“They’re both going,” Kage retorted before turning back to us, eyes on Ian. “Unless you’d rather not, Doyle.”
Ian cleared his throat. “No, sir, I want to go.”
Kage nodded. “Okay, so then you’re in Phoenix until Hartley is recovered, shot, or his precise whereabouts can be confirmed.”
I nodded even as I thought about what I could say to Kage to make him keep Ian at home. The very idea of Hartley coming through the man I loved to get at me made me nauseous. The only safe place for Ian was far away from me. I had to figure out how to get a moment alone with my boss.
“Here’s the thing,” Oliver began carefully, glancing at Kage, not frightened, but wary. “If we can get eyes on him in whatever nonextradition country he surfaces in, then we can have a team extract him. As it is now, without knowing where he’s landed, your safety cannot be guaranteed. Your continued presence could put other lives in jeopardy, as Hartley could become a threat to any witnesses in your care.”
Or to someone infinitely more dear.
“We know he could become volatile.”
Could? More like would. Hartley would murder anyone between him and me when he was finally ready to make his move.
“Listen up,” Kage directed. “I’ve made arrangements for you both to remain on active duty but in Phoenix, under aliases. Only those in this room will be aware of your new assignment and the duration.”
“So,” I exhaled sharply. “How did Hartley’s friend know that he was going to the hospital? How did she know that he was sick?”
“We’re looking into that,” Oliver answered curtly.
“Basically, you have no idea,” Ian surmised.
No answer.
“So is it safe to say that you have a leak?”
“We don’t know what we have, marshal.”
Ian nodded. “Is that why you made the number of people who know about our assignment to Phoenix so small?”
“We’re keeping it on a need-to-know basis,” Kage answered curtly.
That was a yes.
“Arrangements need to be made for our dog,” I told everyone.
“You do that,” Kage agreed. “And also, you need to pack for a month, keeping in mind that you’re going to Phoenix.”
He lost me.
“Check the weather; it’s a bit warm there.”
Ian’s derisive snort let me know that perhaps “warm” was an understatement.
I TOLD Ian I had to take a piss, and since we were in our building and it was like Fort Knox in there, he didn’t worry and sat in the office and yelled at the Feds. I ducked into the hall, doubled back, and texted Kage, asking him to meet me for a quick word at the water fountain.
“Yes?” he asked as he came striding toward me, looking even bigger than usual as he closed in on me. “What do you need, Jones?”
It was his height and his build, the way his clothes fit, which sort of outlined the breadth of his shoulders and chest, and how crisp and polished he was. He had the same perpetual squint Ian did, but whereas on the man I loved it was sexy, on my boss it was cold and hard and scary. I had a tough time reconciling his humanity a lot of the time.
“Jones?” Only my boss could sound that irritated that fast. I wondered if I was the only one who ever got to hear the long-suffering tone.
I cleared my throat. “Sorry, I—sir would you please keep Doyle here instead of sending him to Phoenix with me?”
Normally I would have built it up first, used different words, better ones, not gone right in and asked for what I wanted, instead feeling him out first to try to get a read on him. Talking to Kage usually required great tact, but I didn’t have time. Ian would come looking for me any second and I needed this fixed before then.
“I’m sorry?” he inquired, his tone sharp.
“I would prefer Marshal Doyle remain here in Chicago, sir. I don’t think he should be placed in harm’s way, and he most certainly would be.”
He nodded. “So, Doyle, you’re saying he doesn’t know anything at all about handling threats to his life?”
“No, sir,” I sighed. “The man’s a Green Beret, so clearly he—”
“And in circumstances like this one, he would be a liability?”
“No, sir, but—”
“So, then?”
I took a breath.
“This request is personal,” he laid out for me just in case I was confused.
“Yessir.”
“And you don’t want him to go because you’re worried he’ll be compromised due to his relationship with you.”
Oh. Yes. That was good. “Yessir,” I agreed eagerly.
“And because of that relationship, he could sustain injuries that someone who is not romantically involved with you would not be prone to.”
“Precisely.”
His eyes narrowed, and I felt like he was studying me under a microscope.
“Sir?”
“I’ll rescind his orders, Jones. Doyle stays here.”
I wanted to weep. My scary, logical, hard-as-nails boss was on my side. It was a Christmas miracle and it wasn’t even Halloween yet.