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.
Wade Rocha and Jose James filled the small observation room, both in uniform, but Rocha barely had the sleep wiped from his eyes, a mug of coffee in one hand and a candy bar in the other. The captain relaxed, his ever-ready smile sliding back into place.
Damn, but this long day was stretching into a long night.
Wade shot a quick assessing look at Bernard.
Liam smiled. “He’s my baby-sitter, guard, handler.” Also known to be a suck-up, but that was probably best left unsaid. “Take your pick.”
Bernard just grinned.
Wade pressed deeper into the room. “Good evening, Captain Bernard. I saw the base commander out in the hall, and I could have sworn she was looking for you.”
Bernard stood taller. “Really?”
“Yeah, Colonel Zogby’s just out there. If you hurry you can catch her. We’ll be right here while you speak with her. Can’t leave without going past you.”
“Right,” Bernard said. “Thanks.”
The captain rushed out the door, obviously eager for face time with a colonel.
Laughing softly, Wade pressed deeper into the room and clapped Liam on the shoulder. “What happened out there on the road tonight?”
“How did you know to find me here?” So much for security.
“We were called in by someone from the OSI. They didn’t say why, other than that you’d been in an accident.”
Jose stepped alongside them, an unregulation marathon T-shirt just visible through the open neck of his camos. “Major, saw your Jeep in the parking lot and it looks like shit.”
Liam winced. “I know.”
“I mean really shitty,” Jose said, whistling softly. “Totaled-and-headed-to-the-junkyard shitty.”
“Thanks. Wanna pour salt in the wound while you’re at it?”
Jose pulled his hand out of his pocket. “I thought you might want these before they tow it away.”
His fist opened to reveal the three garters that had hung from Liam’s rearview mirror.
“Not funny today.” Liam smiled tightly. “But thanks anyway.”