Cold & Deadly (Cold Justice: Crossfire #1)(44)

He stood too, and they were staring each other down over the dining table. “My integrity is important to me.”

His integrity wouldn’t pay her rent. “We were both doing things our bosses told us not to do, but I’m the only one who got canned. Is that the FBI bureaucracy treating us equally or is the fact you have political connections already in play?”

Dominic’s mouth tightened. “Maybe they didn’t want to suspend a man while he was unconscious.”

He’d almost died, but so had she. She’d killed a man last night.

Ava began to gather her things together before she lost it in front of these people.

“Fine,” he bit out. “I’ll talk to Aldrich. Sit down, Ava. We have work to do.” His narrowed eyes met hers, expression resentful. She was sure hers looked exactly the same.

She fought with herself and her pride and the desire to storm out. That would only prove to these agents that she was rash and impetuous, something Van had tried to coach her against. She needed her damn job. She got a tight grip on her temper and paced the length of the dining room waiting for the anger in her blood to cool.

“There’s something else no one has mentioned yet.” Rooney placed a hand on her stomach. “Determining who else might be in danger.”

Ava hadn’t even thought that far ahead which showed how much she was off her game.

“Write a list of everyone on that squad.” Frazer agreed. “I’ll talk to HR for their official list too.”

“It’s possible other people may have been targeted. If this was a case that went to trial there could be witnesses. Prosecutors. Judges.” Dominic dragged a hand over his face. He looked haggard. She felt guilty for yelling at him. Maybe she hadn’t been fair. She’d known she was crossing a line when she’d investigated Van’s death in spite of Aldrich’s orders.

“You know you’re a target, right? Regardless of who roofied your drink last night. If we’re right about this then someone wants you dead,” said Ava.

“I can look after myself.”

“Like you did last night?” Frazer said sarcastically. “If you are right about this then the UNSUB has used various methods to successfully murder several experienced Federal Agents without raising suspicion. Until now.”

“You want me to go into protective custody, or into hiding? CNU is severely shorthanded and can’t afford to lose a full-time negotiator.”

“They’ll be more shorthanded if you wind up dead,” Frazer stated. “Anyway, you might not get a choice.”

“Yeah,” Dominic’s lip curled. “I don’t think so.”

Frazer raised a patronizing brow. Ava crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. So, Dominic would use his unspoken influence to keep himself in the game without even batting an eye, but she’d had to beg for him to support her.

“Why don’t we get Ava reassigned as your bodyguard until this is over?” Rooney suggested brightly. “You need someone to drive you around anyway, right?”

“What? No.” Dominic looked horrified.

Ava flinched.

“It’s the perfect solution. She can work the case while you’re doing your negotiator thing and watch your back the rest of the time.”

Frazer was staring at Ava in an assessing manner. “It’s not a bad idea,” he mused. “You could pose undercover as Sheridan’s girlfriend and that way the killer won’t necessarily know we’re onto them the way they would if he was suddenly surrounded by HRT agents.”

Dominic said, “You think they’re watching me?”

Fraser nodded. “Unless they just happened to be at the bar last night, they’re probably stalking you. Same way they must have stalked the other victims.”

The saliva in Ava’s mouth dried up.

Dominic’s usually smooth voice rumbled through his chest. “I don’t want a bodyguard.”

“I don’t want to be suspended,” Ava shot back.

“Then you should learn to work with the FBI rather than in spite of it,” Dominic bit out.

Ava sucked in a furious breath.

“Here we go again.” Frazer rolled his eyes. “How about we take this one step at a time. Alex can look for any surveillance footage he might be able to find from the bar. I’ll talk to the DEA, but don’t hold your breath. Mallory can follow up on getting the police artist out to the guy who started the bar fight and talk to the waitress who served you. I’ll approach the director with our suspicions. You,” he looked at Dominic, “put in an appeal to Aldrich to get Kanas’s suspension lifted and her assigned to work with you. OPR are investigating anyway, no reason for her not to be useful in the meantime.”

Ava blinked at his callous matter-of-factness.

“You’ll need to take basic security precautions which includes having someone with you at all times. If not Kanas then we’ll arrange someone else—until the higher ups decide to make that decision.” Frazer pinched his lips together. “I suspect they’ll want an HRT unit on you whether you like it or not.”

“No way am I wasting the time or resources of HRT,” Dominic said forcefully. He shot her a look. He didn’t want her either, that was for damn sure.

Rooney’s stomach rumbled audibly, breaking the tension. “Sorry.” She rubbed her distended abdomen. “Junior is hungry and whatever is cooking smells good.”