Page 33 of Crosscurrent

Her question took him by surprise. Ever since he’d headed out here at Vega’s request, this case had taken all his bandwidth. But he knew what she meant. “Working it out.”

“Yeah. I can see that.”

He looked at his hands.

“It’s going to take a while to get used to not carrying a badge,” he admitted.

He could have brushed off her question, but he knew Cara. She’d keep at him until he caved. He huffed out something that wasn’t quite a laugh. “This is the first case this size I’ve ever taken without a badge behind me. Without — somebody who could make a phone call.”

Cara nodded. She had been a thousand things in her life, he thought, watching her take a beat instead of filling the silence. She had a different gravity for these moments than he did.

“I gave it up to do this kind of work,” he said. “The kind where we get to choose who we help. I don’t regret this, if that’s what you’re asking.”

She tugged a dried weed out of a crack in the rock. “Good to know.” She glanced at him. “But?”

“But it’s bigger than I thought when I handed in the badge.”

“Are we enough?”

He inhaled. Looked at the water. Looked at her face, the careful watchful set of it, and saw she was asking on her own behalf too. “I think we are. I think we have to be.”

She tossed aside the weed and folded her hands together, watching the water with him. “If there’s anything I could do to make any of this easier — anything you ever wanted to ask me — you could ask.”

“I will,” he promised. “Some of it I don’t know yet. Some of it I’m not going to ask you about yet. We have time.”

Her shoulders eased. “Yeah. Okay.”

They sat a little longer, letting the crash of the waves below surround them.

He stood. Offered her a hand.

She took it.

They walked back down the bluff together, hand in hand. A sweet kind of Heaven.

At the bottom of the trail, where the scrub gave way to the road and the marina parking lot, they passed the front window of Sugar & Salt and Gabe looked in.

Skye was on the prep counter showing Owen how to fold a paper crane. He fumbled with the edges, then sneezed into the crook of his elbow. Agent watched from the back of the counter, clearly ready to pounce, if necessary. Or escape.

Cara made a happy little sound and released his hand. Different battle now. And bigger found family.

12

Cara’s phone vibrated at 3:42 am, shooting her into full alertness.

PERIMETER MOTION — ALLEY EAST — OUTER ZONE.

Outer zone meant inside the alley but not yet at the building. The team had thirty feet of warning, give or take. Cara flew out of bed and crossed to the window, pulling the curtain away with two fingers, just far enough to allow her to see out.

Two men in dark jackets strode through the alley toward the back door. They moved with an ugly, confident grace. They’d done this before. Many times.

Her phone vibrated again. Gabe, from the living room.

Up. Weapon. Eyes on stair.

She typed back.

Eyes on alley. Two of them. Pros.