“You regret not being a cop anymore?”
“No, but I do regret going in the opposite direction. I went from a place where I could make change to being as powerless as the victims.” Melody shivered. There were still demons she wasn’t sharing.
“Don’t go too far in the other direction?”
“Something like that.” Melody glanced at Erin and smiled, this time with feeling. “Think about what you want to do. Make a plan. You don’t seem like the kind of woman who wouldn’t, just...”
Erin knew Melody was talking about her career and the future of her professional path, and yet that wasn’t where her head went.
Riley’s goofy, stupid face popped to mind.
She’d never been good at the temporary stuff. The only reason it worked was because the men in her life came and went faster than she could fall for them. She’d already spent too much time with Riley. She’d shared too much of herself. Which was why his rejection hurt. It was a defense mechanism she’d used. He wasn’t really letting her in or being honest. It was all a lie.
“Grant’s going to start knocking on that door any minute.” Melody straightened. “Can I do anything else for you?”
“No.” Erin turned and picked up the brush. She tackled her tangles, which would have to be enough for now.
“Is—it’s none of my business—you and Riley...?”
“It’s nothing.” Erin tipped her chin up. The more she said that, the more it would become true.
“Oh.” Melody glanced away.
“If you like him—”
“What? No.” Her eyes went wide, mouth open in horror.
Erin sputtered a laugh.
“No, that’s not...” Melody held up her hands, mouth working without words.
“It’s okay. I just assumed.” Erin shrugged.
“Sorry. Riley is nice. He’s a little hard on the nerves, kind of like a kid brother, but that is not—no. Not for me.” Melody shook her head.
Erin finished taming her hair and turned her attention to the other contents of her toiletry bag.
“What I meant was—you and Riley seemed to have hit it off, and now I can’t help but notice things seem strained.”
“They are.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.”
“I’m not going to leave a bad review or anything if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“What?”
“I mean, you probably know we slept together. I’m not going to trash talk your company because I decided to mess around.”
“Oh. Well, thank. For the record, I don’t ask, and the team doesn’t talk about those...interactions.” Melody clasped her hands in front of her. “It’s just...Riley. He’s always friendly, but he’s been different. I’ve never seen him personally invested in an asset like this before. I feel a little kinship with him. Riley was the first to really treat me like I belong.”
“The big sister talk then.” Erin smiled. She’d given a number of those chats to her sister’s boyfriends, backed up by a few of her army buddies, over the years.
“What you two do is your business.”
“This really isn’t like me.” Erin zipped up her toiletry bag and braced her hands on the vanity. “I never fucked around when I was enlisted, I just...”
“It’s different when you’re part of it. Two weeks after I left the force, I started dating cops. Dating might be a little too generous a word.” Melody’s cheeks tinged pink, and she glanced away.
Erin chuckled despite her heart beating painfully against her already abused ribs. She didn’t know what came next, and that was okay. She had time to figure it out and nurse her bruised heart.
13.
SUNDAY. ERBIL INTERNATIONAL Airport, Kurdistan.
Riley’s neck and shoulders were tighter than a hidebound drum. He dreaded the upcoming flight, and not just because he’d been seated next to Erin for over thirty hours in the air. He kept telling himself that what mattered was that they were all going back in one piece.
Melody’s heels heralded the woman.
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. She’d been telegraphing not so subtle you’re in the doghouse vibes at him since they’d left the police station. He knew what side she was on in all this.
“What is your problem?” Melody nudged his boot. “I know you’re not asleep.”
“Can’t a guy dream?” He cracked one eye open and watched Melody take the seat next to him, Erin’s computer bag in her lap.
“What did you say to Erin?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit. When you got to the house yesterday you were inseparable, now you can’t even look at each other.”
“I thought you’d be happy I was doing my job and keeping my distance.”
“Why the change?”
Riley shrugged.
Melody leveled that skin-peeling stare of hers at him. Usually she reserved that look for Vaughn and Grant. It was the first time Riley had felt the power of it, and he fought the urge to slide further down in his seat.
“Erin almost died because I was distracted.” He stared out through the glass windows at the landscape beyond the tarmac.
“But she didn’t. You’re both alive.”
“Do you realize the only thing that stopped the first bullet was a couple photo albums?” When he’d seen those mangled books, he’d almost been sick.
“You were lucky. You were lucky when you decided to leave the safe house. You were lucky today.”
“I shouldn’t need luck. I should have been focused. I should have done my job better. If I had, we might not have had such a close call.”
“Hope I’m not interrupting.” Nolan sank into the chair across from Melody, a coffee in one hand, and stretched his legs out.
“Nope. We were done.” Riley closed his eyes.
“Is she giving you hell about Erin?” Nolan asked.
Riley pried one eye open and frowned at the blond man across from him. Melody didn’t respond. Nolan just sipped his coffee.
“Vaughn was just talking to me.” Nolan nodded down the terminal. “If you’re not interested in her anymore—”
Riley was on his feet across the aisle, his vision hazing red, before Nolan could finish the sentence. The other man held up his hands and howled with laughter.
“Face it dude, you like her
