Griffin’s gaze narrowed and he held Shane’s stare. “You’re my partner now. You need any help, anything at all, you call me. Understand?”

Shane felt tears form in the back of his eyes. He nodded. There was a noise and Hunt Kincaid and Aaron Nash walked noisily around the corner having clearly gotten back from the gym.

“Everything okay?” Kincaid asked, squaring his shoulders as his gaze went warily from his friend to Shane.

And Shane knew he needed to remember he wasn’t the only one in pain around here.

Griffin gave a slow smile. “Yeah. Everything’s good.”

“Damn right, it’s good.” Or it would be. As soon as he found and stopped Evi1Geni-us from performing more of his heinous crimes. Shane checked his watch. “And now I apologize that I need to bail, but I have to report in to task force headquarters.”

“They found this wet wipe yet?” Nash asked stripping off his sweaty shirt.

Nash was one of the more serious members of the unit, a good foil to Cowboy’s unrelenting humor. He was clever as hell and liked to think outside the box when they ran into problems.

Shane shook his head. “We’re getting closer though. Don’t forget to watch each other’s backs,” he warned. Because EG liked to play games.

“Who’s watching yours? The brunette with the impressive rack—”

Shane had Nash in a one-handed grip against the metal of the cage. “A little respect for the lady, please.”

Nash grinned and Shane knew he’d fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Insult the girl to find out how a guy really felt about her.

Shane dragged the guy closer and kissed his teammate on the cheek. “And mind your own fucking business.” Then he shoved Nash away and the three of them were laughing and joking as Shane slipped out of the room. Time to head back to the task force and the woman who was beginning to sneak beneath his guard and make him forget his primary focus.

He told himself not to let it happen. Knew he was lying to himself.

What would Scotty think of Yael?

Shane felt a smile stretch his lips as he strode along the corridor. Scotty would get a kick out of her. Scotty would tell him to go for it.

But Scotty was dead and Shane needed to find his killer. Maybe then he’d pursue this thing with Yael a little. See if they had anything in common besides physical attraction.

Maybe.