Opal was back in full administrator mode. “I do want what’s best for you, but it’s my job to protect the HDD as an agency. We operate in the shadows and in quiet. If you do anything else to focus scrutiny on the agency, I will terminate your employment. Regardless of my fondness for your father . . . or for you.”

Nari straightened. “I understand.” She opened the door and walked out into the quiet hallway. She didn’t want to cut ties with her friends or with Angus. But Angus hadn’t promised her anything, and he still maintained he was leaving town the second he caught the serial killer.

Should she risk everything for a man who hadn’t promised her a thing?

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Angus pulled at the worn T-shirt he’d borrowed from Wolfe, grateful to at least be wearing clothes. He sat in the interrogation room across from Special Agents Fields and Rutherford. He grinned. “How bad do you two want to go back in time and not show up on my porch in Kentucky?”

“You have no idea,” Agent Rutherford muttered, several closed file folders in front of him on the gleaming metal table.

Oh, Angus had some sort of idea. “When do I get my gun back?” Not that he didn’t have a few more in a secured locker. A guy had to be prepared.

“Your weapon was used to kill somebody, Mr. Force,” Fields said around a cough drop. “It might be a while.”

That figured. It was odd to be called “mister” instead of agent. No doubt it was intentional. “He attacked us, as you can tell from my smoldering cabin.” Angus crossed his arms and instantly regretted it as pain flashed through his torso from his burns. He kept his expression bland, refusing to show discomfort. “Where’s Nari?”

“In another room being interviewed,” Rutherford said. He’d dressed down this Saturday in a logoed golf shirt with perfectly creased slacks. “Run us through what happened.”

“Well now, shouldn’t we include Metro in on this, considering Tate has covered the cases so far?” Angus asked.

Rutherford rolled his eyes. “Your cabin wasn’t in their jurisdiction, and frankly, we don’t have time for officers who take photos with their phones and use twenty-year-old fingerprint technology. They can continue with the junkie and vandalism cases. When an HDD agent, even a former one like you, is attacked, we handle it. So, tell us everything about the bombing of your cabin and vehicle.”

Fair enough. Angus did so, leaving out the fact that the team had been there earlier in the day and that they were working a case off the books.

Rutherford had his phone recording, but he also took notes on a legal pad. “Why was Agent Zhang at your cabin in the middle of nowhere?”

“None of your business,” Angus said easily.