Chapter 23
ANOTHER ONE IN THE KNOW
George lifted his gaze from Andi’s sweat-stained forehead to glance briefly in Agent DeCapristo’s direction.
She was back on her feet where George had pushed her against a dumpster and blocked her body as soon as he realized what was going on.
Seeing—and hearing—those wasps coming for them had sent his adrenaline levels through the roof.
Somehow, his partner had managed to fend them off but at what price?
Andi was hunched over, clinging to George as if he were a lifeline.
His breathing was flat, his eyes still distant.
“Congratulations, agent, you now know how Dunhill and Asten must have felt when the hornets came for them.” He turned his attention back to Andi. “Do you think you can let go of my right arm? Then I can grab the Tylenol for you.”
Andi didn’t answer, just kept on breathing, meaning he wasn’t all there yet, still fighting his way back to the surface. Agent DeCapristo appeared next to them, her brows drawn together in worry. “Is everything okay with Detective Hayes?”
“No, can you please reach into the right pocket of my jeans? There are two phials in there. Get one of them out.”
To her credit, DeCapristo didn’t hesitate for one second. Her slim hand slid into George’s jeans pocket to retrieve the Tylenol.
“Wonderful. Now open it and hold it to Andi’s lips. He needs to drink the entire dose.”
Again, the agent did as she was told. When she held the open vial to Andi’s lips, George coaxed, “Please, Andi, drink. Just lift your head a bit so Agent DeCapristo can pour the Tylenol into your mouth. Very good, you’re doing very good, yes.”
He watched Andi’s throat working as he swallowed the medicine. “Wonderful, my dear. It’s okay. You’re back with me. All is good.”
Of course nothing was good. He needed to get Andi to their hotel room as quickly as possible.
“If you give me your car keys, I can get your car. I assume the wasps are gone?” Agent DeCapristo looked around nervously.
George could fully relate. Being surrounded by a swarm of insects your lizard brain was conditioned to fear was a trying situation.
And DeCapristo didn’t know what George knew—that Andi would always protect him.
The look in the agent’s eyes also told George there was no escaping the conversation she clearly wanted to have, so he nodded. “In my right back pocket.” Reaching into the pocket, she produced his car keys and held them up. George nodded. “Be careful. So far, my baby hasn’t got a single scratch.”
“Pfft. Cars are there to be used.”
George did a double take. Was there a hint of a smile on her lips? Maybe hell had frozen over. Though it was more likely that she was trying to deal with the stressful situation they had just experienced. The agent went to get his car while George focused on Andi.
“Are you back with me, dear?”
Andi groaned. “My headache says yes. I’m fully back.”
“The Tylenol should kick in soon. DeCapristo is getting my car, and we’ll have you back in our hotel room in no time.”
“I hope so.” Andi turned sideways and just managed to lean over one of the dumpsters in the alley before he lost the contents of his stomach.
When DeCapristo arrived with George’s Escalade, the heaving had stopped, but George knew there likely would be at least two more bouts before Andi’s body calmed down from being so deeply immersed in their world.
He opened the back door, helped Andi to climb in and followed.
With practiced ease, he pulled one of the paper bags he had stored in every door in the vehicle, ready to hold it for his partner should the heaving start anew. DeCapristo turned in the driver’s seat.
“I assume I’m driving you to wherever you want to go?”
George did hear the sarcasm in her voice but ignoring it was easy. Andi came first, and everybody else could fend for themselves, especially cranky FBI agents who’d made his life miserable before.
“Yes, thank you. The hotel’s address should be in the GPS.”
“Found it.” DeCapristo tapped the screen, and once the map was loaded, she eased back into traffic. The ride to the hotel was silent, only broken once by Andi’s dry retching shortly before they arrived.
“You can take the spot over there.” George leaned between the two front seats and pointed at the slot in the parking lot he’d occupied this morning.
DeCapristo deftly parked the Escalade and then helped George get Andi out of the car and into the hotel.
They took the lift upstairs to their room, where George sat Andi on their sleeping bed, took off his shoes and jeans—DeCapristo averted her gaze, though George thought it was more for Andi’s and his benefit than for her own—and put him under the cover.
He fumbled with the paper bag until it stayed upright and open then placed it on the nightstand along with a bottle of water and another phial of Tylenol.
He went to the bathroom to wet a washcloth, which he then put over Andi’s eyes.
His lover groaned when he pressed a kiss to his forehead. “It’s okay. Rest. I’m here.”
Dragging the drapes closed, George motioned to the tiny hall of their room.
It wasn’t the most comfortable, putting him and the agent in very close proximity, something he would have avoided, if possible, but he didn’t want to leave Andi alone and talking in the hall in front of their room was equally inconvenient with the added negative of being outside where anybody could hear them.
DeCapristo didn’t seem to mind. Something in her gaze even suggested she understood why George wanted to stay close.
She leaned against the wall on one side and crossed her arms in front of her, a move that showed a vulnerability that George usually tried to avoid.
“So, you two are a couple. I had my suspicions.”
“It’s sanctioned by our agency.”
“And I can see why that is. Care to tell me what happened out there?” Despite being clearly rattled, the agent also tried very hard not to appear too eager, but George could feel the curiosity radiating from her.
“Since you saw Andi in action, I guess we can forget about clearances. Besides, anything you cook up in your head is probably worse than the truth.”
“Probably.”
“I don’t have to stress how very top secret this is?”
“No. I’m fully aware. And I already have enough trouble on my plate. I’m not going to add more.”
George had to take this at face value. He didn’t have much of a choice, which made it easier.
“Andi has a connection to all arthropods in his vicinity. It’s what saved us from those wasps earlier in the alley.
It’s also the reason he’s so sick now. A rushed intervention like he did just then is always the worst.”
“Oookay.” DeCapristo gave a curious look. “You’re telling me Detective Hayes is like Aquaman? Only talking to insects instead of fish?”
“Basically. Though I do like to point out that, first of all, Aquaman talks to all sea life, which contains a lot more than just fish, just like Andi talks to all arthropods, which isn’t just insects. For example, crustaceans are also arthropods, which would mean Andi is a bit like Aquaman.”
“Oh. And second?”
“Second what?”
“You said first of all. I’m assuming there’s a second?”
George went through what he’d just said. “Uh, second, Andi is real and Aquaman isn’t.” He frowned. “You seem oddly calm for somebody who just found out about something that shouldn’t be possible.”
DeCapristo shrugged. “As you said before, the truth isn’t as outlandish as what I’ve been spinning in my head, and believe me, I’ve got a lot of interesting theories.
Also, even though I’m no longer doing the crazy high-profile cases I used to do, I can tell you talking to bugs is downright tame compared to some of the things I’ve seen.
” She looked a little sad but only for a moment before her mask slipped back into place.
George realized he wasn’t as annoyed with her as he had been this morning. “Who did you piss off?”
DeCapristo’s head came up abruptly. “What do you mean?”
George simply shrugged.
She huffed. “Fine. There may have been a case when I was told to stop digging and keep my opinions to myself. It could have been that I didn’t listen and was right about everything but made the whole situation worse than it had been before.
A higher-up was less than pleased, and since then they’re trying to get rid of me by sending me after cases like this one.
They’re hoping to discredit me, so they have a reason to fire my ass. ”
“That’s why you’re investigating a case the FBI wouldn’t normally look into.”
“That, and I’m also getting cases where a solve seems unlikely. So far, I haven’t had to admit defeat, which makes said higher-up even crankier.”
“Any chance to get rid of them?” George couldn’t imagine DeCapristo just rolling over and taking the hits.
“I’m working on it.” The smile briefly lighting her face wasn’t too friendly. In that moment, she reminded George of a shark that had just found a seal swimming blissfully ignorant at the surface of the ocean. “Anyway, the more pressing problem is, why did those wasps attack us?”
George rubbed both hands over his face. “I’d say it is because we’re getting somewhere with this case, also, I can’t, for the life of me, imagine where. Plus, were the wasps attacking all of us or one person specifically?”
DeCapristo’s eyes narrowed. “You’re right. We haven’t interacted that much until today. And definitely not on the case. So, was it me or you?”
“Have you talked to people not on the list we gave you and Chief Savalle?”
The agent shook her head. “No. I was planning to sniff around Paradise Home a little more, though I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
George nodded. “That means it’s rather safe to assume that whoever we startled has to come from the pool of people we interviewed regarding the case.”
“If any of them were like Detective Hayes, would he be able to tell?”