Free Bear Claw Conspiracy by Jessica Andersen Page A

weren’t going to agree.
    She was just teasing the feather out of the shirt pocket when the door swung open and Alyssa came through, expression set. She was moving slowly in the final week or so of her pregnancy, but that only added to the impression that she was, in her own way, as much of an immovable force as her husband.
    Gigi could be a solid wall when she needed to, though. And if her family hadn’t managed to get her to stick with the lower-risk analyst’s position, her new best friend didn’t have a prayer.
    Alyssa lowered herself to a swivel chair, put her feet on the waist-high desk that ran the perimeter of the room, folded her hands atop the curve of her belly…and fixed Gigi with a look. “Officially, I’m impressed with the drive and dedication you showed last night. That will go in your file. Unofficially, though, I’ve decided that being your friend isn’t for the faint of heart.” She paused, and a crack of hurt and concern showed through. “What were you thinking, Gigi? You could’ve died.”
    “I know that.” She met Alyssa’s baffled stare. “But right then, all I was thinking about was getting that sketch. It was evidence, and my job is to collect the evidence, period. Not to mention that ‘identify the goal and go for it’ is pretty much a family motto.” She tried a smile. “I think it got cribbed by a sneaker company in edited form: Just do it.”
    “This isn’t a joke, damn it. How do you think I felt, sitting down here while Tucker blasted up into the park, with no clue whether you were okay or not? And then to find out what you did do? God.” She knotted her fingers together. “I was up half the night thinking about what it would’ve been like to have you lying in a hospital bed like Tanya, or worse.”
    “Sorry.” The word was an automatic knee-jerk response, but Gigi followed it up with, “Seriously, I’m sorry. I know you care, and I…” She was going to say “I appreciate your concern,” but that was a total brush-off line and Alyssa deserved better. The thing was, she did appreciate the concern…but it also made her feel squirrelly and trapped, made the basement walls seem suddenly closer than they had been last week, or even an hour ago.
    “You can’t promise to stay out of trouble,” Alyssa finished for her, “because you’re hardwired to play hero.”
    “I’m not playing anything,” she said, trying to make her friend understand. “This is my life we’re talking about—not just the safety part of it, but the living part of it, too. If I compromise on this, I’m giving up part of what makes me… me.”
    “I just want you to be a little more careful. You admit that going back into the station was stupid, right?”
    “Now? Yes. But that doesn’t happen often.” And there had been extenuating circumstances. Distractions in the form of one Matthew H. Blackthorn. She didn’t say that, though, partly because she didn’t want to go there, and partly because it was no excuse. There would always be distractions during a crisis. “The thing is, I can’t promise that I won’t make the same mistake again.” She paused, trying to choose words that would get across to Alyssa something she hadn’t yet gotten even her family to understand. “If I get picked for the program and make it through the training—”
    “You mean ‘when.’ Because if you’re not at the top of the list, your bosses in Denver are a bunch of idiots.”
    “Okay, ‘when’ I get on a team, my teammates are going to be depending on me to react appropriately, no matter what’s going on around me. And although there’s lots more sitting-and-waiting-and-planning than you’d think, there will also be times that I’m going to need to prioritize the job over my own safety. I’m not stupid and I’m not suicidal…but I can’t be as cautious as the people who care about me want me to be.”
    People like Alyssa and her other analyst friends, who didn’t get why she needed to