“Aren’t all zombies undead by definition?”
“So what was it? Was your daddy mean to you growing up? Or was it something else?” She wiggled her brows, waited a beat, then gave up with a shrug. “Whatever. You don’t gotta tell me shit. I just wanna know if my brother knows. Maybe it takes a fuckup to see another fuckup, you know?” Lisa dug into her purse, pulling out a small packet of white powder that she threw onto the desk. “Rare to see somebody who needs it more than I do, but there you go.”
“Is that what I think it is?” Aiden stared at the cocaine, his gut tightening. After what he’d gone through, even the notion of a substance in his body nauseated him. He didn’t even take medicine.
“Probably. Unless you’re an even bigger idiot than I think. Like I said, I believe in giving to those in greater need. So, you’re welcome.”
Aden picked up the bag and was about to hand it back to Lisa, before realizing the stupidity of that particular action. Instead, he reopened the petty cash box and flipped the baggie in there for Liam to deal with. Right after he outright informed him that he accidently handed Lisa drug money. Squeezing his jaws together, Aiden stashed the box away in disgust. Mostly at himself. “You need help,” he said quietly.
Lisa’s face darkened for a moment as she seemed to teeter on the edge of fury, but then she laughed. “Sure. Why don’t we go to your shrink together?”
Aiden flinched.
She snorted. “Not so easy sitting on your high horse, thinking all those loud thoughts about me when you know I can see through you, is it?”
“No. It isn’t.” Aiden’s chest tightened, his fingers tracing the cool polished desk of Liam’s table. It was hardly the first time someone had noticed the outward effects of his PTSD, but the naked brutality of Lisa’s words had sliced clean through his usual defenses.
Although she had a purse with her, Lisa stuffed the cash she was still holding into the top of her bra and winked without humor. “See you around, sailor.” Turning, she headed for the door.
Aiden’s world slowed, each of Lisa’s steps a countdown to a line of demarcation. He knew that if Liam’s sister walked out that door, she wouldn’t be heading back to her hotel or wherever she was staying. She would use that hundred and fifty bucks to get a hit and disappear before her family came around asking more questions. Getting into her business. Telling her how she should live her life. Because that was what Aiden would do.
Had done. Had moved to a different bloody continent.
Vaulting over the desk, Aiden caught Lisa’s wrist just as she reached for the door. “Wait,” he said, taking out his phone. “I’m taking you up on your offer.”
Lisa’s brow rose in question.
Reaching into his back pocket, Aiden pulled out his cell and dialed Dani’s office number. “Hey, it’s McDane,” he told the psychologist by way of greeting as he put the phone in speaker mode. “Can you work two new patients into your schedule today? It’s…it’s a bit urgent.”
“Absolutely. Do you know the names?”
Aiden captured Lisa’s gaze and held it with a hard challenge as he answered. “Aiden McDane and Lisa Rowen.”
43
Jaz
“Are you sure this is where you want your office?” Liam asked Jaz as they strolled through the Trident Rescue outpost located at the far edge of Denton Valley. “The offer of a top-floor suite downtown is still on the table.”
Jaz was hardly listening. She ran her hand along the row of blue metal lockers lining the common area, the metal cool under her skin, then surveyed the rescue gear hanging in neat rows in the adjacent room. It was the best quality on the market. She also had a credit card in her pocket with enough purchasing authority to get anything she thought the Rescue needed, and her mind was already making lists, just as her hands itched to reorganize the ropes. To make the labels bigger and brighter. Under Cullen and Liam, the Rescue had been all about helping those stranded in mountains. But Jaz wanted to take it further, to help people not become victims to begin with. That started with education. Safe climbing expeditions. The right role models.
Denton High School was delighted when Jaz offered them a chance to pilot the new youth program she intended to start.
She turned around in a circle, absorbing the layout. The outpost wasn’t large, but it was well loved, with a dispatch area, lockers, break and gear rooms, and a couple of small spaces for treatment and storage. Outside, the Suburban used for callout was parked in an oversized garage. Jaz intended to build a practice wall on the side of the garage to use for climbing demos and to help the kids who might be too scared to go out into mountains to get some confidence.
Realizing that Liam was still waiting for an answer, she gave him a sheepish grin. “Yes. Very sure I want to be here. No one needs mountain rescuing in downtown Denton, and I intend to personally go out on many calls.”
“Why am I not surprised?” The corners of Liam’s mouth twitched. The bastard had known the answer all along. He was just playing with her. Walking over to the lockers, Liam surveyed the lineup. The names Hunt, Mason, Keasley, and Rowen, the four men who’d founded the rescue, were stenciled on the first four. The names of the new men Jaz had yet to meet headed the others. Reaching into his back pocket, Liam pulled something out and pasted it to a free locker.
J. Keasley. Manager.
Warmth flooded Jaz’s chest as Liam stood back to admire his handiwork. Though, with his hands in his back pockets, it was all Jaz could do to keep her mind on business and not on the way his jeans hugged his tight ass.
“Just remember you walked into this mess willingly,” said Liam. “Especially when you realize that the reason no one is here right now is because four people all got scheduled for shifts tomorrow, including a new dispatcher. Speaking of you being here. I have something else for you.”
Now that was too tempting. Jaz let her gaze drop to his cock. “So I noticed.”
Liam laughed. “No. Not that. I mean, that too, but… Oh, never mind. Hold out your hand and close your eyes.”
Jaz gave him a suspicious look, but obeyed, then felt something small and metal drop into her hand. Blinking her eyes open without waiting for his permission, she stared at a pair of keys. “What—”
Instead of answering, Liam put his hand on the middle of Jaz’s back and guided her out behind the garage, where a new, fully outfitted Jeep Wrangler stood proudly on uneven ground. From the tow package in the back to a grille in the front and extra mounts for gear, it was clearly a vehicle made for work. And it was also bright pink.
Jaz’s breath caught. Before she could convince air to return to her lungs, however, Liam nudged her around the truck to the other side, where an equally well-equipped—and pink—ATV stood waiting and ready, a helmet, goggles, and safety jacket laid over the seat.
“Oh my God.” Jaz ran her fingers along the machines, feeling their power and Liam’s confidence radiating from them. She had never gotten a more perfect gift. Not from anyone.
“I still think pink is stupid, by the way,” Liam said good-naturedly. “But I figured it would keep your stuff safe from the vultures who show up to work here. Just please remember that Trident Rescue isn’t a solo outfit. You have to let the guys do something.”