worked with him before?”
“Yeah, he’s great. You’ll be good.”
“Thanks, Jason. Oh, I want to go over to Jeremy’s when he gets home. I’d like to take him some food.”
“Fine. We can help you out with that.”
“Also, I need to run down to the police station.”
“Not a problem. I’ll head over to you soon and when Dustin gets there, after Drex briefs him, we can go.”
“Excellent. Thanks.”
I went to work in the comms room with Huff and, not much later, heard loud chatter outside. That wasn’t the norm because it was