At Close Range by Jessica Andersen Page B

flinch.

    He spun and scowled down at her, noting that her color was better but her eyes were still unfocused, her legs slightly wobbly. “Get back to the damn ambulance until they figure out what’s wrong with you.”
    Her eyes focused and narrowed. “I know what’s wrong with me. I was gassed.
    Before that, I was grabbed and injected with a tranq. And don’t you dare tell me what to do. Not when there’s a scene to process.”
    “Glad to see you’re feeling better,” Seth growled, “but there’s no way in hell you’re processing that scene. You’re too close to it. And besides,” he pushed on her shoulder hard enough to send her staggering back two steps, though he stayed close enough to catch her if she went down, “you can barely stand. I don’t want you falling down and screwing up the evidence.”
    She drew breath to argue, then paused and let it out again. “You’re right. I hate that you’re right. You process it.”
    “I don’t think either of us should be on scene right now,” he said. His professional side itched to climb down into the basement and get a look at the device, at the furnace patch, at the living room, at all the things the bastard might have touched.
    But he wasn’t willing to take the risk of screwing something up if he was shakier than he thought.
    Besides, he wanted Cassie out of there, the sooner the better. It was tempting to figure they were safe surrounded by Bear Claw cops, but what if they weren’t?
    Their perp had broken pattern so many times already that he didn’t have any damn pattern left.
    “What do you suggest we do?” she challenged. He saw from the spiky anger in her eyes that she knew damn well what they should do. She just didn’t like it.

    “We need to call in the FBI’s mobile unit.”
    She lifted her chin, but didn’t argue, probably because Chief Parry was still standing opposite them.
    “Good idea,” the chief said as Sawyer emerged from the house, walking carefully.
    “Call them in.” His eyes flicked to Cassie. “With Wyatt and Cooper away, you’re out of backup.”
    But Seth didn’t move. He spread his hands and waited until she looked full at him.
    “What do you say? This is your case. Your evidence. I’m just the muscle.”
    For now.
    She held his gaze for a long moment, then her shoulders slumped with defeat, or maybe relief. “What the hell. Call your people. This isn’t about my territory anymore, is it? It’s about catching a killer before he catches me.”
    VARITEK DROVE HER to his hotel in silence, and pretended to browse through the brightly colored ski brochures racked near the door while she rented a room of her own.
    “Will this be cash or charge?” asked the bored-looking desk clerk.
    Cassie swallowed hard when she realized she didn’t have either. She didn’t even know where her purse was. It might have fallen in the first moments after she was attacked. It might have been stolen altogether, though the bastard clearly wasn’t after money. A bubble of emotion lodged in her throat. Anger, maybe, or frustration. Not fear. She wouldn’t accept fear.

    She gritted her teeth and turned to where Varitek feigned interest in the spring skiing rates at Bear Claw Peak. “Can I borrow a credit card? I’ll pay you back,” she said quickly, more for her own benefit than that of the desk clerk or Varitek himself. “Better yet, I’ll get the P.D. to pay you back.”
    Saying it that way steadied her and beat back the awkwardness. They hadn’t yet talked about the fact that he’d saved her life. She didn’t even know where to begin, or how to process the surge of joy she’d felt when she regained consciousness and found herself cradled in his arms.
    “For the lady’s room,” Varitek’s deep voice said at her elbow, startling her. She hadn’t seen him move, but there he was, standing beside her, sliding a credit card across the counter.
    The warmth from his body reached out to her, tempted her to lean. Her head