Under Fire (Elite Force #3)(19)
Author: Catherine Mann

As if there were really a question in there anywhere. And she’d used his first name, just as he’d used hers.

Rachel chewed her kissed-tender bottom lip.

“Of course.” Liam turned to Rachel, squeezing her shoulder, and yes, she wanted to believe there was something more when he touched her. Especially with his kiss still imprinted on her lips and brain. “I’ll be just a few feet away if you need me.”

The door clicked closed behind Liam and Captain Bernard. Was it her imagination that it hissed like a portal, trapping her in a vacuum-sealed chamber with someone who’d shifted from ally to jailer?

Her inquisitor pulled a Coke from her purse and popped the top. Offering the soda can, she nodded back to the sofa, green with an iron framework. “Make yourself comfortable. I wish I had something to offer your dog, too. Would you like me to call for a bowl of water?”

“Thank you. If we stay here too long, then yes, he will need that and a trip outside.” Rachel wasn’t fooled for a second by the show of niceties. The woman was trying to work an angle, get closer with the drink and the concern for Disco.

Which should have been fine.

Special Agent Cramer actually was here to help, right? She’d come in late at night just because Liam called. Except Rachel felt the investigator’s suspicion all the way to her toes. This agent was a person who didn’t trust anyone.

“Relax,” Sylvia said, settling into the chair by the sofa, resting her iPad on her knees.

“Easy for you to say.” Rachel clasped the soda can between her palms. “No one tried to blow up your home today or run you off the road.”

Poison one of her dogs.

Threaten her on the phone.

But hey, one thing at a time. No need to sound like a paranoid lunatic straight out of the gate.

“You’re right. My day was quite mundane until now.” She smiled again, pearly teeth flashing as the chilly gust of the air conditioner wafted around more of her subtle signature scent.

Sylvia smelled like expensive perfume and Rachel smelled of Liam’s soap. And Liam had appreciated her just fine when she’d been covered in grime, working an earthquake rescue. He didn’t need glam. She grinned inside.

Then remembered why she was here in the first place. “What happened to my condo?”

“The police are still investigating. But from what my people hear, it appears to be a kitchen fire that spread… quickly.” She assessed her with icy-sharp blue eyes. “Now let’s talk about what’s been going on for the past few weeks.”

“Talk?” Like chitchat over tea and finger sandwiches? While she trusted Liam, she didn’t know this person, and clearly things on this base weren’t as secure as they should be. “I’m not sure where to begin.”

“Wherever you wish. I’m here to listen and do what I can to sort through everything. I can also provide protection if need be. This is a win-win situation… as long as you tell me the truth.”

“This just seems so informal.” Rachel lifted the Coke, shifting on the sofa.

“I can assure you, I’m taking this very seriously.” Sylvia tapped her iPad. “Our session is being taped, if that makes you feel any better.”

“Ah, so you just officially informed me.”

“That I did.”

Rachel cocked her head to the side, starting to feel more than a little claustrophobic. “Should I have a lawyer?”

“This isn’t a civilian police setting.” Sylvia placed her iPad on the side table. “I have no jurisdiction over you. And nobody’s read you your rights. I understood from Liam—Major McCabe—that you want my help.”

“Of course I do. I’m sorry for acting paranoid. This has just been an insane couple of weeks where I’ve been let down by law enforcement. So forgive me if I’m overly cautious.” She rested a hand on her dog’s head, grateful they’d let her keep Disco with her. “Have you been able to track Brandon down yet? I’m worried about him.”

“As well you should be, and we’ve got people searching now.” She scooped up her iPad and, glancing down, tapped along the touch screen. “Let’s just review everything again, in your own words rather than via Major McCabe. It’s surprising what different people will pick up on or things that will come to mind for you because I ask a certain question.”

“Ask away, then.”

Sylvia tipped up her iPad, shifting her full attention back to Rachel. Not that she’d ever actually taken it off her. “Let’s start with this surveillance video of you breaking into Major McCabe’s Jeep.”

***

Liam leaned against the wall across from the observation glass, wishing he could listen in as well, but Captain Bernard had already gone above and beyond in letting him stay to watch. The guy was a butt-kisser to anyone who outranked him. Usually that grated on Liam’s every last nerve, but right now? He wasn’t sure he could have let Rachel out of his sight completely. While he trusted Sylvia, the rest of the world was still suspect. Until they had some answers, he preferred to keep Rachel front and center.

Although she seemed to be holding her own—staying alert and apparently not fooled one bit by Sylvia Cramer’s attempt to put her at ease and catch her off guard. Liam had watched his old friend often enough to know she was just giving Rachel a chance to calm down, to feel secure, and then she would attempt to rattle her story.

Or at the very least, shake new information free.

So he kept his eyes glued to the two women, unable to stop himself from comparing them. Sylvia—a sleek, sexy redhead he’d dated who should have been perfect for him. She was totally married to her job as a civilian employee with the OSI. She understood his lifestyle, the secrets, the long separations. She had the same in her job. They’d been a perfect—cool, chilly—match.

Zip for chemistry.

And then there was Rachel, with her uncontrollably wavy hair as wild as the way she attacked life. Even when it zapped her to the core, as the earthquake SAR in the Bahamas had. Rachel threw herself right into the fire all over again here, helping veterans wounded in such a deep way, it couldn’t possibly help but slice into her as well.

She was anything but calm. Anything but cool. And completely, sensually alive.

A hiss from behind him snapped him around quickly. Captain Bernard tensed, his hand slipping to his weapon strapped in an arm holster. A cipher-locked door opened—and two of his teammates stepped through.