Page 43 of Shane
He let go. Just dropped Smart’s wrist like it burned. But the lines left by his fingers remained, and wasn’t that just great? He couldn’t even treat a prisoner right.
“Yeah, sure. Never been better. Just looking the place over.” And fighting off another freakin’ panic attack. Would that be pathetic, him, the biggest guy here, crying like a damned baby?
“You didn’t hurt me,” Smart whispered. “I’m okay. I’m tougher than I look. Really. I am.”
Everlee seemed oblivious to him and Smart, which was just as well. Shane didn’t want or need the kind of attention she’d poured all over him back at TEAM HQ. She was at the kitchen counter, emptying the takeout bag, which was good enough for Shane. He’d made a big enough fool of himself that first day, didn’t need to do it again.
“Where do you want me to go?” Ms. Smart asked timidly.
He nodded at the sofa. “For now, take a load off or go take a shower if you want. The flex cuffs go back on after we eat.”
“I’d like a shower, yes, please.” Her voice was extra-soft, or maybe his hearing wasn’t as good as he thought. Shane almost leaned into her and asked for a repeat. But he got the message when she looked longingly at the open bathroom door and shoved a chunk of her mussed hair over one ear like it annoyed her.
Hurriedly, he snapped to and scouted the bathroom for anything she could use as a weapon. He left one cosmetic bag on the counter for her, but removed the razor and fingernail clippers and took the other two bags with him. The mirror was unbreakable polished steel, not glass, which was damned smart thinking on Smoke’s part. There were no windows. No glass shower door. No way to escape. The worst she could do was drown or hang herself with the shower curtain, but Shane didn’t think Smart was that kind of desperate. If anything, she’d kept up her lost and afraid demeanor pretty well so far tonight. He’d expected more drama from a black widow, instead of the little girl routine she did so well. Unless it wasn’t an act. Unless she really wasn’t the murderess he’d seen in that apartment security footage.
Damn it, no. The innocencewasan act. Had to be. That was what she did best, pretend to be nice when she was anything but. As much as he wanted to believe that a woman as fragile as Smart could be innocent of murder, Shane knew better than to give her free run of this crowded space. She would most certainly be cuffed to whichever bed she ended up sleeping in tonight, so they could all get some rest. Not that he wouldn’t still sleep with one eye open.
He took another look around the bathroom. No hairspray in sight. The drawers were empty, and there was nothing in the cabinet under the sink. When he was sure she had access to nothing that would serve as a weapon, he waved her inside, and he stepped out.
“Place is all yours,” he told Smart indifferently. Even then, he knew it was risky leaving her alone.
“Thanks. I won’t use all the hot water. I’ll be quick so you and Agent Yeager can shower.”
See? This damned killer was messing with his head, sounding innocent. Hell, acting damned innocent. But he still had to check the rest of the place for flammable fluids, matches, cigarette lighters, anything she could use to start a fire. Murderers could be damned creative. That was all her innocent routine was, a twisted form of creativity.
He made a beeline for the living area, shutting the door behind him. No more talking with Smart. She was the killer genius; he was just a hired hand sent to haul her to DC. With one eye on the closed bathroom door, Shane set the remaining travel kits on the coffee table, then strode over to the busy woman at the sink.
“I need a weapon,” he told Everlee out of the corner of his mouth, his eyes still fastened to the bathroom door.
“Seems you also need to remember that Smart’s a master of disguise, Agent Hayes,” Everlee snapped. “She’s a wanted fugitive, a killer, in case you forgot. Not exactly girlfriend material. The FBI could’ve tasked the US Marshals to bring her in, but they didn’t. They came to Alex. We can’t let him down.”
“Copy that,” he answered softly. There was a terse kind of tension in Everlee’s voice he hadn’t heard before, like she was pissed at him. Like she was scolding him. “I’ve seen the security tapes. I know what I’m doing.”
“Yeah, well I’ve seen you in action today, big guy. You were snuggling a damned wanted criminal after that shootout.”
“I was just keeping her from getting shot. That is my job, right? To keep the client alive?”
Everlee huffed through her nose. “You had your arms around her, Shane. If that’s not snuggling—”
“It wasn’t,” he told her firmly. “She’s not what she seems, Ev. I know that as well as you do, so knock it off.”
For some reason, Everlee wouldn’t look at him. Not acceptable. Shane took hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him. “What’s this about? Am I not performing up to TEAM standards?”
Those brown eyes of hers were bigger and brighter. Was she going to cry? God, he hoped not.
She jutted one hip forward, staring at him without blinking, her hands dripping water from the sink. “Just want your head in the game,Junior Agent.”
Man, this woman could pack a shit ton of sarcasm into very few words when she wanted. She just made him sound like a snot-nosed kid in junior high.
“The remote’s in my front pocket. Take it. The red button opens the vault beside the stairs. What you’re looking for is in there.”
If this was a test of nerves, it was a damned good one. Shane slipped two fingers into that warm pocket, just enough to tug the remote up and out, not one inch more, and he didn’t take his eyes off her while he did it. He had no idea if there were TEAM rules about fraternization. Hadn’t thought to ask. Hadn’t thought he’d need to. He and Everlee were two agents on a job. That was all.
Earlier, they’d had a moment that could’ve led to something more if they’d been civilians. But they weren’t. He was former special ops, and she was every bit as good and as dangerous an opponent as Jessie Krankowski. Which made Everlee just another guy as far as Shane was concerned. If anything, he was The TEAM’s latest FNG and he needed to prove himself. He’d already fought hard to get this job. He refused to blow it on any woman. Which, by the way, was not Tuesday Smart.
But this wasn’t the time to tell Everlee that, either. Yeah, he’d felt something sitting in his truck that evening at Farmer Boyz, with his hand on the small of her back. He was pretty sure she’d felt it, too. They’d been locked together in a moment that he was certain would’ve turned into something more. Maybe would’ve ended with just a kiss. If not for Hailey interrupting them with their order, he’d have taken the chance and he’d know now, wouldn’t he?
But Everlee had turned her back on him, and damn it, another chance gone. Another opportunity wasted. Shane let the small sigh in his heart go between his pursed lips. He had a job to do. Now was not the time for high school crushes. Palming the remote, he pressed his thumb to the red button and got back to business. A hidden panel to the right of the stairs lifted away from the wall. Its partitioned doors split to the left and right, revealing a helluva high-tech weapons stash.