Free Locke and Load by Donna Michaels Page B

changed you yet.”
    Not true, but her demeanor and reason for the change were her problem, not TJ’s.
    “Marek Prochaska. Looks like a peach,” TJ commented dryly.
    “Yeah, a rotten one.”
    He chuckled. “You know how this works. I’ll have to run this in between my… jobs . Do you have a starting point?”
    “Yes. Lock on my location.” Her phone was government issued, complete with GPS chip.
    “Got it,” he said a few seconds later. “What time?”
    “Yesterday afternoon.” She turned around and stared at the two watchful detectives. Her gaze shot from Delaney to Cage before she continued. “He left here at about five thirty-three.”
    The two men nodded.
    “Okay. I’ll start the search a few minutes earlier, say around five twenty-five,” TJ informed. “I won’t kid you, this could take a day, maybe more. It’ll depend on how long it takes me to get past…ah, you don’t need to know. I’ll call you when I get a hit.”
    “I understand. Thanks, TJ, I appreciate it,” she replied before hanging up, her heart heavy. A few days? Damn. She was hoping the case would be closed and she’d be back in D.C. in a few days. Away from temptation. Away from putting Cage in danger.
    Away from Cage.
    “So, what now?” Delaney asked before bringing the cup to his lips and tipping his head back to drain what was left of his coffee.
    “Now we wait.”
    The detective nodded and tossed his to-go cup in the garbage next to his desk. “For how long?”
    “A day or two.”
    “Days?” Cage’s brows knit together as he stomped closer and joined the conversation. “What the hell do you mean a day or two? Who did you call? Mr. Magoo? I thought you were a spook. Don’t spooks have access to top of the line technology?”
    Nikki knew she should be angry at his words, but instead, she found them funny. Laughter raced up her throat with the speed of a bullet. Her outburst echoed through the room, catching Cage off guard, causing him to blink while Delaney’s mouth split into a grin.
    There was no reason to laugh. The words Cage uttered weren’t unusual. She walked to the desk to retrieve her coffee, sobering enough to take a sip as she shook her head. Maybe if she had gotten some proper sleep, she wouldn’t have found the glowering detective so amusing.
    His expression darkened further. “I’m glad you think wasting time is so funny, Ms. Locke.”
    “I don’t. It’s you I find funny.”
    Lord, she really had to do something about her thought process. Whatever happened to think before you speak?
    Delaney’s snicker broke through the tense silence.
    “We aren’t wasting time,” she told Cage, jamming her free hand on her hip. “TJ is the best there is. He can’t just stop the other projects he’s working on to run our surveillance. He’ll fit us in when he can and call when he gets a hit.”
    Cage’s jaw clenched, a myriad of emotions claiming his expression, all of them grim. He swiveled around and strode from the office without so much as a word.
    The Jersey detective rose to his feet and stepped close to place a hand on her shoulder. “You know he’s only grumpy because he still has feelings for you, right?”
    A combination of the friendly gesture and the words brought fresh tears to Nikki’s eyes. Damn, and she had been doing so good, too. She blinked against the stinging and patted his hand. “He’s better off without me.”
    Those words kept echoing through her mind all through the next day as she found herself sequestered with Cage in his house. The captain and other three detectives insisted it was for her safety until they found Prochaska. They had this foolish notion the Czech might have figured out she’d helped them the other afternoon.
    Little did they know they were putting her in a different type of danger.
    Swallowing a curse, she loaded the last of the supper dishes into the dishwasher and straightened. Now what? Normally, she had no problem with waiting around. Hell, half of her