Wolf Untamed (SWAT - Special Wolf Alpha Team #11) - Paige Tyler Page 0,21

to cover for me when Internal Affairs shows up, too.”

Trey nodded. “Will do. I’ll talk to Mike as soon as he’s done with the chief. IA, too. But after listening to some of the statements from the people in the diner, I can’t imagine Internal Affairs trying to jack you up over this. You did everything you could to talk that guy down.”

From the expression on Diego’s face, it didn’t seem like he was buying that last part. He didn’t say anything, though. Instead, he turned to her and Brandon. “You two ready to get out of here?”

Bree nodded. “Is it okay if we take my car? It’s parked in the garage two blocks over.”

“That’s fine,” Diego said, falling into step beside her and Brandon. “Better than trying to get through the crowds with one of the SWAT SUVs for sure.”

A few people took Diego’s picture as they moved through the crowd behind the crime-scene tape, and Bree knew she and Brandon would be in more than a few of them. Hopefully, they wouldn’t show up on someone’s Facebook or Instagram page. Or worse, one of the media outlets.

Bree was still imagining what her boss at the insurance company would say about one of his investigators being involved in a hostage situation, when she heard a voice that stopped her cold. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Brandon stiffen.

“Bree! Brandon! I’m so relieved you’re okay!”

She turned to see her ex-husband pushing his way through the crowd to get to them. For a moment, Bree thought he was going to hug her, but the look on her face must have changed his mind because he stopped in front of them instead. Thank God. She really wasn’t in a mood to deal with him and his games today.

“Dave, Officer Diego Martinez, Dallas SWAT,” she said. “This is my ex-husband, Dave Cowell.”

Dave’s hazel eyes narrowed as he sized up Diego, and Bree braced herself. Saying he was possessive was an understatement. He’d always hated when other men looked her way, much less talked to her, and he didn’t mind letting them know it. That’s what had put him in prison.

But instead of going ballistic like usual, he extended his hand to Diego. “Officer.”

While he hadn’t gone into a jealous rage, there was no mistaking the disdain in Dave’s tone. And from the way he was trying to crush Diego’s hand as they shook, it was obvious there was some kind of testosterone-laden display going on. Diego didn’t seem to notice.

“Mr. Cowell,” he said.

With the pleasantries out of the way—if you could call them that—Dave turned his attention back to her. Even though he was as tall as Diego, he wasn’t nearly as muscular. And while she’d fallen for those clean-cut good looks and that Ivy League charm when she was eighteen, they’d stopped doing anything for her a long time ago.

“What are you doing here, Dave?” She folded her arms. “And don’t tell me you just happened to be in the area.”

“No, I wasn’t in the area.” He regarded her thoughtfully, his expression impossible to read. “I heard on the radio there was a hostage situation at the diner and remembered we used to come here together when Brandon was little. And…I can’t explain it, but I got a feeling you were both in danger. Something made me drive down here to make sure you were safe. Good thing I did because the first thing I saw when I got here was you and Brandon coming out of the diner and being taken to an ambulance.”

Bree had to bite her tongue to keep from calling BS on that entire lame-ass explanation. Her ex had always been a vain, narcissistic man who assumed anything he said would be accepted without comment. The thought she wouldn’t believe what he was saying likely never entered his mind.

Dave had always been erratic, but his stay in prison had made it worse. Since he’d gotten out, most of the time he didn’t seem to remember he had an ex-wife or a son—which was perfectly fine with her. Other times, he’d show up and act like she and Brandon were precious to him. He never mentioned he’d been absent from their lives. He acted as though it had simply been a weekend business trip, not a five-year prison sentence. Bree didn’t buy his act and knew Brandon didn’t, either.

Currently, Dave worked in the downtown financial district near the Trinity River. If he was all the way over