Page 54 of Robb

He would call Tahnee to apologize, and to ask if he could send some agents to help protect the sanctuary. Then, depending on her response, he would either call his agents and send some of them directly to the sanctuary to work with her, or else call his agents and send them to a place near enough to the sanctuary that they could get there quickly if there were any issues. He wasn’t going to leave the place entirely undefended by Agency forces, even if she wanted nothing to do with him or the Agency.

Or…

Or would that just make things worse? Tahnee had already made it pretty clear what she thought of him telling her he knew what she should do with her life and the sanctuary she’d built, and then kept protected for years without his help.

Yes, as far as he was concerned, not sending anyone to keep an eye on her was tantamount to neglecting his duty, both as a law enforcement officer and as her mate.

But…

But that was what had started the problem in the first place. Him not being able to accept that someone other than him might know how to take care of themselves.

How can I leave her all alone though, undefended? Unprotected?

It went against everything he thought he’d ever stood for. But maybe… maybe…

Maybe I should just… unclench… a little…

It sounded exactly like something Tahnee would tell him to do. Something that he would have taken umbrage at and told her that he was exactly the correct amount of clenched, thank you very much, and he didn’t appreciate her telling him how to do his job or live his life.

Which is exactly the same thing she’d probably say to me if I so much as thought about sending agents to go effectively spy on her for me.

Robb closed his eyes, resisting the urge to scrub his fingers through his hair in frustration.

I can’t think right now.

He was sleep-deprived and in a bigger mess than he had been since the first time he and Tahnee had walked away from each other.

Before I do anything, I need some sleep.

Maybe it was just a delaying tactic so he could put off some uncomfortable conversations with himself. But right now, he had to admit that walking around ruminating wasn’t doing him any good, either.

Perhaps the best thing he could do right now – for both himself and for Tahnee – was to just go home – or somewhere that wasn’t the office – and sleep like a rock. For at least fourteen hours.

A scraping sound caught his attention as he walked, and he looked around to see an elderly man slumping against a wall, his cane clattering to the ground as he wheezed and clutched at his chest.

An emergency! his dingo snapped, immediately on alert. Someone needs our help!

Robb was at the man’s side before he even had time to think about what he was doing.

The man was lying crumpled against a building, gasping, his cane by his side as his hand flailed around, groping for it.

“Sir, are you okay?” he asked, sliding one hand under the man’s arm to support him.

Maybe cardiac arrest, Robb thought, as he looked at the way the man was still clutching at his chest. I need to get him lying down, and try to stop him from moving. Make sure I can perform CPR if I need to. And call for an ambulance right away.

“Oh…” said the man hazily, waving a hand. “Oh, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I just get these spells sometimes.”

The man definitely did not look fine, and Robb wasn’t about to just leave him on the side of the street.

“I’m going to lie you down,” Robb said, trying not to sound like he was giving orders, but also trying to make it clear he wasn’t about to let this guy fob him off either. Cardiac arrest usually meant a swift loss of consciousness, and if the man fell because he was trying to stand, then he could hit his head and make the situation even more serious than it already was. “And then I’m going to call an ambulance. No ifs, no buts.”

“I said,” said the man, straightening up remarkably, “that I am fine.”

A sharp pain lanced into the side of Robb’s neck, followed immediately by a burning fire that tore through every nerve in his body.

“I appreciate your concern, however,” the man’s voice continued, sounding like it was coming from far away, and Robb felt himself being grabbed by at least two people, even as his lungs collapsed in upon themselves and refused to take in any air whatsoever.

Sleep like a rock, Robb thought dazedly, trying to remember the last thing that had been going through his mind.