Wanting (30 page)

“
Yes. Seems he’s impressed
a few people, and someone felt that he’d be a good candidate for
the CCU.”

“
Shit. And no one stopped
to think...”

“
I think this someone was
thinking. Thinking of ways to cause as much trouble for me and the
unit as possible. I can’t put him with Hellbrook and Georgia.
Malachi has no openings. And his team was there in
Carterville.”

“
So I’m it, then.” He
closed the agent in question’s file. Despite the glowing
recommendations, it just didn’t sit right with him. “For how
long?”

“
Six months, tops. Or until
he screws up or it just doesn’t work out. Regardless of whatever
machinations these bastards think they are going to get away with,
no one messes with my teams. I’m sorry, but of the three teams,
yours is the only one that will work. For now.”

“
I understand. And I’ll
see to it that he gets a fair shake. God knows, he’s not
responsible for his father’s actions.” It still pissed him off,
though. And worried him. What would it do to Carrie to have to see
Stephenson’s son every day?

“
Or for the petty bullshit
that ended up with him being transferred to the CCU.” Ed Dennis was
grim when he accompanied Sebastian out of his office and down to
the bullpen.

“
No, he isn’t. But that
isn’t going to make it any easier for Carrie, or Dr. Bellows, or
your daughter. Stephenson’s father could have killed any one of
them, and this is how whomever it is you’ve pissed off chooses to
retaliate?”

“
By striking at me where it
hurts the most. My family. My agents. Someone is out to destroy
PAVAD. I don’t know who, and I don’t know why. I do know that they
won’t succeed. You take care of Evan Stephenson for me, son. And
then I’ll owe you one, a big one. Keep that in mind.”

Sebastian nodded, mind
already running through possible scenarios. He’d have to tell
Carrie that someone thought it would be one hell of a joke to put
the son of the man who’d attacked her two months ago in the same
unit as she and his father’s other victims. Yeah, that would go
over real well—especially after the week she’d already
had.

His gaze searched out first
her desk, and when finding it empty, he checked the other places in
the open bullpen she could be. He found no sign of her. Where was
she?

He wanted Carrie. He didn’t
want to go back to his empty apartment, his empty life, anymore. He
even wanted the damned cat.

He’d just have to convince
her that he was what she wanted and needed.

“
I’ll tell Carrie. I assume
you’ll be notifying Hellbrook and your daughter?”

“
And Julia. I’ll tell her
tonight over dinner. Poor girl has had such a hard time of it
lately. And now this.”

Sebastian had wondered
about the relationship between Ed Dennis and his daughter’s close
friend. Everyone in the division did. But no one spoke of it, or
asked about it. But all knew she lived on his property in an
apartment or guest house and knew that he was just as protective of
her as he was his only daughter. “He looks like his father. That
won’t be easy for Dr. Bellows or your daughter. Or
Carrie.”

“
Your opinion? Can Carrie
handle having him here?” Dennis’s expression was frank when he
looked at Sebastian. “I know the two of you have grown closer in
recent weeks.”

“
Yes. We have. And we will
probably grow closer still. Will that be a problem?”

“
Only if you make it one.
You know my stance on personal relationships within the
division.”

“
Yes.” While he’d never
come out and said it, Sebastian knew his boss’s policy—as long as
the relationship didn’t ever interfere with the participants’
abilities to do their jobs, Ed Dennis said nothing. Once it
interfered, he’d split the couple up faster than anyone could
blink.

Sebastian understood and
approved. Most field offices frowned on personal relationships
between agents. But not this one. That would make things a little
easier for Carrie; he knew that. She was such a stickler for rules
and routine.

That would be something
they’d have to work on together.

He didn’t have any trouble
making necessary changes to his routine; not if it meant an easier
transition for her into a permanent relationship. He’d do whatever
it took.

Alessandra stopped both men
just as they stepped down into the main level of the bullpen.
“Agent Lorcan? I have a message for you.”

Her eyes showed repressed
humor and Sebastian had a good inkling what the message was
about.

Ed Dennis headed across the
bullpen to speak with Dr. Bellows and Reynolds. Personal. Ed was
good friends with Reynolds and had been for years.

“
Go ahead, Al.”

“
PC version or can I tell
you what I think?” She winked, giving him a throaty chuckle. Any
other time he’d have joked around with her, but after the news
Dennis had just delivered he just wasn’t in the mood.

“
Just quick,
Al.”

She sobered. “Gotcha. Our
favorite computer genius and her tall, dark, skinny, and goofy
sidekick are at the Bright Star runaway shelter doing something to
the computers. You are expected to call when you get a chance. I
don’t know. Carrie seemed a bit uncertain. You do something to mess
up between the alley and this afternoon?”

“
This isn’t junior high,
Alessandra. What time did she leave?”

“
About ninety minutes.
Seriously, though. Think the girl is having doubts. Probably
shouldn’t leave her by herself too much longer.”

“
Thanks.” He turned away
and headed to his office. He wanted privacy before he called her.
He ignored Al’s heavy sigh and lucky girl remark.

Sebastian closed himself in
his office and dialed Carrie’s number. She didn’t
answer.

A rush of irritation filled
him. Was she ignoring him? Carrie was a stickler for answering
calls. Especially PAVAD calls. And she’d told Al to have him call
her.

She wouldn’t ignore his
calls. Carrie wouldn’t. The hair on the back of his arms was
standing on end.

***

“
So are you going to tell
me what’s bothering you?” Calista asked. She and Carrie were in the
back office on the third floor of the shelter. It was where Carrie
had set up the shelter’s main server two years ago. Paige had
stayed downstairs to cover the intake desk on the chance that
someone showed up needing services.

Carrie looked at her
friend. Calista was the one friend she had that was not somehow
related to PAVAD. Carrie had hired her after she’d gone through the
steps two years ago to build the Bright Star. Calista was the same
age as Carrie and Paige and had a duel degree in social work and
psychology. She’d been a recent graduate of University of
Missouri—St. Louis, and had volunteered at two different shelters
in the city. Carrie had figured out pretty quickly that the reason
Calista was so keen on working at the shelters was because after
the student loan bills started rolling in, Calista had lost her
apartment and her job on campus. She’d had nowhere else to go but
the shelters. So Carrie had offered her the Bright Star. And
Calista took over it and made it shine.

The Bright Star was her
friend’s world, and after initial funding by Carrie, Calista had
beefed up the money through various fundraisers and events that
Carrie never could have managed. She was one of Carrie’s bright
stars. “What do you mean?”

“
Don’t lie, Carrie. You’re
not very good at it. Something is bothering you. And I think I know
what it is.” Calista pushed her desk chair back from the computer
she sat in front of. “I think it is Mr. Tall, Dark, and
Hot.”

What was it with all of her
friends giving Sebastian these silly nicknames? “What do you
mean?”

“
Carrie…I could see the
heat between the two of you myself. It was just there. So are you
going to do something about it?”

“
I already did. He’s
supposed to call me when he gets done working. If he wants to…If
last night wasn’t…if…” Her phone rang and Carrie grabbed for it.
The keys malfunctioned before she could see the number displayed
across the screen. The phone died in her hands.

Not that she needed it; she
had a strong suspicion who it was. She pulled the charger out of
her computer bag and bent over to plug the thing into the wall
beside the shelter’s computer she was upgrading. She’d have to
trade it in for a new one soon—it hadn’t been the same since she’d
went over the cliff in South Dakota. She should have requisitioned
a new one then, but she was attached to the one she had.

“
So are you going to do
more?” Calista asked. “He seemed like a nice guy. And I could tell
he liked you.”

“
I don’t know. What if I
can’t do it? I’m not exactly normal, you know?”

“
So? Who is? So you both
have to make a few accommodations—not many, mind you—but some.
That’s what happens in every relationship, Care. Every single one.
That’s part of it.”

“
I don’t know if I can let
someone else have that much influence over my life, my routine.
Even Sebastian.”

“
Do you think he will try
to change you? Make you do something you aren’t willing? If he
does, does that mean he’s really the man you want to be
with?”

Carrie thought for a
moment. “Probably not. And you’re right. I don’t think he’d want me
to change things too much. It has been so...easy...to be with him.
At his apartment. Mine, in the little time we were there. It’s kind
of like he’s always been there. That scares me.”

“
Carrie...what exactly
scares you? Put it into words the best you can.”

Carrie closed her eyes and
tried to organize her thoughts. Her words were whispered when they
came out. “What scares me is the thought that I’ll get deeper and
deeper involved with him. And then he’ll stop. Just like the two
before him. They couldn’t handle me. And they told me so. But
Sebastian can mean so much more to me than they ever did. Does that
make sense?”

“
Yes. You’re afraid of
where the relationship may go because this time it matters more to
you. That’s a good thing. It means you care more about what
happens, and that you will work harder to preserve the
relationship. Once again, this is perfectly normal. Anyone who
tells you otherwise is lying, or has an unhealthy view of
relationships. Does that help?”

“
Some...I need to
think.”

“
What’s to think about?”
Calista asked. “You care about him. I can see that. And I think he
cares about you. I think...I think you should give it a try. If it
doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work. Neither of you are the kind to
let it interfere with your jobs. If it starts to, I know you’ll
work it out so it doesn’t. I didn’t. You don’t tap when you’re with
him. Did you realize that?”

“
No.”

“
I did. I watched you.
When he was beside you, you calmed down some. The tapping stops,
the repeated words. The way you move and watch everything. I think
he makes you feel safer just by being around him. I like it. It’s
easy to see that his way of doing things is, well, perfect for
you.”

That gave Carrie quite a
lot to think about. Was it true? Why? Did he have something about
him that did affect her that way? She honestly had no
idea.

Carrie got lost in her
thoughts for the longest time, though she was vaguely aware of
Paige and Calista leaving the room while she went through the boot
sequence of the shelter’s computer. Calista returned a few minutes
later.

Carrie had no idea how to
put how she felt into words. None. Before she could say anything,
the sound of the fire alarms split the air. “What?”

Calista was on her feet
just as quickly as Carrie. There were fourteen teenagers in this
building, and three staff members, plus her, Calista, and Paige.
Everyone had to be gotten out of the building and accounted for.
Quickly.

They had procedures in
place for this type of things. Procedures Carrie and Paige had
written. “I’ll start clearing the back. You take the sign in sheet
to the front of the building and start counting people as they come
out. I’ll send people around the building as I get them
out.”

“
Carrie…” Calista’s eyes
were wide and her voice odd. Her gaze was trained on the open door
behind Carrie. Carrie turned to see what had terrified the other
woman.

A man stood in the
doorframe with a gun pointed at Calista. Before Carrie could grab
the weapon on her own hip—she’d not taken the time to stop off at
home and drop off her weapon and badge—he fired. Calista went down.
Just that quick.

The man looked back at
Carrie with the coldest eyes she’d ever seen. He looked familiar,
and it took her a split second to put it together. Officer
Thompson. The cop who’d been at her building after the burglary.
But why would he…

“
Touch your weapon, and
I’ll shoot her again. This time I’ll make sure to hit her heart or
head instead of her shoulder. Take off your holster and slide it to
me gently.”