Page 20 of Honor ’N’ Duty

When he caught up to Laia, she refused to look at him. He sighed and yanked out the same entry card he’d used to get into the parking lot and swiped into the building, holding the door open for her to enter first.

At the elevator, he slammed the up arrow with the heel of his hand. Mercifully, it opened right away. He followed her inside, and when the doors closed, he doubted the irony was lost on her. Here they were, alone in an elevator, yet this time the connection zapping between them was one of frustration. Neither of them spoke a word.

Man, he was really fucking this up. Whatever this was. More like, wasn’t.

The doors opened, and he led the way through the zigzagging hallway, eventually swiping in again and holding open the heavy steel door used by employees.

Laia went in ahead of him, her head swiveling as she took in the maze of empty cubicles looming ahead. “Is this your office?”

“No.” He waited for the door to click shut. “My office is at Newark Airport. This is where the agents work. I called ahead for one of them to meet us here. He’s familiar with the Colon Cartel investigation and can help narrow down the database.”

What Laia didn’t know, and what he wasn’t about to tell her, was that Manny Dominguez had been the one to transport Josh to this very office for processing before turning him over to the U.S. Marshals.

Most of the cubicles were empty, and he was grateful that even the agents generally took weekends off to be with their families. The last thing he wanted was for Laia to run into someone who might spill something that shouldn’t be spilled.

Josh’s face as he’d been put into the backseat of a patrol car, handcuffed, flashed before Kade’s eyes. That was the last time he’d seen his brother. Alive, anyway.

Laughter rolled through the office. A familiar head poked out from behind the edge of the last cubicle by the window. Thor? Kade would recognize Adam Decker’s K-9 anywhere.

The Belgian Malinois snorted, then galloped toward them, his powerful legs quickly eating up the distance.

“Uh, Kade?” Laia wrapped her fingers around his biceps.

Clearly, she wasn’t afraid of dogs, but anyone not having a healthy concern for the giant K-9 charging at them would be foolish. Thor slowed, his tail wagging as Kade knelt to let the dog lick his face.

“Laia, this is Thor, the second-best narcotics K-9 in the country.”

Thor sat and held up his paw for Laia to shake.

“Second-best my ass,” a deep voice boomed.

DEA Special Agent Adam “Deck” Decker strode toward them, followed by ATF Special Agent Brett Tanner and FBI Agent Evan McGarry. All wore dark cargo pants and matching polo shirts with their respective agency’s badges embroidered on their shirts.

“Kade Sampson, you sonofabitch.” Deck grabbed him in a bear hug, practically lifting him off the ground as they slapped each other on the back.

“Been a long time.” Kade shook the other man’s hand, then did the same to Brett and Evan’s. “You guys should have given me a heads-up you’d be here.”

Brett extended his hand, giving Kade a closeup view of the nasty burn his friend had suffered last year. “We didn’t know we’d be here until last night. We were on assignment in Delaware, then got detailed directly here to HSI.”

Evan shook hands next. “Good to see you, Kade.”

“You, too, Evan.” Now the running engines and the Colorado tags made sense. “Blaze and Blue outside?” The ears he’d seen in one of the SUVs probably belonged to Evan’s German Shepherd. Brett’s arson dog, a hulking Chesapeake Bay Retriever, was probably sound asleep in the back of Brett’s truck.

“Yeah,” Evan said. “We’re taking turns letting them have the run of the office.”

Years ago, they’d all gone through advanced K-9 training together and had struck up a close friendship, although Kade hadn’t seen any of them in the year since they’d returned to Colorado and joined Denver’s Special Ops Task Force. “What are you in town for?”

Deck snapped his fingers, and Thor hustled to sit at Deck’s left side. “Some of the big July Fourth events around the city. We just stopped in to pick up our assignments.”

“Laia, this is Adam Decker. He’s with the DEA’s Denver office.” While the two of them shook hands, Kade added, “Laia is my sister-in-law.”

Still holding Laia’s hand, Deck’s head snapped back to Kade’s faster than Linda Blair’s in The Exorcist. His friend was one of the few who knew the truth. The real truth. Releasing her hand, Deck cleared his throat. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You as well,” Laia said, arching a brow at Kade, telling him she’d not only picked up on Deck’s reaction but they’d be having a discussion about it on the way home. His home, anyway. Not hers.

This was exactly what Kade had wanted to avoid. Anything that could hurt Laia more by dredging up the past.

“This is ATF Agent Brett Tanner and FBI Agent Evan McGarry,” he said, indicating his other friends.