Chapter Eighteen
Hamel had spent hours poring over security footage, retracing the footsteps of the thief, figuring out how the camera system kept being turned off with no one knowing, and how no guards heard anything. He even rappelled down the wall to re-enact the first incident.
Now, on his way to find his mate, frustration set in. Nobody was this good at getting away. They would make a mistake and he’d be there to find it. No one threatened his mate and lived. He finally began to understand all the strange behavior he’d seen from mated men while he grew up.
He had always thought the males were overprotective to a fault when it came to their mates. He never understood why, but he’d never been in love, either. His feet stopped short. Was he in love? Could love happen in three days?
She saved his life, or at least made it less painful. The snake venom probably would’ve been neutralized in his system, but it would’ve taken much longer than with the anti-serum. He loved how she loved animals, big and small. He loved how she laughed, how she smiled at him, how her eyes sparkled when she was happy. He even loved how klutzy she tended to be.
He loved her mind and her body. He loved how she moved around the room, sure and confident in herself. Loved how she called him out when he tried to boss her around about staying in her lab today. His mate couldn’t be a wimp. She’d have to stand up for herself.
With that many loves, he figured he was in deep. Damn, this would really rock his world after the mission was over.
When he opened the door to her lab, he smelled her fear. “Melinda!” he called out as he flung the door open. Immediately, he noticed the window section was missing, some of the tape flapping in the breeze. He jumped a table to get to the far side of the room. Then he saw her sitting on the floor against the opposite wall.
He pulled her up by her shoulders and held her to him. His arms slipped around her. She felt so good pressed to him. Her hair smelled like strawberries. His favorite. Then he remembered who he was supposed to be. He quickly pulled her away, bumping her back to the wall.
“Whoops, sorry.” He released his hold and felt the loneliness. “You look devastated. What’s happened?” He checked her over for injuries. No blood or cut clothing.
She didn’t respond quickly enough for him. He frowned at her. Was she going to lie to him? He sniffed for it.
“Nothing. Well, two of my baby mice died.” She paused then turned her head to the side. “The window fell. My lab was broken into again. I’m tired.” He felt she held something back, but those reasons alone were enough to put her in the funk she was in. He’d get the rest later.
“Why don’t you go home for the day? It’s been a long week with all the break-ins. In fact, take tomorrow off. You have vacation time, right?”
She looked up at him. “You’re the second person to tell me that today.”
“Well, then.” He smiled at her and brushed a non-existent strand of hair behind her ear. “That says to me you have no choice but to go home and open another bottle of wine.”
Seeming in a slight daze, her hand raised to touch the place he brushed his fingers over. “That sounds like a very good idea. I need to clean up and get the vial—”
“Let me take care of everything. I’ll make sure the mice are safely locked up in the other lab. Where’s the best place to hide the serum? Your refrigerator is trashed.”
“It’s safe. I put it in the Virology guys’ cold unit.”
“Good. I’ll talk with Kintu and tell him you’re off until we can get you set up to work effectively again.”
Her head tilted to the side. He caught her stare. “Why are you being so nice to me? You don’t have to be.”
He sighed. Man, he really wanted to tell her the truth about him, about who he was and who he worked for. He was tired of being undercover with her so close.
The urge to kiss her overwhelmed his senses. His animal wanted to make her happy, to make her smile again. He stepped closer to her. The mouse in the pen next to him screeched at him then ran to the far side of the pen.
Melinda said, “That was weird. It’s never done that before.”
Damn critter. It ruined the moment. If they weren’t in an occupied building, he would’ve let his cat have a light snack. The cat rolled its mental eyes. Don’t waste my time.
Hamel cleared his throat and headed to the other side of the table to get the mouse and put it in its cage for the night. Immediately, the mouse took off for the far corner where Melinda was. What the hell?
“Remember,” she said, “they don’t like you very much.” She scooped up the mouse, gave it a treat, and set it in its cage. He recalled that, but how did the thing know he was coming to get it? Maybe it smelled his cat and just ran.
“If I leave,” she started, “will you have something to do for the rest of today and tomorrow?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ve got enough to keep me busy. Go ahead and go. I’ll talk to Kintu to get the window patched, at least. Getting glass may take a few days.”
She picked up the cage and turned to him. “Thank you for all you’ve done this week. You’ve gone over and above what most Oversight people ever would. Saturday’s Halloween. Take it easy at the bars. You don’t want to end up like you were this morning.” She smiled.
He gave her a nod. “No worries. I’m not going anywhere near another bar. Have a good weekend.”
She took the cage, got her purse, then walked out.
He let out a sigh and ran a hand over his head. Fuck, he was a mess inside. He knew what he needed to do, and then there was what he wanted to do, which was follow his mate to her bedroom.
He glanced at the non-operational cooling unit. There was no doubt in his mind the thief was after the vial. What happened when they discovered they still didn’t have it? Would they come after her? How long did he have before that happened? A day or two?
Pulling a caveman move and dragging her off was sounding better and better. It was hard to protect her when she couldn’t know he was around. He was lucky last night and this morning. Nobody had attacked her while he was recuperating from the snakebite. That really did a number on him. He didn’t remember a thing from the time he killed the snake until he woke on the grass outside the animal hospital.
He supposed she had taken him there, but why leave him outside the building? And how did the serum get into him? He’d felt it working. Thinking about it now, he vaguely remembered an old man talking to him while he was lying on the grass. But he couldn’t recall what was said. Who knew? The old guy probably thought he’d found a panther and tried to scare the cat off.
He made his way to the door. He needed to speak with Kintu and get to Melinda’s house before much time passed. He didn’t like the thought of her being alone. Not for one second.