“No, that’s not how we go out.” I shook my head. “We stay here. She won’t cross Levi, because it means that she puts a target on her head. So, for now, we stay here. We survive the party. We go after the bitch.”
Liz met my gaze. Tears shone in the corner of her eyes. “I’m scared of her, Abby.”
This was what I’d been waiting for. Some sign of her trauma. This was Liz. She had tried to pack it away, but now it was becoming too much. “It’s okay to be scared.”
“Terrified.”
“That’s okay too. You aren’t going to go through this alone,” I promised.
She nodded and looked down. “I’m a mess.”
“Go get cleaned up. I’ll clean up the kitchen and make us some tea.”
“Tea?”
I smiled. “I still have some left by Clarissa. She was a master at having a tea for every occasion.”
“Okay.” Liz turned back around and headed to her room. I went back to the kitchen to find Levi already finishing with the mess.
“You need to keep an eye on Liz.”
I nodded and went to get the teacups and tea. “I know. She’s processing what happened. Honestly, she shouldn’t be on the field right now, but I can’t tell her to step away.”
“I’m surprised O’Donald didn’t pull her from the case.”
“He assigned someone to help her with it. We don’t have many members on the Task Force. With me on vacation and his weird need to keep me from the case, he didn’t have much choice.”
Levi sighed. “He assigned Nick?”
“Yes, but I’m not worried because I’m not on the case. He doesn’t know that Liz has information on you. He’ll keep up whatever game he’s playing because he needs to keep up the facade.”
“What are you going to do about him being your partner?”
“Well, I have a failsafe in my office. He won’t be able to get into the office if he means me harm. The doll has a protection rune on it.” I shrugged. “I made sure I added protection the last time I was magically attacked in the office.”
Levi smirked. “I would love to see his face if he can’t get in.”
“Me too, but since I’m not there, I don’t get to see that.”
“What of O’Donald? Can he walk into your office?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’ve been wary of him. Liz thinks that he was behind the shooting.”
Levi hmmed for a moment. “Why does she think that?”
“She didn’t really get a chance to explain.” I shrugged. When the tea finished, I put the tea bags in the trash and picked up the cups. “And I’m not going to bring it up tonight. Tonight, I sit with her and let her be.”
Levi nodded. “Okay. I’ll chat with you later.”
He disappeared before I could respond or thank him for cleaning up the mess.
I took both the teacups to Liz’s room and used my foot to knock.
She opened the door and gave me a forced smile. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” I handed her a cup of tea. “Let’s just sit and enjoy our tea.”
She cupped her hands around it. “Did I make too much of a mess in the kitchen?”
“No, Levi had most of it cleaned up before I went back. That’s not the worst thing that kitchen has seen. So don’t worry about it.”
She raised a brow.
“What? I was a human teenager, cooking was an experience. Once I exploded popcorn in the oven.”
She blinked at me. “In the oven?”
“It was an experiment.”
Liz started giggling. “Really?”
“We didn’t have a microwave at that time. Levi bought one the next night.”
She sipped the tea. “This is amazing.”
“It’s what Clarissa always brought me when I was going through a rough time or trying to heal.” I gave a small smile. “There’s nothing like it.”
Liz took another sip. “I wish I could get the recipe.”
“Me too.” Grief suddenly hit me hard, and I looked at the tea in my cup. “It’s late. We should probably get some sleep.”
She nodded and downed the rest of her tea. “Thanks. I’ll have myself put together tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry about it. Things take time.” I stood from the bed. “Sleep well.”
I took her cup and walked out into the hallway. I shut the door behind me and let out a small sigh. One more night before my party. I could do this.
I woke up the next afternoon to my phone buzzing. I had meant to wake up earlier, but I hadn’t set the alarm.
I groped around for my phone and picked it up. “Agent Abigail Collins speaking.”
“I need you to return to work. Today.” O’Donald’s voice was way too loud for before coffee.
I rubbed my eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m currently out of town until Monday morning.” It was a lie, but I wasn’t going to tell him Levi wouldn’t let me leave. “Is it something I can do remotely.”
“I can send you the files, and you can look them over. Nick pulled them, and one of them is one you were sorting through. I think it’s connected to the case that Liz is currently on.”
I hmmed for a moment. “You were pretty instant that I shouldn’t be on that case.”
“I don’t have much choice.”
“Email me the file, and I’ll take a look at it. I need details on the case you have, and I need my access to the PIB database back, please.”
“Done. You’ll have the file within the hour. Thank you, Agent Collins.”
“Thank you, Agent O’Donald. I was getting bored on my vacation.” I disconnected the call and leaned back in
