Page 34 of Shane
It sounded as if Alex didn’t think Bremmer was guilty. That gave Everlee pause. “Yet they’ve sent us straight to her last known residence.”
“According to the Dallas County Assessor’s office, it is. The property title hasn’t transferred yet, but Ms. Bremmer did, in fact, buy it from her aunt and uncle, Val and Sharlett Coogan, two days ago. Mother’s already double-checked.”
“You think something else is going on, don’t you? You think she’s innocent? So why’d the FBI hand this case off to us?”
“To be honest, I can’t reach FBI directors Zachary Strong or Tucker Chase to get confirmation. But when you catch up with Ms. Bremmer—and you will—place her in protective custody, yours and Shane’s, and get her to the nearest safe house. Keep her safe, Ev. Don’t talk to anyone, not even the FBI. Just bring her back to Virginia alive.”
Whoa.“A safe house? Virginia, not DC? You want us to bring her to you now? Not to the FBI?” Everlee asked, her heart fluttering again at the three hundred and sixty degree turn this seemingly simple case had taken. Sure sounded like Alex wanted them to protect Ms. Bremmer from the FBI.
“Yes, a safe house, and yes, bring her to TEAM HQ. Call me when you get close. Once you find her tonight, take her to Smoke Montoya’s ranch. You know where it is. But look around now while you’re at the scene. Sometimes the safest place to hide is in the open. Check the crowd that’s watching her house burn. Look closely at any women in emergency responder uniforms, police, fire, or EMT. Use your head, Ev. Find Tuesday Bremmer.”
“Copy that,” she replied, her gut back online and her head once more in the game. “I’ve got to get back to Shane. He needs a shirt. We’ll be in touch.”
“Stay safe.”
“We will. I promise.” Everlee ended the connection. A safe house meant going off-grid. Once they were securely inside the one Smoke Montoya provided, they’d be shielded from the Bureau, the National Security Agency, hell, even from the USA’s geosynchronous satellites that watched everything and everyone on the planet from above. But first, she had to find that dirt bag, Tuesday Bremmer.
Alex might be convinced she was innocent, but Everlee wasn’t.
Chapter Twelve
Shane had lost track of Everlee when she’d stepped aside to talk with Alex. All the noise—and there had to be a lot of it—was nothing but subdued mumbling. Made Shane feel as if he were deep underwater and out of touch with reality. Which he was. Thank goodness for ASL. One of the medics tending him knew the same language. He was good enough at signing to keep up a running conversation about what he and his buddies were doing while Shane lay there and let them do their thing. He used the time to catch his breath and his bearings.
Until Everlee came back into view. He didn’t have time for medical care then. He had work to do, and, like it or not, she needed protection. She was what, five foot nothing? Brushing his entourage of efficient—and pushy—EMTs aside, Shane ripped the blasted blood pressure cuff off and lifted to his feet. His ears popped when he stood, which brought on a wave of dizziness. Like that was any reason to lay around.
He shook it off and jogged over to his partner, dodging firehoses, charred debris, and feeling pretty damned lucky that he and Everlee were alive. Man, she looked good. Pissed but good. Things could’ve been worse. He could be one of those gawddamned survivors, and Ev could be on her way to the morgue. Nope. Not going down that slippery slope. She was alive and still as bossy as hell. That was what mattered.
As if she meant to prove it, she tossed the bundle under her arm at him, and he was pretty sure she’d said, “Think quick, big guy.”
He caught it one-handed. Holy shit, it was one of his three extra sets of clothes. Good thinking. Shane shook it out, stuffed the socks and underwear in his rear pockets, then draped the jeans over his arm. He looked down at the bandages covering his slightly toasted chest and belly. If the hair on his head was singed, the hair on his chest was burned off and gone. Oh, well. It’d grow back. He shrugged into another new TEAM polo that smelled fresh and clean. But it hurt like a mother sliding over his scraped shoulders, and he now knew the tips of his ears were blistered.
“What’s going on?” he asked out loud, though he was close enough to sign. What he hadn’t expected was to hear his own voice. He’d spoken louder than he’d intended. Temporary hearing loss, that was all he’d had. But man, the cacophony of heavy engines, men shouting, and hoses spraying was deafening. One of the fire engines had extended a ladder over the far end of Bremmer’s roof, and a hose was secured to the top rung. Several firemen on the ladder tended the hose, drenching the flames in the cavern of what was left of a nice family home. Hence, all the racket.
Everlee’s jaw was working. Shane took hold of her wrist and pulled her in close to hear her.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she yelled.
“I’m good,” he assured her, speaking just as loudly. There was no choice. A person had to shout to be heard.
“Look at all those people, Shane.”
“Lots of onlookers,” he agreed, glancing over his shoulder at the crowd that had gathered. “Lots of worried moms and dads, little kids, too.”
“But look at the crowd. Really look at them. At their faces. You’d think this was a circus show or something.”
“In a way it is. It’s a disaster, right here on their home turf. Of course they’re watching.” He forced her head back around to face him. “You’re scaring me, Ev. Are you okay?”
She nodded even as she fell into him and put both hands flat on his chest. Her weight on his burned skin hurt, but he stifled the automatic wince and looked down at her. She looked up at him. “No, Shane, I need you to really look at these people, study everyone, not just those behind the police tape. The firemen found a body in the house. Alex doesn’t think it’s Bremmer’s work. But he thinks she’s still here, watching her home burn. He wants us to find her and get her to a safe house.”
That brought Shane’s head up. Just as quickly, Everlee’s hands went to the back of his neck and pulled him down until they were nose to nose. He stifled another shudder at the pain she didn’t seem to realize she was causing. “Don’t be so obvious, big guy,” she said firmly. “We don’t want to spook her. But are you sure you’re okay? No headache or… or anything?”
Shane knew that‘or anything’crack meant she was worried he’d freak out again. Not happening. Despite the explosion, he was solid. Despite the pain of her touching his neck, he made no effort to pull away. He hadn’t been this close to a woman like Everlee in a long time. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d held any female. She’d pressed her entire body against his, and she had one leg between his knees. She’d lifted her hands from around his neck and her fingers were at the back of his head now, combing through his hair. All her plush softness was now flush against him, and that was an unexpected, hot-damned-nice position to be in. A man could endure any pain for this much feminine attention.
She ran a hand over his head, a teasing light in her eyes. “Your hair’s singed, big guy. Looks like you sprouted feathers.”
“Needed a trim anyway,” he replied even as comfort flowed from her body into his at their intimate position. Her brown eyes were dark but sparkling, full of life and excitement. What he wouldn’t do to run his hand over her short hair, to feel the silk of those penny-colored strands and the darker brown strands sliding between his fingers.
Everlee thrived on adrenaline, Shane could see that clearly now, and he had a feeling she knew precisely what she was doing. He liked the way she’d taken charge of their mission and of him. These days a guy never knew what women wanted, to be treated like ladies or just another one of the guys. He’d worked with female jarheads before. But things were different in the civilian world, and he was, after all, the new guy on The TEAM. What did he really know about Everlee Yeager? Other than holding her in his arms right now made it hard to breathe, harder to think. Just hard, damn it.