Page 44 of Heart Me Up
I frowned. “You aren’t trained for undercover work. They should’ve pulled you as soon as you got what you needed.”
Mal gave a hopeless laugh. “That was the original plan. But the Bureau got greedy.”
“Fuck.” I was dreading whatever Mal was about to tell me.
“I’m not sure what tipped the organization off.” He shrugged. “Or even which organization got tipped off. My bosses for the op aren’t talking to me much.” Mal rubbed his face and heaved a breath. “The first clue I had that something was wrong was when some goons dragged me out of bed and shot me in the shin.”
“Mal!” I started to stand, but he held out his palm.
“Then they asked me questions and when I didn’t answer they shot me in the thigh.” His face twisted in a fake smile. “At least they knew what they were doing and missed the femoral artery.”
I stared at him in shock. “How did you get away?”
“The Bureau came in and rescued me. Turns out the bookkeeper had been found dead, so they knew the op was blown.”
“Fuck.” I ran my hand over my head. He’d come so close to dying. “Mal, that’s….”
“Yeah.” He tapped his forefinger on the cast. “Sorry I didn’t call you, but the Bureau kept me locked down at the hospital. No visitors.”
I rubbed my chest. “Fuck, Mal. I’m so sorry. That had to be terrifying.”
He shrugged again, like being tortured was no big deal. “I’m fine.” I raised an eyebrow, but he just raised one back at me. “Anyway,” he said, “It’s all confidential, so please keep it to yourself.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
Malcolm leaned his head back against the cushion and crossed his arms over his chest. “So tell me your plan to get Craig to forgive you.”
“Um.”
I had nothing.
Chapter20
Craig
Bruno madeit through his surgery like a champ. The owners were flying back from their trip early, and they’d been extremely grateful we’d noticed Bruno’s symptoms. I told them Rhea was the hero, and they wanted to stop by and thank her in person next week.
By the time I returned to the pet resort it was almost 2pm. Greg was in the office.
“Hey, you’re back. Good job getting Bruno to the vet in time.”
I shook my head. “Rhea’s the one who noticed. And she was just passing by—she could have missed him so easily, it’s scary.” We shared a look. Having a pet pass away on your watch is the fear all pet resort owners live with every single day.
Greg said, “Go home. You’ve done enough today.”
I sank into my chair, propped my feet on the desk, leaned my head back, and closed my eyes. “I need a little nap first. I got up super early.”
Greg’s voice was heavy with innuendo when he asked, “Does this have anything to do with the hot detective?” Crap, I hadn’t told Greg about Malcolm staying with me or Foster being a dumbass yet.
Of course that’s when my phone rang. I considered letting it go to voicemail, but if it was Foster, I kinda wanted to hear some begging. I tugged the phone out of my pocket and opened one eye to check the caller. Unknown number.
It was probably a telemarketer, but I’d given my mobile number to Bruno’s owners and to the vet clinic this morning, so I needed to answer in case it was one of them.
It wasn’t.
“Craig, don’t hang up. I need to—”
Every muscle in my body locked up. “No.” My feet hit the ground, and I straightened my spine.
