Free Skin Heat by Ava Gray Page A

dark strands that had slipped out of her ponytail.
    “You mean you understand why somebody wouldn’t want to let me go?”
    Zeke flinched. But he couldn’t disown the truth. “Yeah.”
    “That’s sweet. But it isn’t me he wants. It’s just because I’m a Harper. He wants to go into politics.” Her expression reflected surprise, as if she couldn’t believe she’d said that aloud. “You’re almost too easy to talk to.”
    “Won’t repeat it,” he promised.
    “No, I know you wouldn’t. And thanks for making him go away.”
    “Part of the job.” He found himself smiling, a little lighter in some way he couldn’t name. “Sure you’ll be all right?”
    “I’ll turn on the alarm after you leave. Don’t worry, this isn’t the first time I’ve pulled an all-nighter.”
    “’Night, then.”
    He’d planned to pay the electric bill today, but the office had long since closed. That would have to wait until tomorrow morning. But he could hit the grocery store. He’d been eating from cans and whatever Aunt Sid brought by.
    In the morning he’d run his errand at the power company and then get home to do some repairs on the farm. He could make it livable again. He could do this.

CHAPTER 5
    “It’s time,” the shrink said.
    Emil Hebert had been in counseling for almost four months. The knife in his gut had almost killed him, and the loss of his partner did worse than that; it shook his faith in himself. He’d worked with Rina for almost ten years.
    In that time, she’d started as his colleague and became his best friend. He didn’t make them easily. Life had taught him too much about how to shut people out. Not enough about letting them in. But Rina hadn’t minded his brusqueness or that he focused on the job too much. When they were paired up, she was the experienced one, four years on the job already, and a lot wiser. He’d learned so much from her.
    Belatedly he noticed the doc waiting for a reply. “I’m ready.”
    “Then go see Birch.”
    Nodding, he pushed to his feet and offered the other man a firm handshake. It was funny how they thought certain things had a shelf life or an expiration date. Make him talk about her once a week for X number of months and he’ll be fine. Ready to get back out there.
    And he was, but not because they’d worked some magical cure. He just couldn’t stand the silence of his apartment anymore. He left and made his way to Birch’s office on the third floor. Hebert tapped lightly on the closed door. Waited.
    “Come on in.” His immediate boss was a man in his early fifties with salt-and-pepper hair. He’d softened up some from his years on the desk. Birch was a career man; he’d retire from the ABI one day. Pictures dotted the wall behind his desk; he’d shaken hands with some important people in his time.
    “Got my clearance papers here. My brain’s fixed.”
    The other man grinned, but Hebert could see he was uneasy. Everyone was, these days. They didn’t know whether to console him, bake him cookies, or treat him like they always had. “You feeling all right?”
    He’d spent some time on leave, after the surgery that put his guts back together. Eight times. The knife went in eight times. And while I was bleeding—
    “Nothing I can’t handle.”
    “Good. I wanted to talk to you because there are two things we can do, here.”
    “What do you mean?” He just wanted to get back to work, however difficult that might be at first.
    “Given your track record, they want me to offer you a promotion.” Birch held up a hand, forestalling protest. “There’s a vacancy in region six. So it would mean a move. We’d miss you, but maybe a change of scenery would do you good.”
    Hebert considered the offer for all of thirty seconds. “And the other option?”
    “You come back to work.” Birch hesitated. “But we won’t be replacing Rina. Hiring freeze, budgetary considerations.”
    A promotion, or work alone? A smart man would take the first offer.