Page 11 of Night Hawk
“I hate to call her out at night when she needs extra rest,” Clay continued. “But she keeps telling us not to let the pregnancy affect how we depend on her, so we all try not to.”
“I get that,” Toni said. “I’d be the same way. If I ever got pregnant, that is.”
He fired her a questioning look. “You don’t want kids?”
“It’s not that I don’t want them. I just never thought much about having any. Guess I need to find the right guy first.” She chuckled, but for some reason her words made Clay frown.
Sierra hung a camera around her neck and stepped out to peer at her brothers. “Can I get some help with lights and a generator?”
The guys started lifting bins and a small generator from the van. At the building, they put on booties, and one of them fired up a generator. Another carried in big Klieg lights. The others stacked bins by the door. While they worked, Sierra joined Toni and Clay.
“You must be Toni,” she said loudly, her voice carrying above the generator. “Reed says you’re a great agent.”
Just what Toni didn’t need. “Checking up on me?”
“I just mentioned you to him when I was heading out. But don’t worry.” Sierra waved a hand. “I didn’t tell him anything about this scene or your involvement.”
“Thanks for that.”And for not mentioning my behavior with the snake.
Sierra slipped her fingers into disposable gloves with the ease that only someone who wore them frequently could manage. “Clay told us a lot about you when you worked Safe Harbor together.”
Toni shifted to face Clay.
A sheepish look flashed on his face. “I might’ve mentioned that you were a great agent.”
“It was alotmore than that.” Sierra wrinkled her nose at him.
Toni thought she saw Clay’s face color, though it was too dark to be sure.
Sierra looked at Toni. “I need to get to work to please my taskmaster here, but we should get together for lunch or coffee sometime.”
“Sierra,” Clay warned.
“What? Can’t two women have lunch together?” Sierra sounded innocent, but her eyes held a playful gleam. “Okay, gotta get the photos taken. Let me know if you want me to process any other rooms after your building search.”
Toni doubted his sister would need further directions. He’d already given her detailed instructions on the phone, and as a competent professional, she could handle this scene. Clay’s brothers flooded out of the building, and the only guy with light hair in the group trailed an extension cord, which he plugged into the generator.
“There,” he said. “Sierra’s up and running.”
Toni had never met the brothers either, but she knew their names. Aiden, Brendan, Drake, and Erik. Clay mentioned that his parents had named them in alphabetical order by birthdate. He said it got tiring when they were growing up, but she appreciated it. Would make it easier to remember their names. She just didn’t know who was who yet.
All but one had dark hair and resembled each other. The odd guy out’s hair was dishwater blond, very much like Sierra’s. They all clearly worked out and exuded confidence.
Toni stepped closer, and they cast a judging look her way as they fired off their names. As expected. An agent couldn’t freeze like she’d done and still be effective. None of them would want to rely on her to have their backs. She didn’t think they meant anything personal by their looks, but the judgment was there just the same.
In the tightening of Aiden’s deep blue eyes. Brendan’s similar eyes, inquisitive yet assessing. Drake, who seemed totally intense, watching her with a dark gaze. And Erik, a tilt of his head as if the verdict might still be out on his opinion.
“Knock it off, guys.” Clay ran his gaze over his brothers and shared her childhood trauma.
He looked uncomfortable. Like he didn’t want to rock the boat, and he kept glancing at Aiden as if checking his reaction. Basically he was the middle child of the boys, and her psychology training at Quantico told her that middle kids often acted as peacemakers in adult life, both at work and at home. She could see that behavior in Clay. When a dispute arose on the task force, he’d mediated and kept them moving forward.
But his demand and explanation for his brothers didn’t sway them at all, or at least didn’t change their appraising looks.
“I get it,” she said, looking from one solid guy to the next. Many women would be intimidated by them. Shoot, a lot of guys would be, but she was used to working in a man’s world where testosterone flowed as fast as the Willamette River through Portland, and she wasn’t in the least bit afraid. Concerned they’d let her secret slip, yes. Afraid, no.
“I’d be looking at me the same way,” she continued. “A law enforcement officer who freezes for any reason is a liability. You can’t count on me having your back. But trust me when I say I had no idea I’d react that way. I haven’t seen a snake since the terrifying incident. And after today, I’ll see someone about it so it doesn’t happen again.”
“You don’t have to justify yourself to us.” Clay curled his hands into fists at his sides as he watched his brothers. “It’s not like we’re perfect or anything. I could start airing our dirty laundry. Who should I start with?”
