Page 8 of Night Hawk
A wavering smile crossed her mouth. “I see you’re still Mr. Diplomacy.”
“I mean it, Toni,” he said emphatically. “It’s not your fault.”
“I haven’t been near a snake since then.” She shuddered, and a coughing fit hit her as she stared at the building. “I never imagined I’d experience that kind of paralyzing response. I mean, I’ve seen some horrific things on the job without losing it. I never imagined a snake could freeze me in place.”
“Did you get counseling after that day?”
“They didn’t really do things like that back then. Or maybe my dad thought I should tough it out.”
“I can relate.” As a former deputy, his father could be a taskmaster at times. “Law enforcement dads can be tough.”
She arched a brow and tucked her hair behind her ears. It was a deep rich brunette with feathery edges that barely touched her shoulders. She usually wore it up in a clip when working and left tendrils on the side free. He’d always wanted to tuck it behind her ear as she’d just done. He hadn’t seen her with it down very often, but the style softened her face and made her seem much more approachable than the straight-laced FBI agent normally appeared.
She took another long breath, and the terror in her eyes seemed to lessen. “What are you doing here?”
“Someone left a note on my Jeep saying to show up at that janitor’s closet at five-fifteen if I wanted to find Hibbard.” The prime suspect, Rich Hibbard, had remained elusive and the task force had never been able to arrest him.
“Yeah, me too. Except my time was five.” She bit her lip. “I should’ve figured it was a trap and brought someone with me.”
“You’ve been accused of being a lone wolf.”
“Where you’re Mister Personality, making friends left and right.”
She was right, and he didn’t argue. She’d told him she was an only child and that her dad had kept her busy most of her free time. Where he had an older sister and was the middle child of five boys and had to learn to get along with people. He’d often taken heat from the older pair of brothers and the younger pair, which meant he looked for friends outside the family. He’d frequently ended up being the peacemaker between his brothers.
His birth order also made him more independent. Which was why he would’ve been okay to come here alone even if his brothers hadn’t been on a job when he’d had to leave Portland to get here on time.
“The note said this was about my dad, so I get why someone tried to lure me here,” she said. “But why do you think they targeted you too?”
“I’ve continued to investigate Hibbard. Seems like they wanted to stop us both from looking into him.”
She arched an eyebrow above those amazing eyes he always had trouble looking away from. “Did you find anything?”
“Nothing that panned out. I’m assuming you’ve kept working the case too.”
She nodded. “But like you, I struck out.”
“With this attempt on our lives, I figure at least one of us is getting close.”
“Makes sense.” She looked back at the school. “We might be able to persuade our agencies to reopen the investigation.”
Her comment stopped his thoughts. “You wouldn’t have heard. I’m no longer an ICE agent.”
“What?” She locked onto his face. “You bled ICE from your veins. I figured you’d die before leaving the agency.”
“Things change.”
“What happened?”
He didn’t like talking about the change. Too personal, and he had to be careful with her or it could lead somewhere he didn’t want to go. But they’d shared enough about their past when working together that she knew his family and deserved a response. “My dad needed a kidney transplant. My—”
“Is he okay?” She gripped his arm, her concern evident in her tone.
“Yes, thank God. My oldest brother, Aiden, donated one of his. But that put Aiden at risk in his ATF job. Too many dangerous weapons raids that could take out his remaining kidney. So we all quit our jobs and formed an investigation and protection agency.”
“Oh, wow.” She pulled her hand back and ran it over her hair, releasing flecks of ash residue. “I’m glad everything turned out okay, but what a change for you. When did this happen?”
“About six months ago.”
