Page 30 of Night Watch
With no towels in sight, he moved to the foot bath and washed his hands in the small sink too. Then stood to drip dry, trying his best to keep his mind off Kennedy, but she seemed to consume his brain.
It had always been that way with her. She fired off senses and thoughts in him that no other woman had before or since. He knew he subconsciously compared all other women to her.
The door opened a fraction, and Erik felt totally exposed. Not because he was naked but because he didn’t have his weapon.
Clay, mask on his face from the SUV’s emergency kit, looked in. “Dude. Get dressed and let’s get out of here.”
“Working on it.” Erik reached for his clothing, and still damp, he struggled to get the fabric over his wet skin.
The moment he was dressed, he headed outside, making sure to give the desk a wide berth. This whole place would need to be decontaminated before Kennedy could work again.
He huffed a laugh in his mask. He’d gotten his way. She wouldn’t be working in the lab after this. He just didn’t know coming here would potentially cost both of their lives.
After a trip to the ER, Erik and Kennedy climbed the stairs at Veritas, heading for Nighthawk Security’s office. He was glad Kennedy agreed to take the stairs as it gave Erik a moment to take a few deep breaths before he met with his brothers. Wouldn’t do to let them see him so rattled. They might lose confidence in his leadership ability and ask him to step down as lead. No way he was doing that. No way.
He blew out the bad air. He’d been stressed since Kennedy opened the envelope, and that increased with the arrival of patrol officers to secure the building. Clay had taken off with the potential anthrax sample for Maya to test for the biotoxin. He also took the food and drink containers from the lab’s reception area to Sierra to fingerprint and then give to Maya to test for poisons. She would pay special attention to protein drinks that Wanda loved.
Aiden had arrived at the lab with a vehicle to transport Erik and Kennedy to the ER, and they’d been treated right away. Physically, he felt fine. The first round of antibiotics was administered via IV in the ER. He’d be taking tablets while they tested the powder. If indeed it was anthrax, he would stay on the antibiotics. For cutaneous exposure it required a course of seven days, but sixty days for inhalation, as anthrax could take that long to appear.
The ER doctor started Kennedy on antibiotics, too, but they weren’t as worried about her exposure, not even with the open sores on her hand. She’d been well protected. He was thankful she was nearly in the clear.
Nearing the fourth floor landing, he heard Kennedy stop behind him.
“I’m glad we took the stairs,” she said. “Helped to release some of this terrible stress. I feel like I’m drowning with it.”
He took a good look at her. “I was wondering how everything was affecting you.”
“It’s not just me.” She rested a hand on his arm. “We might not be together now, but that doesn’t mean I’m not seriously concerned for your health.”
“Yeah, I get that,” he said. “But I can’t spend two days worried about it. I just have to trust God and know that He’ll make sure whatever happens is the right thing for me. And the same for you too.”
She gave him careful study. “You always were so much better at trusting Him than I was.”
She was giving him too much credit.
“I don’t know about that. I’m obviously not trusting Him about relationships.” He started up the stairs again.
He heard her footsteps behind him. “Are you avoiding all relationships?”
He looked back at her. “Our breakup was bad. Left me reeling. I didn’t date for a long time. Then when I did, I had a girlfriend cheat on me. Kind of lessens your faith in women.”
“I hope you know how sorry I am for my part in fueling that distrust.”
“I do now.” They reached the sixth floor, and he opened the door to the hallway. “I also know you were doing what you had to do, and you couldn’t tell me. I get that. But it also tells me that something like this could happen in another relationship. Not WITSEC per se, but something that would cause a woman to step back after I was fully invested. Not sure I could handle that.”
“You’re very strong, Erik.” She stopped in front of him. “You could survive that and so much more.”
“Shh. Don’t let God hear you say that or He might give me more things to handle.” He chuckled, trying to lighten things up and end the conversation too. It did no good to speculate on what might happen if he got involved because he wasn’t going to be getting involved. Period. End of story.
They walked to the office in silence. His brothers’ voices carried from the inner room, and their receptionist, Stella, shook her head, her shoulder-length hair swinging with the motion. “They’re in rare form today.”
“Just today?” Erik chuckled and introduced Kennedy.
“Nice to meet you,” Stella said. “The guys will fix whatever problem you’re facing.”
“I sure hope so,” Kennedy said, not sounding all that sure of their skills.
Erik could understand that. After all, he was the one who’d suggested she open the envelope, and even if she was wearing the proper protective equipment, he felt bad for her potential exposure.
