Page 33 of Forged in Peril

She took it and he pulled her up to her full height, wrapping her in his arms.

This is stupid, Cam.

You’re not being professional.

You’re going to get hurt again.

The voice screaming in his head faded away, ignored, as he felt her warmth against him.

She didn’t shy away, and he could hear a sniffling sound as she pressed against his chest, her tears dampening his gray t-shirt.

When he finally pulled back, he forced his eyes to meet hers, searching them, hoping that she could understand that there was so much more he couldn’t say.

“Just like I said before, I’m here, and I’m listening. If and when you want to talk is up to you.”

“Thank you.”

Hating to let her go, he reached over and rooted around on his desk, finally locating a tissue box and handing it to her.

“In the meantime, I’m not letting you take any more risks. Asher and Reilly will watch your house tonight. If anyone breathes out of order, they’ll be there to intervene.”

He wanted desperately to do the job himself, but he knew it wouldn’t be wise. His presence would make her feel suffocated. Chances were good that nothing would happen at all, and if something did, his house was mere minutes away.

She shook her head, wiping at her running nose. “That’s totally unnecessary. They have more important things to do than sitting around a trailer park in Silver Grove.”

“Evaluating risk is a big part of what I do. And right now, I say it’s necessary.”

“I admit it might be nice to have someone keeping watch so I can actually sleep. But I’m only agreeing to this for tonight.”

He crossed his arms. “I can’t promise you that. We need a chance to investigate. Give us the weekend, at least.”

“I didn’t come here to be helpless,” Bristol said. There was an edge to her voice, a warning not to push her much harder. But he couldn’t back down. Not when it came to her immediate safety.

“It’s nothing to do with being helpless. It’s our job to protect people. You’re part of the FBS family now, and that warrants special consideration. Let us do what we do best,” he said firmly, wishing he had the courage to voice the rest of what he was thinking.

Even if everyone else at FBS thought he was crazy, he’d still take care of her, no matter what it took.

BRISTOL

Bristol pulled the blankets more tightly around herself, trying desperately to fall asleep. She resisted the temptation to look over at the clock on her night stand, not wanting to be reminded of just how little sleep she was going to get before work tomorrow.

She’d stayed up far too late, and now that she’d finally made it into bed, her body was refusing to let go of the tension that had followed her throughout the day.

After her meeting with Cameron that Friday, she’d managed to get all of the case files double checked with time to spare. Despite the disastrous morning, she’d been given a chance to redeem herself as the day wore on. Jaclyn had needed a mountain of research done surrounding tax fraud law, and finally, Bristol felt that she was right in her element.

She’d brought most of the work home for the weekend, determined to get well ahead and to distract herself from the three-night-long stakeout taking place outside of her mother’s mobile home. Today would be the last day, whatever Cameron thought.

She let out a loud sigh as she stared up at the paneled ceiling. Distraction had helped for a while, and she’d gotten most of the files finished with, but the lingering anxiety was enough to keep her awake.

For the fifth time in the last hour or two, she got up from her bed and peered out between the curtains, hoping that her face was hidden from view by the darkness of the room.

If she squinted, she could just see Asher and his cousin Reilly sitting in the front seat of a nondescript black pickup truck. She imagined them joking around and raising thermoses of coffee to their lips every few minutes as they fought the urge to sleep.

They had moved their truck each night. This time, they were parked far enough away to be able to see both doors of the house, next to a bunch of trash bins and an old wooden fence. The area was shielded by several trees, and it would be easy for someone to overlook the two men if they didn’t already know that they were there.

Satisfied that no one was going to break in and mess with her alarms tonight, she padded back over to the bed and climbed beneath the comforter, closing her eyes.

This time, her thoughts drifted to Cam, and she was so tired that she didn’t try to push them away.

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