Page 13 of Cruel Salvation

Chapter4

Hair blowing about her face,Lotus ducked her head as she rushed away from the helo, Damon jogging just behind her. When she got a safe distance away, she lifted a hand and waved at Santa. It still gave her a pang in her heart not to see Hurricane flying them, but she was just glad he was safe and healthy.

“So what now?”

Lotus had been prepared to put Damon in his place since they’d left the Shadow compound, but something in Damon had shifted and he seemed content to follow her lead and take his cues from her.

His flirting had stopped after their conversation in the car, and she wished she could say she was relieved, but a part of her was disappointed and a little put out that he hadn’t fought her harder on it.

Was it any wonder men got confused when she behaved like such a headcase? The truth was, she wanted him and she liked him more than she wanted to, but if they were going to be together, they’d need more than good sex. No, that was unfair. The sex had been mind-blowing and it was all she could do not to drag him to the nearest flat surface and maul him. She was blaming the hormones for her topsy-turvy behaviour.

“Now we head to the bank and look at the scene in person.”

“Why? Talk me through it. I want to learn.”

Lotus eyed him as they got in the rental car Bás had waiting for them. He looked genuine and perhaps he really did want to help. “Images are helpful, of course, but they only give you half the picture. You only get what the photographer chose to capture. Seeing the scene gives you the emotion and feeling of what the perpetrator was feeling too.”

“That makes sense.”

They were silent as she drove to the scene. It wasn’t an awkward silence, it was comfortable, but then she’d always felt that way around Damon. It was similar to how she’d felt with Rykov, but she’d never wanted to rip Rykov’s clothes off the way she did Damon.

Shaking away her thoughts and the dark melancholy that descended when she thought of him, she parked the car. “It’s across the street.”

Side by side they crossed the high street, which was unusually quiet for the time of day. Incidents like this were rare in the UK, and it was felt by the entire community.

“Follow my lead.” Lotus didn’t wait for a response but marched right up to the officer guarding the scene and introduced herself. “Good afternoon, Officer Scott.”

She flashed the fake identification indicating she was with Counterintelligence and was let through without incident.

She turned and handed a pair of gloves and booties to Damon, who dutifully put them on. He might not be as practised as she was but, as a barrister, he was certainly aware of the threat of cross-contamination and evidence.

“Don’t touch anything.”

“Yes, boss.”

She shot him an annoyed look but fought the smile underneath.

It died on her face when she walked in and saw the true extent of the devastation. This wasn’t merely a robbery that had gone horribly wrong, this was wilful destruction. All the chairs were smashed or the seating torn and the desks had great gauges taken out of their surfaces with some kind of sharp object, which she suspected was a knife or blade of some kind.

Her stomach churned at the dark pools of congealed blood on the floor where the two security guards had lain. The metallic smell hit her, and she had to breathe through her mouth to try and get hold of the sudden nausea. This kind of thing didn’t usually bother her so it must be the pregnancy. All too aware of Damon behind her, she moved away from the scene and caught sight of the green paint daubed across the glass partition.

“What’s that?”

“His number.”

She could feel Damon looking at her, his warmth at her back, and it took everything she had not to lean back and let him take just a little of her weight. As if sensing it, he shifted forward slightly on his feet and his chest touched her back. It was only a tiny contact but it was enough to imbue her with the strength she needed to continue.

“Explain.”

“I will later when we haven’t got eyes on us.”

Damon looked up and around, seeming to catch on to what she was saying, then giving her a chin lift. “You done in here? My stomach isn’t used to this kind of gore.”

Lotus looked him over and he looked perfectly fine, but she was fully aware of how green she probably looked. He was saving her dignity by suggesting it was him rather than her who couldn’t handle it.

“Yes, let’s go back to the car and look through the CCTV. I need to see this play out and see if it gives me any clues as to why Simon went off the rails.”

Back at the car, she put in the code to access the internal system Watchdog had set up and found what she needed. She could feel Damon’s breath on her neck and goosebumps popped out over her skin.