JAYNICE’S TEAMMATE, Ian, was flat-out adorable. He was tall—not as tall as Ezra, but well over six feet—and strong. He had big blue eyes in a deeply tanned face and a smile that could knock a woman’s socks off at a hundred yards.

Those eyes showed his worry. He didn’t say much when she was introduced to him. She’d been wrong. She’d thought she’d met him before, but she actually hadn’t. He was a recent addition to Jaynice’s team.

He asked her where to drive her and he drove. He was very much the strong, silent type, apparently.

Ian headed toward Jaynice’s room. Shannon turned in the opposite direction. Nils’s room was one floor down.

She knocked on the door lightly and the nurse looked up. Shannon smiled. “Hello, I’m Agent Shannon Toliver with the FBI. PAVAD’s Complex Crimes Unit.”

“Come in,” a pretty blond woman said from next to the bed. “I’m Evony, Nils’s sister. How can we help you?”

“I’m here with some questions for Nils.”

“Where’s Ezra?” the other blond asked. “I thought he was working the case. Maybe we should wait for him.”

“He is. Ezra’s with our team leader right now. But he’s not allowed to be the one to officially take Mr. Schneider’s statement because of our policies. I’m here to do that.”

She saw the woman’s mistrust, but the man in the bed held up a hand. “The day I can’t talk to a beautiful woman is going to be the end of the world. Come closer, Agent Shannon.”

She stepped closer and took her first good look at Ezra’s friend. “How are you feeling, Mr. Schneider?”

“Nils. Call me Nils. I know who you are.” He gave a weak grin. “You’re Ez’s Shannon. Saw you on the TV with him a few months back. He’s talked about you. Practically non-stop. You give him fits, don’t you?”

“Every chance I can. He’s talked about you, too.” Shannon settled into the empty chair next to him. “He wanted to be here, but we have extremely strict protocols with PAVAD. And he wants to direct his energy toward finding the person responsible for what happened to you and Geoff.”

“He will. Ez is nothing if not determined.” He grinned again, but it was weak. The guy was exhausted—but stubborn. “You’re prettier in person. I see why Ez can’t shut up about you.”

“You’re embarrassing her, Nils,” one of his sisters said. “Let her do her job so she can leave.”

“Gee, Ev, rude much?” the other sister asked. “You’ll have to forgive her. My sister has had a crush on Ez for a million years.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant, I’m sure you have more important things to do than listen to my brother flirt.”

Shannon smiled. The woman looked beyond embarrassed. She understood—she had four siblings of her own, after all. “Not at all. Ez really did want to be here. I’m the second-best choice. The main question I have is if this was deliberate, was there anything you can tell me about who or why it could have happened? Something that connects you and Geoff Morten?”

“Geoff and I are—were—good friends. But it all came from when we served together. I’d see Ez more. And Geoff would see Ez. So, we’d see each other when all our paths would cross. Geoff was in and out of the city almost as much as I am. And add in Ez’s schedule... It could be months at a time between contact. And Geoff wasn’t big on email or cell phones. Most of my contact with him was through Ez. What does he say?”

“We’re not sure if this is connected, or if you and Geoff were just both in the wrong places at the wrong time. Ez is hunting down the rest of the men in your unit. Have you heard from any of them lately?”

“Not really. I did get a call from one of the men in our unit a day or so before this happened. Chuckie Sefton. We weren’t close, but he was in town and wanted to meet up. He mentioned something about Geoff, as well. I had to cancel. Adri doesn’t have many days off, and I wanted it to be special.” A flash of pain went through his blue eyes. “And not like this.”

“As soon as she’s upgraded, they’re moving her in here. My brother’s been a bit insistent.”

“Hey, the woman is my life. I’m not going to rest easy until she’s right here where I can see her.” He looked at Shannon again. “So, tell me... Ez is crazy over you. You feel the same?”

Shannon laughed and stood. She liked this man. A lot. She could see why Ezra did, too. “I am. I can say that I am. He drives me crazy, but I care a great deal about him.”

“Good. He needs a pretty woman to keep him on the straight and narrow. When he gets a chance, send his ass over here. I am past the point of being bored. And I need to talk to another man. All these women are driving me nuts.”

“I’ll do that. I hope you and your girlfriend—”

“Fiancée. She said yes.”

“Fiancée feel better soon. And congratulations on the yes.”

“See you later, Pretty Agent Shannon. Tell Ez he’s a lucky man. If I didn’t have my Adrienne, I’d be fighting him for you.” He gave her another charming grin.

“I’ll do that.”

She finished with Nils then returned to the waiting room to find Agent Ward. He was reading a magazine and trying to look like he wasn’t worried.

She liked him. He was around her age, quiet, and seemed to really care about his teammate. They discussed Jaynice for a few moments, then her phone buzzed.

It was time for her to get back out there. Ken had more for her to do, but first, he wanted her to personally take possession of the videos they needed.

Those videos were their current only hope.

The local police were stalling her again. Shannon was sure of it. She grabbed a cab back to the PAVAD building. Ian was sticking near the hospital with Jaynice. The older woman was going in for another surgery to correct damaged tissue. He was going to wait until the two-hour surgery was finished.

It gave Shannon time to swing by the local station and grab the files herself. She made it clear to the detective in charge that it was a time sensitive piece of evidence in a multiple victim shooting spree.

He wasn’t all that impressed.

Until she threatened to go straight to Fin McLaughlin himself. The assistant director of PAVAD was a real badass when the situation warranted it.

She made it back to the hospital in time to meet Ian. Jaynice had done well. The latest surgery had revealed a great deal of improvement. He was sticking around the hospital to wait until she came out of recovery, in case her daughter needed anything, but he gave Shannon keys to his car.

She’d drive back and pick him up after she finished with the videos from the local precinct.

Ken, Ezra, and the rest of the team were waiting when she made it back. Ezra was leaning against her desk. He looked up when she sank into the chair. “Anything?”

“Nils is awake and doing much better. He says you need to stop by and keep him company. His sisters are driving him crazy. As for the investigation, the only thing he could say was that he would see Geoff occasionally, but there was nothing he could think of that would make him and Geoff a target. Other than a connection to you, the two men didn’t interact all that often. Mostly because of erratic work schedules.”

“We tried, but all three of us traveled frequently. We’re not exactly homebodies.”

“So, if this guy targeted them deliberately, there’s a good chance it’s because of something that happened when you served together?” Shannon asked. “But why now? It’s been how many years?”

“Six since we were discharged.”

“Tell us about your team,” Ken said.

“Nothing really to tell. Our time over there was just as you’d expect. And we did everything we could to do things by the book. Leghari, our unit leader, was a stickler for that. And it saved our asses a time or two.”

“So, if it wasn’t mission related, is it possible it was something personal?” Shannon asked.

“I don’t know. I’m still tracking a few of them down, but I’m stalled out.”

“Then Shannon will find them,” Ken said. “We’ll go from there.”

“If it has anything to do with that at all. We could be grasping at shadows here,” Shannon said. What they had was more than a bit sketchy, and she knew it. All they did was keep going in circles. If this had nothing to do with Ezra and was just random coincidence, they were just wasting time. And falling farther and farther behind.