Chapter Six
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Eli stood in the living room of Delaney’s cabin and listened to the sound of the shower running in the back room. The water masked most everything else, but he could still hear the occasional creak of pipes and the low thump of movement.
They’d made it back to Crossfire Ops headquarters less than thirty minutes ago, riding in near silence. Neither of them had wanted to be the first to say what they were both thinking.
That explosion was meant to erase someone. The explosion that might have killed Ava. Or hell, maybe she hadn’t even been inside the van. They just didn’t know and wouldn’t until an explosives team had had a chance to go through the wreckage.
That wreckage had left Delaney covered in mud and smoke and ash. That’s why she hadn’t argued when he suggested she shower and regroup. He’d gotten hit with the same mess, but he wasn’t ready to disappear into his own cabin just yet. Not until he made sure she was all right.
So he stayed.
The inside of her place was exactly what he’d expected. Neat. Ordered. Everything in its place. No clutter, no mess, nothing out of line. Not like his, even though their floor plans were identical.
She’d chosen soothing neutral colors for the furniture and décor. Soft grays, warm creams, pale woods. It had the quiet calm of a space meant for recharging, for keeping chaos at bay.
His place, on the other hand, was a mishmash of things he liked the look of.
A too-large leather armchair, a rustic coffee table he found at a flea market, a painting of a desert canyon someone had given him after a mission in Arizona.
It didn’t all match, and it definitely didn’t look like it had a design plan. But it was his.
Delaney’s cabin felt… deliberate. Like every item had earned its spot. Just like everything else about her.
He walked closer to a bookshelf next to the fireplace and checked out the only photo there amid the paperbacks.
It was framed in silver and slightly tilted.
An older couple stood in the background of a sunlit yard, smiling.
The woman wore a wide-brimmed hat. The man had suspenders and weathered hands.
In front of them stood a little girl with dark braids and a grin too big for her face.
The girl looked like Delaney.
He didn’t know much about her family. And Eli, who usually kept his questions to himself, suddenly wanted to ask.
The sound of the water shut off. A few minutes later, Delaney stepped into the room, damp hair pulled back, wearing clean clothes and a slightly guarded expression.
She paused when she saw where he was standing. “You’re looking at the picture,” she said, not accusatory, just matter-of-fact.
He glanced over at her. “Yeah. Your grandparents?”
She nodded. “They raised me after my mom died. She was a cop. Killed while on the job.”
Eli didn’t move. “I’m sorry.”
Delaney gave a small shrug, like she’d worn the weight of that loss for so long it no longer surprised her. “My dad couldn’t handle it. He faded out over the next year, and by the time I turned eight, he was gone for good. Grandma and Grandpa did the best they could.”
Eli looked back at the photo. The pride on their faces said they’d loved that little girl with everything they had.
“Your mom’s the reason you went into law enforcement?” he asked, going with one of those questions he usually wouldn’t have asked.
“Yeah,” Delaney said, walking to the kitchen counter and grabbing a bottle of juice from the fridge.
She lifted it, silently offering him one, but he shook his head.
“That and the fact that her murder was never solved. I thought maybe if I joined the Bureau, got into profiling, I’d figure it out. Crack the case no one else could.”
“Did you?” Another of those blasted questions.
She shook her head and set the unopened bottle of juice aside. “Not yet.”
Eli nodded once. He understood that kind of drive. The kind that started in grief and kept growing. And that’s why he went with a snapshot of his own childhood.
“My brother drowned when we were kids,” he said. “I was eleven. He was eight. We were at a lake. I couldn’t get to him in time.”
Delaney looked at him then. Really looked.
“I think that’s why I ended up in combat rescue in the military and then in private security,” he added. “Trying to save everyone I couldn’t save that day.”
She didn’t speak, but her eyes softened in a way that made something shift in his chest.
“Baggage can be a pisser,” he said with a dry smile.
She tried for a smile, but it faltered. Then she let out a soft groan and pressed a hand to her forehead.
The strain of the blast, the search, and everything with Ava was starting to catch up with her.
Eli saw it in the sag of her shoulders and the way she suddenly looked ten pounds heavier with worry.
He crossed to her, instinct already moving his feet.
At first, he reached out and stopped himself, his hand hovering just inches from her arm. This wasn’t protocol. Not exactly appropriate.
Then he said to hell with it and pulled her into his arms.
She stiffened for a second, then melted against him with a breath that sounded more like surrender than relief.
“I know this probably crosses a line,” he murmured.
“Yeah,” she said softly into his shoulder. “But I’m not stopping you.”
“Good,” he said, holding her tighter.
Because truth was, he needed this too. The weight of the day had sunk into his chest like lead, and feeling her there, warm and real and breathing, helped shove some of it back. Even if just for a minute.
Delaney’s body fit against his a little too well. He hadn’t meant for it to feel like this. Just comfort. Just grounding.
But the longer she stayed in his arms, the more the line between comfort and something else blurred.
Her breath stirred against his neck. His hand slid slightly along her back, fingers brushing the fabric of her shirt. She tensed again, not from discomfort, but something else. Something that mirrored the heat beginning to stir low in his gut.
She pulled back just enough to look up at him. Her eyes were dark and serious, her face still damp from the shower, her cheeks flushed. His gaze dropped to her mouth before he could stop it.
This wasn’t what they were supposed to be doing. Not here. Not now. And yet neither of them moved.
“I know this isn’t smart,” she murmured.
“No,” he said, his voice rougher than he liked. “It’s not.”
Another second passed, the air between them thick with something they hadn’t invited but couldn’t ignore.
Then she took a step back.
He let her.
The space that opened between them felt too wide, but it was the right call.
Delaney ran a hand through her hair, avoiding his eyes. “We should probably eat something.”
Eli nodded, dragging in a breath to cool the fire that still lingered beneath his ribs. “Yeah. Food. Good idea.”
And maybe with a little distance, he could start remembering why that was supposed to be a bad idea in the first place.
Eli’s phone buzzed, cutting through the haze in his head that the heat had caused, and he took his cell from his pocket and checked the screen.
“It’s Noah,” he told her and answered it.
“If Delaney’s nearby, put me on speaker,” Noah immediately said. “She needs to hear this, too.”
Eli tapped the speaker button and set the phone on the counter. “Go ahead.”
“The van was empty,” Noah spelled out without preamble.
Eli let out a slow breath. Relief surged through him even as his jaw clenched. “So Ava is alive.”
“Maybe,” Noah confirmed. “But we still don’t know where the hell she is.”
Beside him, Delaney sagged back against the counter, her fingers curling around the edge. “What about the warrant?” she asked.
“Stalled. Again. Judge is claiming jurisdiction issues,” Noah said, his voice tight. “Someone is tying this up, and they’re doing a damn good job of it.” There was a pause. “I can give you both some downtime,” Noah added. “Catch your breath. Regroup.”
“No,” Delaney said immediately.
Eli met her eyes, saw the steel that had snapped back into place.
“Give us something to do,” she said. “Anything. We’ll take it.”
Noah didn’t argue. “I’m having everything Isla pulled loaded onto your cabins’ data screens. Background, financials, deep dives on every name connected to this operation. Grant, Vivian, the grandfather, and the staff at the institute. All of it.”
Eli turned toward the fireplace just as the screen disguised as a painting above it lit up. The soft glow washed over the room, and lines of data began to load across the display.
“You want us to look it over, see if anything jumps out,” Eli said.
“Exactly. You both know how to spot cracks better than most. Look for patterns, inconsistencies, anything that feels off. I’ll check back once I hear from Isla.”
“Copy that,” Eli assured him.
The call ended, and the cabin was quiet except for the hum of the screen as the data continued to load. Lots and lots of data. Obviously, Isla had been thorough as usual.
While the screen continued cycling through the data, Delaney moved into the kitchen. She pulled sandwich fixings from the fridge and slapped together two turkey and cheese on wheat in record time. Then she grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry and tossed it onto the counter.
Eli opened the fridge and pulled out a cold Coke. He offered her one, but she shook her head and finally opened that bottle of juice she’d taken out earlier.
Earlier, before that hug that had turned hot.
A memory that Eli quickly shoved aside.
They carried everything to the sofa and sat down with their plates balanced on their laps, eyes already scanning the glowing data across the screen above the fireplace.
The first file that opened was Ava’s.
Eli chewed a bite of his sandwich and read through the summary aloud. “Sixteen. Suspended twice from school. Once for skipping too many days. Once for mouthing off to a teacher.”
Delaney swallowed a bite of chips and leaned forward. “She snuck out a lot. Lied about where she was going. One note says she crashed a party in Austin with older kids.” He paused and then kept reading. “No arrests. No drugs. No violence. Just a pissed-off teenager acting out.”
He leaned back, his gaze locked on the screen. “Nothing here justifies her being locked up at the Hale Institute. Especially without her mother’s knowledge.”
Delaney’s voice dropped, quiet and flat. “This was the grandfather.”
Eli nodded slowly, already sensing the shape of something darker hiding beneath the surface. “Whatever his motives, they sure as hell were not about helping her.”
Delaney set her plate down and picked up the remote, flipping to the next file. “Let’s keep going.”
She clicked to the next file, and Olivia’s face filled the screen. Her hospital photo had replaced the more polished one from earlier, the deep bruise still visible on her cheek.
“Olivia Camden,” Delaney read aloud. “Turned eighteen three days ago.”
Eli scanned the notes that followed. “Says here she’s set to inherit a sizable trust fund from her mother’s side. Maternal grandparents passed a few years back. The trust was set up to transfer to her once she came of age, but the mother still needs to sign off to release it.”
Delaney raised an eyebrow. “And Vivian hasn’t?”
Eli shook his head and kept reading. “Not yet. Says here the paperwork is pending, awaiting some kind of financial advisement. That could mean anything, or nothing.”
“Or it could mean someone doesn’t want that money to move freely,” Delaney speculated. “If Vivian delays the signature, maybe someone benefits. Or maybe someone wants her out of the way.”
They sat in silence for a beat, the screen glowing faintly in front of them, the implications settling in.
Delaney leaned back, eyes still on the data. “What about their dad? Could he be behind this somehow?”
Eli gave a quick voice command. “Run file. Olivia and Ava Camden. Paternal history.”
A new window opened on the screen, pulling up a single profile. A photo of a man with dark hair and tired eyes appeared.
“Name’s Mason Camden,” Eli read. “Died last year. Car accident outside Houston.”
Delaney tilted her head. “What about before that?”
Eli scanned the summary. “Didn’t have contact with Vivian or the girls for over a decade. Divorced, disappeared, then tried to come back around a few years ago but Vivian shut that door fast.”
Delaney handed Eli the last bite of her sandwich, and he took it without a word. They were working like a real team now, synced up and locked in.
He liked that more than he should.
She clicked over to another file, this one connected to one of the institute’s staff members. Eli was about to ask her to flag it when his phone buzzed.
Noah.
“You’re gonna want to get up here,” Noah said the moment he was on the line. His voice was calm, but Eli caught the tension beneath it. “We’ve got visitors.”
“Who?” Eli asked.
“The girls’ grandfather just showed up at headquarters. And he’s not alone.”
Eli straightened. Delaney looked over sharply, already reading his expression.
“The founder of the Hale Institute is with him,” Noah added. “And Cyrus Hale is demanding to speak to both of you.”
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