Chapter 3 #2
Shrugging, she tried to read the change in his demeanor, but despite having spent the last couple of hours studying him, she hadn’t quite learned enough to understand what button she’d inadvertently pushed.
“Sure. I mean, you’ve obviously unlocked expert level on your SAR skills.
I’ve been around other teams before, and you’re wearing a whole different set of skins. ”
His quick smile added another check in the pro column. “Ah, well, if I’ve achieved master gamer status in your book, that feels like high praise indeed.”
“Don’t you feel like you’re out here making a difference? As opposed to checking off another call?” If she’d missed the mark and Noah didn’t have quite the depths she’d sensed, she’d be very disappointed.
“I do,” he assured her and a shadow crossed his expression. “I’m just not quite used to thinking of this stage of my life as making a difference.”
“Now you’ve done it.” She jammed a hand down on her hip. “You have to tell me everything. Don’t leave anything out.”
“Maybe we’ll save that for our second date,” he said with a laugh.
Well, she did like the sound of that. Enough that she didn’t take offense to him shutting down the personal nature of the conversation. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
“You didn’t. No offense taken here.” He held up a hand. “SAR is my life now.”
“And you’re good at it.” She gestured to his dog, which seemed to be a far safer topic of conversation. “Dancer’s impressive.”
“He’s the best partner I could ask for.” Pride and something deeper colored his voice. “Never questions my judgment, never argues about jurisdiction and works for kibble.”
She laughed, happy they were back on somewhat even ground. “Sounds perfect.”
“Almost.” His eyes locked on hers again, that spark arcing between them. “I’m still trying to teach him to talk so we can hold a conversation. SAR work gets lonely sometimes.”
The words hung in the air between them, no way to mistake the innuendo that he’d deliberately dropped into his tone. They were both interested, and neither of them seemed to be too concerned about hiding it.
Lovely. Lack of pretense shot right to the top of Noah’s list of good qualities.
“How did you get started with Dancer?” she asked, genuinely interested but also not about to pass up an opportunity to continue interacting with this man, given that he’d so nicely dropped the bait in her lap.
Noah grinned. “It was Jacob’s suggestion, actually. I needed a career change, and he knows a guy working out of Salt Lake City. Put us in touch. I started working with his trainer and the rest is history.”
“Sounds like it was meant to be.”
Some things obviously were.
“Officer West!” Bonner’s voice shattered the moment. “Command needs your initial incident report.”
Noah’s expression shifted to neutral as Bonner invaded their little circle for two. Three if you counted the dog, which meant no room for jerkwads with huge egos.
“I heard you, Bonner.” She shot him a scathing glance, mostly because he’d interrupted but also because his face made her skin crawl. “You didn’t need to come all the way over here.”
“Sorry to break up the party,” Bonner sneered, his expression bordering on glee, as if he’d guessed exactly what was going on between Noah and Sabrina and thought it would be fun to put a damper on everything.
“Figured you were too busy flirting to give it proper priority, so I thought I’d speed things along. ”
“You’re such a big help,” she muttered. If you replaced help with tool.
“I’ll let you get to work,” Noah said with a loaded glance that told her he’d guessed exactly what Bonner had been up to. “Officer.”
“Sabrina,” she murmured as Bonner gave her a pointed stare. So what? She could give the SAR expert her first name if she wanted to. “I’ll be back.”
She forced herself to walk away at a measured pace, very aware of Noah’s gaze following her. And Bonner’s. Who didn’t leave. She wouldn’t put it past him to feel out Noah’s intent just to be a thorn in her side.
But as she glanced back at Noah, something pinged inside her.
This was a beginning. No question. The beginning of what remained to be seen.
She didn’t have a great track record with the handful of men she’d dallied with over the years.
Which was fine. If Noah ended up being yet another in a string of fun guys who backed off after figuring out they had zero prayer of keeping up with her, better to discover that right out of the gate instead of later.
Meanwhile, they both had a job to do.
The recovery operation continued as the sun sank toward the horizon, painting the canyon walls in deep orange and red. Floodlights clicked on, casting harsh shadows across the scene. Sabrina finished her report and found herself gravitating back to where Noah coordinated with the engineering team.
That’s when the first telltale flash of beige caught her eye. The excavation team paused as a distinctive patch of human skin appeared beneath the rubble. Finally.
Noah turned to Sabrina, his natural enthusiasm spilling over into the space around them. “There’s your Jane Doe. Exactly where you said she’d be.”
Why this guy seemed as excited to prove her right as she was to get her vindication, she couldn’t quite fathom. But she appreciated it.
“Thanks for helping me prove it,” she told him.
“Now comes the good part. The investigation,” Noah clarified as they both watched the team switch to hand tools in order to avoid triggering another rockslide.
“Not my jurisdiction,” Sabrina said flatly, and he nodded.
“Mine either.” But she could hear the wistfulness in his voice. “I’m sure the Dark Canyon folks assigned will do the case justice.”
A young woman had died up here alone in the cold. Someone definitely needed to find the answers. Normally, Sabrina would be happy to pass that job off to the experts and dust her hands of the situation. She’d done her part.
But something about this situation tugged at her. Maybe because Noah remained so clearly invested in the outcome. Or maybe just because she’d been involved from the very beginning. It was hard to distance yourself from something you had such a big stake in.
“West.” Her radio crackled with Marcus Reynolds’s voice. “I need you on the perimeter to ensure the site stays as clear as possible. Now that we have a body, this is a crime scene. Assist as needed.”
“On it.” She nodded at Noah, who smiled.
And then she didn’t see him again before she was finally able to call it a day.