Page 132 of The Rut in the Road

His smile widened, and he stabbed a link of sausage with his fork. “Good,” he said.

We were finishingwashing up the dishes when Raj’s phone rang. He set down the scrubber to answer it—I’d been relegated to drying so I didn’t have to worry about getting my cast wet, as I didn’t have my shower arm-bag with me, one more reason I needed to go back to my apartment.

“Parikh,” he answered it, moving away from me a little, although he stayed in the kitchen. That made me feel good—he trusted me enough that he wasn’t going to leave the room to have his conversation, although I could tell from his tone that it was work.

He was silent for a few moments, and I glanced over my shoulder as I dried the last plate. A frown furrowed his brow.

“Okay,” he said, finally, sounding resigned. “You need me to bring in Rayn Alverno?”

I went very still.

“Yes, sir,” he said. “We’ll be there soon.”

He thumbed the end call button on the screen, then looked guiltily at me.

“I’m not going to get to work on my paper, am I?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“No,” he answered. “They need us soon—we can stop off to feed Victor and get you a change of clothes, but no shower and no paper.”

I nodded, setting the dish towel down on the counter. “Okay.”

I followedRaj into the federal building, and he signed me in as usual, handing me my visitor pass before leading the way up to the floor where A-Branch worked.

“Hart,” he called, and the elf stopped and turned, still wearing an open jacket.

“The fuck is going on?” Hart wanted to know.

Raj shook his head. “Debrief as soon as we’re all there,” he replied.

Hart looked at me. “With the kid?”

“Not my call,” Raj replied shortly.

I clenched my jaw. We’d argued about this in the car—the fact that he clearly wasn’t happy that I’d been asked for. I hadn’t actually been happy about that, either, since it most likely meant that there’d been another hit-and-run victim, which meant that we were going to have to argue about me walking home or not going to work or something similar all over again.

Hart flicked me a glance, but I wasn’t sure what his expression meant, and he didn’t explain.

“Hey, boys.” Cass was putting her purse and coat down on her desk. “Anybody know what’s up?”

“No, and Tony’s losing his little kitty mind about it,” Hart replied, sounding almost cheerful.

Raj growled a little, baring his teeth, but we all knew it wasn’t meant entirely seriously.

Hart and Raj were putting their bags and jackets—and mine, which I passed to Raj—at their desks when Drew hurried in, nodding a greeting to everyone as he shrugged of his own coat.

“Okay, that’s everybody,” Raj said needlessly. “Let’s go see what’s so damn important.”

We weren’t the only team in the conference room—a much bigger one than we usually met in—and there were still a few more people filtering in, some holding travel mugs or paper cups of coffee. I sipped mine, in one of Raj’s collection of travel mugs.

There was a severe-looking man at the front of the room, grey brows drawn together in concentration or concern over pale grey eyes set in a tanned fair-skinned face. His thin lips were pressed tight, eyes darting around the room. Counting, I realized. Waiting for everyone to be here. A few more people hurried in, and the man nodded.

“Take your seats, people,” he called.

There were a dozen or so of us—three teams, plus me and the man in the front of the room.

“That’s the Assistant Deputy Director,” Cass hissed to one side of me.

I wasn’t sure what to do with that information, but I nodded to show I’d heard her.