by Caisey Quinn
A sickening feeling churned in her stomach. He wasn’t following protocol. He wasn’t adhering to the safety standards he’d taught her. He was infuriating as hell.
“Are you risking it on purpose? To teach me a lesson?” she asked as she helped him get the suit on.
Agent Davis shot her a warning look as if to say, now is not the time, but she ignored it.
“I’m not trying to teach you anything,” Chase mumbled. “Been there, done that. Look where it got me.”
“That’s not fair,” she whispered. “And you know it.”
Chase held his hand up to signal that the other officer should hold off on putting his helmet on. “I’ll tell you what I know,” he began, squaring his shoulders as he turned to face her. “You faked your fucking death four years ago. Disappeared, as dead people do. Then you show up here expecting me to act like nothing happened, and now you have the audacity to tell me how to do my job.”
“That’s what you think I’m doing?” She glared at him with everything she was worth. “That’s bullshit. You’re the one trying to pretend nothing happened. I’ve been trying to tell you, I had no choice. I had to—”
“Guys,” Agent Davis broke in. “We have company.”
Vivien and Chase both turned toward the open doors. News team SUVs full of reporters were arriving in droves.
Chase sighed. “That’s just great. I’ll have to give a quick statement once I’ve handled this and spoken with my Captain.”
Officer Chan spoke up. “I’ll set up the perimeter and let them know. Maybe they’ll give us some space for a bit if I promise them something.”
Agent Davis escorted her out and the male officer that had returned with the suit handed Vivien the helmet. “Good luck,” he remarked before exiting with the other two.
Vivien began stepping into the protective gear Agent Davis had given her. The light vest and gloves wasn’t as secure as the suit, but it would have to do.
“Leave, Vivien. I’ve got this.”
She shook her head. “I already died once, remember? I’m not leaving.”
His expression was unreadable as she lowered the helmet onto his head.
Vivien held a penlight so that Chase could see what he was doing. The small explosive device was simple enough. The kind they defused early in EOD training. But the feeling that this was a decoy didn’t leave Vivien’s gut.
When Chase’s hands began to tremble, she wondered if it was the way she was moving the light playing tricks on her vision. But it wasn’t.
He had a small, barely noticeable tremor.
Without thinking, Vivien reached out and placed her hand on his. He steadied immediately. Together, they disconnected a series of wires until the time flashed once before the display went blank.
She exhaled, realizing she’d held her breath the entire time.
What they’d done was intense, intimate, and yet, Chase retreated immediately, yanking his hand away from hers and standing abruptly. “I have to remove this from the premises and call my Captain. See what I can tell the vultures out there about this.”
Vivien nodded. “With the amount of tourism this place sees, I’d venture a guess and say not a whole lot.”
“You’re probably right about that.” He turned the box over in his hand. “What the—” Chase didn’t finish his sentence. He pulled a piece of plain white copy paper from the underside of the black box. His face paled until it nearly matched the sheet of paper he held.
She leaned forward to read what was written on it.
Using a bold-red Sharpie, someone had written in short, even, capital letters, CONSIDER THIS YOUR FIRST AND FINAL WARNING. NEXT TIME SHE WON’T RETURN FROM THE DEAD.
Eleven
“Is there any connection to this and the injuries sustained by Officer Ethan Meadows?” A dark-skinned woman with a microphone asked him.
A male reporter stepped closer to the front of the group. “Is there a live bomb threat still effective in the metropolitan area?”
Chase placed his hands up with his palms facing them. His head hadn’t stopped spinning since he’d seen the note on the underside of the IED he’d defused. “At this time, we are not able to comment on any connections. This particular incident has been contained. We are treating today’s event as an isolated one.”
“Are there any suspects so far?” The question was shouted from so many different directions he just aimed his answer at the masses.
“We are tracking down multiple leads at this time.” Chase waited for the questions to die down before repeating the statement he’d been given by his Captain. “What we’re asking is for citizens to be vigilant and report any odd behavior they observe to the Nashville PD. Particularly in high-volume locations and tourist attractions. Thank you.” With that, Chase joined his team and made his way to the tactical SUV.
“You did good,” Vivien said once they were free of the crowd.
Chase clenched his jaw tightly, wishing he didn’t crave her approval so much. “Thanks.”
“I would’ve stood up there with you but I wasn’t sure if the department was ready to tell the press that the Bureau is involved.”
Chase nodded. “Yeah. Even if they were, no way in hell I would’ve let you get on camera.”
Vivien bristled visibly. “Excuse me?”
Chase turned to face her once they reached the SUV. “Did you read the same fucking note I did, Viv? You know as well as I do that whoever’s behind this is watching. I won’t know for sure until the testing is done but I don’t think that was even a live explosive. I didn’t feel a charge in the wires. Whoever this is, he’s toying with us. Targeting you, specifically. And they know too much. They’ll be eating up the media coverage, and I’ll be damned if you’re going to put you face out there with a bull’s-eye on it.”
“Oh, but your face makes a fine target?” She made a huffy pissed off sound. “What’s with the double standard, Fisk?”
“No double standard. But you read the damn note. I’m going to do whatever I can to keep you out of this maniac’s path.” He ignored her standing there seething for the next few minutes while he loaded the gear into the SUV with the help of Officer Chan. “I’m putting a detail on you starting now. Don’t be alarmed if you see Officer Gamble stationed outside your hotel room.”
Once Chan had gotten in the SUV and left Chase and Vivien alone, the woman across from him let her rage flow openly.
“Well, which one is it?” she demanded. “You hate me and can’t forgive what happened four years ago or you care enough to keep me safe? Can’t have it both ways.”
He glared at her. “I can’t have it, period. It disappeared. Remember?” He huffed out a breath as if she were wasting his time. “But I took an oath, and I will not put you in unnecessary danger, regardless. So as long as I’m around, you stay out of the line of fire.”
“Listen here, Officer, I’m a federal agent. Meaning I completed the training and I have dealt with more psychopaths than you could ever imagine. Up close and personal.”
Chase’s insides twisted at the thought of her in harm’s way in any capacity. But she wasn’t done.
“I’m not some delicate little civilian sweetheart you have to protect or shield from danger. I can handle myself and if and when the Bureau decides to make their presence known in this case, I’ll do whatever I damn well please when it comes to—”
“Stop. Talking.” Chase braced his hands on the SUV on either side of her head. “I mean it, Viv. It’s been a fucked up morning and you had no business being in there with me without protective gear on. Then there was that goddamn note. Between that and the reporters and the fact that someone is planting explosives in my city, my nerves are shot to hell right now and you’re grating on them like it’s your job. So hear me when I say, Ms. Federal Agent, you weren’t the only one who died once already. I was just as dead,
going through the motions day after day thinking you were no longer living and breathing. So I have no plans to allow a single hair on your head to be harmed on my watch. Again. Feel free to stomp around all pissed off if you like, sweetheart. But we’re at an impasse here, and we’re going to have to agree to disagree or this case is going to get a whole lot more difficult.”
“I told you before. I’m not sweet.” Her hazel eyes narrowed as her glare drilled into his head.
“Wrong,” Chase said, leaning in closer to whisper in her ear. “You’re still the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted. And I know you haven’t forgotten how sweet you tasted on my lips. Because I haven’t. And believe me, I’ve tried.”
He pulled back before he did something completely inappropriate and illegal right there with a live media audience around the corner. Like fuck her hard and fast up against the SUV just to take the edge off. He hated that he couldn’t control himself around her. Hated that just the sight of her filled him with want and need and white-hot frustration.
Vivien looked as if the SUV was the only thing holding her up at the moment.
Chase moved to open the driver’s door, but Vivien recovered quickly and blocked his path.
“Go to dinner with me.”
He balked. “What?”
Her expression turned pleading. “Please. We can’t keep doing this to each other. We need to talk things out. Figure out where we stand.”
Chase scoffed at her nerve. It was four years too late for that. “You can stand over there by your car so I can back out of this parking space.”
A flash of pain flickered across her face, letting him know his words had wounded her, but she didn’t back down. “Never figured you for a coward.”
Well, that was unexpected. Chase frowned at her. “What exactly have I done to make you think I’m a coward? Faked my own death and left town in hiding without a word for four years? Wait, no. That was someone else.”
Again, anguish colored her features; shadows passed like storm clouds in her eyes. His anger was reaching a volatile level and he knew it was time to get away from her before their argument turned even uglier.
She smacked the side of the SUV, keeping his door closed with the palm of her delicate hand.
“Take your best shot, Fisk,” she practically shouted at him. “Go ahead. Get it all out. Because I’m growing pretty tired of doing this dance with you every day. Say what you want to—just know that there’s nothing you can say, no insult or cheap shot you can throw at me that I haven’t already said to myself.”
“There’s nothing else to say,” he answered evenly. “If you don’t want to tangle with me every damn day, then stay out of my way. Steer clear of my crime scenes. Stick to behavioral analysis like you feds are supposed to. Stay in your own lane, Agent Montgomery. You’ll be gone soon anyway, right? So why waste our breath?”
“You’re scared,” she whispered quietly. “Not of explosives, not of dying, and not of homicidal maniacs. Of me. You’re scared of what you might find out, of how it might hurt if you let me back in, and what you might feel again if you stopped being an ass for five minutes.”
His chest tightened as he made his best effort to appear unaffected by her words. They were arrows shot straight to his soul, each one hitting their mark with impeccable precision. This woman was the only person in the world who could destroy it, who could shatter him so completely he might never be able to put the pieces back together again. He knew because she’d done it once already. This shitty part was, she seemed to know too.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” Vivien challenged with an upward tilt of her chin. “Tell me that and mean it, and I swear I will leave. It will hurt like hell but if that’s what you want, I’ll keep all further communication case-related.”
The same way that Chase wore protective body armor for his job, he pulled up all the shields and walls he’d built around his raw emotions. “You’re wrong. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to the station.”
He moved in a series of fluid motions to get into the SUV, strap himself in, and put it in reverse. All without looking at her because he couldn’t stand to see what would be left after he’d hurdled that grenade at her. But he had to back up, so he had to glance in the rearview.
What he saw there was his past, beautiful and broken, staring after him, looking like the ghost that she was.
***
“You okay?” Becca Chan was a solid officer but not someone Chase had ever spent much time with outside of work.
He certainly wasn’t going to open up to her about his love life or the disaster that resembled it. She’d already heard him call Aiden and demand someone be placed on Vivien every second of the day and night.
“Fine. Why?”
Becca glanced out the window. “Well, you’ve been circling the station for five minutes so . . .”
Chase heated with the knowledge that she was right. He was in a fog, replaying the morning over and over. Looking at everything but seeing nothing.
“God. Sorry. Tough morning.” He pulled into the station and got out. Vivien’s car was already there. He supposed she was filling out paperwork, generating a report on the morning’s events. He wondered if ex-lover acted like a complete douche canoe would make the report.
After Chan exited the SUV, Chase placed his hands on the steering wheel and leaned his forehead on them for a minute.
It was all too much.
Vivien coming back from the dead.
A lunatic loose in his town.
A lunatic who had targeted her for death.
Having to face the woman he’d loved and lost while she forced him to confront his feelings.
Then Chase took stock of his situation before exiting the vehicle to enter the precinct.
He was doing his best effort to contain the threat to his city. He was sucking supremely at handling Vivien’s return. And God help him, his feelings for her were kicking his ass all over the place.
It was pretty clear what he needed to do.
He just hoped that by the time he got the balls to do it, it wasn’t too late.
Twelve
The knock at her hotel door came about an hour after she’d showered and slipped into an old faded gray Army T-shirt and black shorts that doubled as underwear. Vivien straightened the file on the Music City Bomber that she’d been reviewing on her bed and stood.
She hadn’t ordered room service so she wasn’t expecting anyone. After the note from the scene, she was jumpy enough to pick up her service weapon just in case. She was pretty hungry though, so if a pizza delivery boy had shown up at the wrong room she was going to be severely tempted to pretend he hadn’t.
Another sharp rap on the door sounded before she padded barefoot to it.
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” she said loudly enough for the person on the other side to hear.
A quick glance in the peephole told her Chase Fisk was that person. She placed her gun on the table.
“Not yet,” he said evenly when she opened the door to face him.
Her head spun at the sight of him out of tactical gear. He wore dark jeans and a black Henley that stretched taut across his muscles. She scrambled for a coherent thought. “Not yet, what?”
“Nothing,” he answered with a boyish grin. “Old habit.”
She was lost. Until she wasn’t.
“You came here to make me come?”
Now it was Chase’s turn to look lost. “Not necessarily, but hearing you say it makes me contemplate reevaluating my actual purpose. As do those shorts.”
“Which is?” Vivien closed the door behind him as he stepped inside. He held a brown paper sack labeled BUCA DI BEPPO. The smells wafting from it made her stomach growl.
“I was going to tell you that Annalise has a short list of possible suspects based on information from the previous owner of th
e storage facility. But that was just my cover story,” he admitted. “Honestly I’m here to apologize. I shouldn’t have turned down your offer for dinner today. I shouldn’t have been a dick to you, period. Regardless of what’s happened in the past, you deserve better than that. So I’m trying to be . . . better.”
“Are you here because you feel bad for being a jerk or because you’re part of my detail when you’re off duty?”
He shrugged. “Is it the worst thing in the world if the answer is both?”
She shook her head and watched him set the bag on the small round table. He pulled out several takeout boxes. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Have you eaten?”
“I haven’t.”
“Then don’t say anything. We’ll eat first.” Chase pulled her chair out, and she sat, half wondering if she’d fallen asleep and was now dreaming the entire ordeal. She practically salivated all over herself both over the lasagna and the mouthwatering man plating the food before her. “Sorry. It’s just plastic forks. Nothing fancy.”
She smiled. “Fancy never was my thing.”
Chase grinned back. “I know. It’s one of the things I loved about you.”
Loved.
Past tense.
Vivien tried to bite back the sting the word caused. Once upon a time she’d told him she loved him. He didn’t say it back. But she’d always thought he had returned the feeling. He’d risked his military career for her. More than once. Gone outside his comfort zone, as he was doing right now, to show her he cared.
After a few bites of lasagna and half a breadstick, Vivien realized her nerves were bundled too tightly in her stomach to leave much room for food.
“I brought that dessert you like. The Italian one with the espresso.”
On second thought . . .
She smiled. “Tiramisu. You remembered.”
Chase frowned at her. “You thought I’d forgotten?”
