Page 45 of Keeping Collette

Deal was grateful that they had started it and had decided to expand to the west coast, because he would’ve been bumming around not knowing what to do after he’d left the Navy. He could’ve stayed and been a career SEAL, but with his teammates all talking about leaving, he couldn’t have imagined staying and working with another team. The synergy he and his friends had created while on missions and working together for years was hard to recreate.

“I get it didn’t help that Rowan decided she was going to give her opinion on how Fox should do things. It was pretty ballsy of her, so I give her props for standing up to him.”

“It’s her sister, it’s understandable she’d do anything to make sure she’s safe and nothing happens to her. And with Rowan being FBI and working with Julian, she knows how many sick fuckers there are in the world.” Talking about Rowan and Zadie’s relationship reminded Deal of the grit and determination Collette had shown in getting someone to listen to her about Courtney. If the police had taken her seriously, then maybe there would have been a chance that Courtney would still be alive.

However, having seen and dealt with so many “what ifs” in his former career as a SEAL, he tended not to dwell on what might have been if things had been different. They weren’t.

He and Jag went back to reading the files and making notes, when the hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention—not in a bad way, more in a way that someone special was nearby.

Deal looked up and his gaze connected with Collette’s. She was wearing a beautiful emerald-green blouse that accentuated her blonde hair. She’d teamed it with slim black pants and black flat shoes. She looked professional and sexy all at the same time.

He was up and out of his seat before he’d even finished the thought about moving. The second he was by her side, he leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. Not giving a fuck that his colleagues were nearby. It wasn’t as if his interest in Collette was a secret or unknown to them.

“Hey, you look gorgeous,” he murmured. He may not have an issue with everyone seeing him kiss her, but he didn’t want them to hear everything he said.

“Thanks. You look pretty hot too.” The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows and her fingers trailed along his exposed forearms, tracing the outline of his tattoo.

His dick twitched against his pants, and he wished they were alone. Every second he spent with Collette, he wanted her more and more.

“Can I get you something to drink?” he asked as he ushered her over to the table, pleased to see that Jag had closed the files they had been looking at and had piled them up so Collette wouldn’t see anything terrible.

“I’ll take some water, thanks.” She sat and clasped her fingers together and rested them on the table, as if she was waiting to be scolded by the school principal.

Deal placed his hand over hers. “There’s nothing to be worried about. I’m here,” he said quietly.

“I know.”

He studied her for a moment, and while she was giving the impression that she was nervous and worried, she looked confident with her straight spine and gaze clear. “I’ll be back in a second.”

“That’s fine.”

Deal moved swiftly to the sideboard, aware of the others coming into the room and greeting Collette. He spied, in his peripheral vision, Cass giving Collette a hug.

He returned with a glass and a plate of cookies for her in case she was hungry, and sat beside her.

She murmured her thanks, picking up a cookie and nibbling on it while Cass fiddled with her computer. The large TV screen lit up. “You ready?” she directed her question to Collette.

“As much as one can be.”

Given what Cass had eluded to earlier, this meeting wasn’t going to be easy.

Chapter Twenty-One

Collette was anything but ready for what Cass was about to tell her. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Growler had looked intense when he’d come over to her and told her they wanted her at Alliez’s office.

There were piles of files on the conference table, and she had a feeling they were all related to the people that had been killed by the person who’d killed Courtney. Along with the others who’d gone missing.

There were so many of the buff-colored folders. So many lives changed in the blink of an eye. All those families with no answers. Even the families where they had a body to bury, still had so many unanswered questions. Mainly, why had it been their family member taken? What was so special about them that they’d been singled out?

Why Courtney?

Collette pushed the questions aside. She would never know the answer, and she had come to terms with that. Didn’t stop her wondering though.

“Thanks for coming in Collette,” Cass started, once they were all seated.

A sense of dread filled her when she noted that everyone from the office was now in the room.

What was this all about, and why was Cass taking the lead, and not Ox, like he had with some of the other meetings she’d sat in on while they’d been trying to find her sister?