Rogue Alliance (33 page)

             
She would stay. Like Carmen had asked, she wouldn’t give up.
But she was going to do things her way.

             
She closed the dishwasher and pressed start. There was a knock at the front door.

Grabbing her gun and badge, she headed toward the door. She wasn’t under cover anymore.

             
“Good morning.”

             
Shawn’s blonde hair looked a bit disheveled and he had a strung out look in his eyes. She imagined he hadn’t been sleeping well either.

             
“Morning,” he said,
“y
ou ready?”

             
“Yep, let’s go.”

             
Once in the mustang, she
went for it.

             
“I lied. My car is running just fine.”

             
His
glance was quick and uneasy
.

             
“Um, okay.”

             
“I just wanted you to give me a ride.”

             
“Well you d
idn’t have to lie to get a ride,” he said,
“
I would have given you one anyway.”

             
“Yeah, I figured, but…well, it just seemed easier to lie at the time.
Listen, we need to talk.
If we’re going to work together then we need to get this thing that’s between us out in the open.
”

             
“Thing, what thing?”

             
“Don’t play coy with me, Shawn. You know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m not sure what exactly is going on, but the first few weeks after we met, you acted like you couldn’t stand me. Then out of the blue, you walk into my apartment, kiss me, and walk back out.”

             
He opened his mouth to say something.

             
“N
ope, nope,
” Shyla interrupted,
“
just let me finish. We need to establish
some boundaries if we’
re going to work together. Now, it doesn’t really matter how I feel about you or how you feel about me, but we both know that as long as we’re working on a case together, we have to keep it professional.”

             
“But you’re off the case.”

             
She rolled her eyes.

             
“Yeah, well, that’s a matter of opinion.
That was decided to keep me safe.
I expect now that my cover is fully blown, it won’t be an issue anymore anyway.
So, it can only be assumed that you and I will continue to work together.”

             
“So
,
how do you feel about me?” Shawn asked.

             
“I honestly don’t know,” Shyla sighed,
“
I mean, you’ve been kind of jerk most of the time
and
,
if you haven’t noticed
,
I’ve been pretty preoccupied lately.”

             
“How’s your neck?”

             
So he was changing the subject.
She
squelched the reflex to touch the area in question.

             
“It hurts to swallow. But I’m
fairly
tough. Nothing’s damaged beyond repair.”

             
Shawn
slammed his palm against the steering wheel and his face reddened.
             
“Dammit,” he said,
“
I just want to have a few moments
alone with that guy, without his bodyguard and without guns, just fists.”

             
Shyla
reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

             
“Look, Shawn, I appreciate it, but
‘
that guy
’
will get what’s coming to him eventually.”

             
“Yeah, well, I wish y
ou would have let me arrest him the other night.
”

             
“Why would I d
o that when I’m going to do it
myself later this afternoon?”

*

             
Shawn held the door open for Shyla when they arrived at the department.

Her entrance raised a few eyebrows amongst the staff as they took note that she was wearing jeans and a button down shirt as opposed to her secretarial garb of slacks and a blouse. She even caught the sound of a gasp as someone noticed the hue of color encircling her neck.
Either that or they had eyeballed the gun on her hip. She couldn’t be sure which.

             
Bypassing everyone, she headed straight for Hal’s office.

             
“Good
,
you’re here,” he said waving her in. He was on the phone and looked distracted.
When his eyes lit on her they widened in alarm. “Oh, hey, I’m going to have to call you back.
Holy shit, Shyla. When did this happen?”

             
She closed the door and stood with hands on her hips.

             
“I want back on the case. The cover is blown wide open. From now on, I’m a cop, I work like a cop, and we take this from a whole new angle; straight on.

             
“First things first, though, take my statement and take some pictures,” she said
, pointing to her throat,
“I’m done playing cat and mouse. I’m gonna arrest this son-of-bitch. They’ll let him go, but we’ll just stay on his ass and arrest him
at every opportunity. One of these days
we’ll get something so big that no one will be able to fight against it. He’s going down
eventually
.”

*

             
Shyla’s cell phone rang as she was climbing into
the front of the police cruiser. There was no way she was going to make the arrest without the guys by her side. They wouldn’t have it and, t
ruth be told, neither would she. W
ho knew how
Victor would react?
 

             
“Hello, this is Shyla.”

             
“How are you doing?” Brennan’s voice was oddly comforting.

             
She glanced at Shawn in the driver’s seat, then back to the road.

             
“Funny
you should ask, I’m on my way out to your place.
I have a warrant for your friend’s arrest.”

             
The line was silent.

             
“You shouldn’t do this,” Brenna said, “i
t’s a waste of time.”

             
“Well, you know, I’m a sucker for abuse and I got nothing better to do, so what the hell.”

             
“
Listen, I…I wanted to check on you and…well, I just wanted to say, that I appreciate your help the other night.”

             
Again, Shyla s
neaked
a glance toward Shawn.
Uncomfortable with the turn in conversation, she tucked
the cell phone tighter to her chin.

             
“Yeah, well
,
don’t get used to it. It was a bad decision on my part, but seeing as you helped me out last Friday, I figure we’re even now, so let’
s just agree to move forward, keep it simple.
”

             
“
Fine
,” Brennan said,
“w
e’ve been expecting that you’d pay us a visit today. We’ll see you in a bit
.”

             
There was a small click in her ear.
The confidence that Shyla had been relying upon all morning was wani
ng fast. Brennan’s stoic, quiet, manner was always unsettling.
Everything about him was. The hardest part was that no matter how she tried to be indifferent toward him, it was impossible. They knew each other’s secrets, and they’d protected each other. They may be even, but nothing about their dynamic was simple.

THIRTY-FIVE

             
Knowing that Shawn and Jason were standing a few feet back as she knocked on Victor’s door didn’t ease her anxiety. It was creeping in and causing her to rethink the decision to personally follow through with his arrest. She was resistant to the idea of looking into his face again, but it was inevitable.

             
The large oak door swung open. Brennan stared down at her. Her heart skipped a beat as she remembered their kiss.

             
There was a look in his eye that she’d not seen before. Respect? She wasn’t sure.

             
“Hello, Shyla.”

             
A flash of color in the background shifted her focus. Victor stepped forward, nudging Brennan to the side. The crazed maniac that she’d witnessed the Friday before was gone, replaced by his cool, charming veneer.

             
He
broke into a wide, mocking grin.

             
“Well hello, Gorgeous,
” he drawled,
“
I’ve been waiting for you all morning. I see you brought your friends.”

             
He jutted out his hand
s, locking his wrists together.

             
“Well, come on then, let’s get this show on the road. I’ve already called my lawyer. I want to be home within the next few days. I’ve got stuff to do.”

             
His cavalier, pompous attitude grated on her nerves. It was difficult not to put a hand to her throat in response to his voice. She could still feel the way the scarf had bit into her flesh and cut off her airway. She’d thought she’d die that night. Thanks to Brennan, she lived to see this day.

             
“I see you’re on your best behavior today, Victor. That’s fine. It makes my job a lot easier. I have a warrant here for your arrest. You have the right to remain silent…”

*

             
“I hear you arrested Victor today.”

             
Shyla detected the underlying frustration in Eli Straton’s tone. She’d heard it many times in the past when she’d stretched boundaries and avoided authority. She closed the door to Hal’s office where he’d said she could make the call.

             
“Yep. The warrant was issued and I made the arrest within the hour. I know you’re mad because I didn’t call you first, but I had my reasons.”

             
“I don’t have a problem with you making the arrest, Shyla. Hal made that call, and from what I’ve learned over the last few minutes from my conversation with him, it was more than valid.

             
“My problem lies with all of the other subordinate activities you’ve pulled lately. Let’s see, I believe it starts with you going into that warehouse, unarmed and alone. Then when Hal and I established that your cover was no longer stable and we pulled you from the case, you decided to go through with an under-cover rendezvous anyway, without surveillance, or protection, or any notification to anyone on the inside for that matter, to ensure your safety.

             
“As a result, you were nearly strangled to death, except by some miracle, Victor’s body guard shows up and saves your life. Does any of this ring a goddamn bell, Shyla? Cause by all means, correct me if I’m wrong.”

             
Shyla gritted her teeth. She hated being chastised, especially by someone she respected and looked up to.

             
“I’m not going to waste your time trying to explain why I
went out to Victor’s that night,” she said,
“a
ll I can say is that I made a bad decision. I can’t really say that I regret it, because we now have even more evidence against him to build our case on.”

             
“Jesus, Shyla, do you even hear yourself right now? You’re doing what you always do; you’re trying to demonstrate how your recalcitrant behavior should actually be rewarded because there may possibly be a positive result despite all the risks you took and rules you broke. Well knock it off. I’ve had it. I’ve put up with your antics for long enough because underneath all that mess, you’re a dang good detective and I like you. But when I get photos of you on my scanner that show you black and blue with strangulation marks around your neck, I reach my limits. You should have obeyed orders.”