And finding Zenko had beat the hell out of sitting around thinking about Scotty or Montana and how members of HRT weren’t nearly as invulnerable as they all liked to believe.

He flexed his arm as he followed Yael to her door. Yup. Broken bones weren’t holding him back and soon he’d once again be where he belonged. He ignored the small niggle of regret that he wouldn’t have any excuse to spend more time with Yael. He’d get over it.

He watched her unlock the door from the garage to the house and punch in the combination for the alarm. She glanced over her shoulder, seeming to realize he’d seen and filed away the information.

She caught his eye but neither of them commented. She didn’t appear to mind him knowing which made him feel guilty all over again. She could always change it.

He watched the garage door lower all the way to the ground, then locked the door behind him after he headed inside the house.

He placed her bag on the kitchen island as Yael fished her cell out of her pocket and plugged it into the charger near the fridge.

His mouth went dry. Despite everything, he felt a driving need to take a quick look at that cell phone. Then maybe he could completely relax around Yael the way he wanted to. Give her the respect she deserved.

“You wanna take a quick shower while I put these in the oven to keep warm?” he asked from behind her.

Neither of them had had the chance to properly wash up since the explosion and they both stank of smoke and their clothes were stained with blood. Although he was so hungry he could gnaw on a table leg, the need to be clean was overwhelming even for him. He would bet money she’d jump at the opportunity.

“Great idea.” She cleared her throat which was probably sore from the earlier smoke and the fact she hadn’t had much to drink all day. He should have looked out for her better than he had. He’d been so focused on finding Zenko he hadn’t been functioning at his best.

“There’s a shower in the utility off the kitchen if you want to clean up too. Towels are in the cupboard,” she told him softly.

He nodded. “Thanks. I’ll take you up on that. I’ll put these in the oven then grab my go-bag from my truck. I’ve got this. You go.”

He watched her leave and heard her tread on the stairs. His eyes were dragged reluctantly to her phone. Though he knew even the faint suspicion was ridiculous, it was still theoretically possible that Yael could have texted EG the address of the cabin and then told the killer when it was safe to exit without Shane spotting him.