Cold & Deadly (Cold Justice: Crossfire #1)(19)
The poodle whimpered as they walked away and made Dominic think about his own dog who was probably curled up on his bed even though he wasn’t supposed to be there.
“What are you smiling at?” Kanas asked between gritted teeth.
He raised his brow at her. “You have a problem with me smiling?”
“Considering what we just learned about Van, yes.”
“Lighten up, Kanas. Van’s dead no matter the state of my face.”
Her eyes did a shocked flick around his features and darted away. She muttered something he didn’t catch.
He checked his watch. “I need to get back to Quantico.”
“What?” Kanas stopped and faced him, incredulous. “We need to go talk to the medical examiner. See if they took swabs for DNA. We need to trace Van’s movements the day he died. We might be able to place him with someone—”
“We’re not actively assigned to this investigation, remember?” Although he had an excuse as Aldrich had asked him to look at the files. Kanas didn’t. “You need to get back to the office before your boss notices you’re AWOL. I’ll contact the ME and the lab and—”
“No. No way.” She put her hands on her hips, her t-shirt stretching tight across her full breasts. He had to force himself not to let his gaze get distracted. Ava Kanas had the sort of body that could make a man break every rule in the book, and Dominic was not a rule breaker.
“You are not sidelining me on this,” she insisted.
And the sort of mouth that could drive a man insane. Not in a good way.
“Sidelining you?” Was she serious? “Taking the lead on something is not sidelining. Ever heard of teamwork? Cooperation? Or plain old saving your ass?”
“Saving my ass?” Gold flecks sparked in the depths of her eyes. “You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me.”
Dominic strove for his natural calm, the one that usually came so easily to him. “I’m trying to protect your FBI career from the kamikaze spin you seem determined to put it into.”
Her lips parted and her chest rose and fell rapidly as she clearly tried to hold on to her temper.
“There are rules and procedures for this. We have no solid evidence. We have no witnesses. All we have is a man who claims he adjusted the clothing of what is most likely a suicide victim.” He reined in the temper that was starting to fray. Ironic that he found it easier to deal with bank robbers and terrorists than Ava Kanas. “I’ll check the files and see what evidence was collected at the scene and ask the ME what samples they took during the postmortem.” The funeral had been postponed but, given the embalming process, Dominic couldn’t be sure what evidence might still be present. At least he was in a position where he could get them to check without losing his job.
She swallowed tightly. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Just do your job until we have more answers.” He pulled his tie from his pocket and slid it along his collar.
Her eyes followed every movement of his fingers. “I’m not letting this drop just because my ‘superiors’ are telling me to. That’s not what Van taught me about conducting investigations. Question everything. Don’t let anyone tell you to ignore your gut. Trust your instincts.”
God, she was infuriating. “You’re deliberately missing the point. I’m not letting you fuck up your career because you’re torn up with grief.”
“You’re not letting me?” A muscle flexed in her jaw.
“That’s right, Ava.” He got in her face. It would have been a hundred times easier to stare her down if he hadn’t wanted to crush her against him and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe. Fuck. “I’m not letting you. That’s what Van taught me—how not to fuck up a career.”
She stilled at his vehemence. After a long beat of silence, she finally said, “Fine.” But it sounded more like “fuck you.”
She brushed past him, her stride long and confident and pissed. “Let me know if I can do anything else to assist you, sir.”
He shook his head. God she was stubborn, but pissing off her superiors was not a great way of keeping her position. No way in hell would Ava Kanas let this go. The question was, how far would he be willing to go to protect her?
Chapter Six
An hour later, the sun was slanting through the blinds at an oblique angle that seemed determined to burn out her retinas, although that wasn’t what was bothering Ava.
She was still so mad with Dominic Sheridan that even writing her FD 302 for the incident with Jimmy Taylor that morning hadn’t cooled her off. Jimmy was safely back in custody and Maria, the girlfriend, was at the hospital suffering from a concussion after hitting her head on the dashboard. They were saving her a place in jail.
Ava spied Ray Aldrich coming into the office where she had a cubicle along with the other agents in their little Resident Agency. She eyed him warily.
He was all smiles and charm today. Even at their meeting first thing that morning he’d calmed down. He was like a dog with no teeth, but he might grow some if he figured out she’d been investigating Van’s death against his explicit instructions.
“Nice job on the arrest this morning, Ava.”
“Thank you.” She gifted him a belated, “Sir.”