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Rami’s PTSD made him hyper-aware. He had it under control most of the time, but he’d had a bad episode last month. Seth had picked up on it and ordered him out of the office. Getting outside could sometimes give Rami relief from his PTSD symptoms.
“Ah, okay.” He leaned closer. “Do you think she has PTSD?”
He had never thought about it before, but going over what little he knew, there was a chance she did.
“Not sure, but the boss ordered her to work with us today. Since we have a briefing, she doesn’t need to go over it with us, so I thought it best to get her out of the office.”
Rami nodded and said nothing. Maybe he was speculating just like the others on the team. Seth wasn’t an idiot. Everyone here was in each other’s business. But he did not want anything to blow back on Autumn.
“Gotcha.”
“You’re in charge.”
He didn’t say anything to anyone else. One thing he liked about TFH is that while it was run like a combat unit in many ways, there was more freedom. Del wouldn’t question where he was. He found her pacing by his SUV. There was something about that pacing, the way her hips swung, and the underlying sensuality to her movements that always got to him. She did a lot of pacing in the common area, her office, and all over the place. She never seemed to be able to hold still.”
“Let’s go. Where do you want to eat?”
She said nothing until they were both in his vehicle. “Let’s go to Anna Miller’s.”
The local place was in Aiea, about twenty to thirty minutes away, depending on the traffic.
“You got it.”
“And I don’t want to talk about things.”
“Fine,” he said, trying to hide his smile. He knew that was a lie. He could be patient.
They were seated by the window with a view of the parking lot. In Hawaii, even parking lots were pretty, in her opinion.
Anna Miller’s was on the top floor of two restaurants. Down below was another of her favorites, Bravo’s. She would cut a bitch if they got in her way of those garlic rolls. They had a view of the morning traffic and the watercress farm.
“What’s good here?”
She looked up from her menu. “You’ve never been here?”
He shook his head. “I’m still checking out places.”
“Ah. Do you like pancakes?”
“Of course, I like pancakes. I’m not a monster.”
She smiled. “I suggest one of their banana Mac nut pancakes. They don’t have them every morning, but they do today, so I suggest those.”
Both of them ordered the pancakes and coffee. Once they were alone, Autumn studied him. “Want to tell me why you sprung me?”
“That’s an odd phrase. I thought you liked work.”
“I do.” She sighed. “Just sometimes, I have to get out. When I’m investigating, that’s easier. What y’all do is a lot of training.”
“Have you ever talked to a therapist?”
She blinked. It was such a sudden topic switch.
“Yep, lots of them. After getting out of Joyous Wave and after a couple of missions while in the DEA, I know what’s wrong with me. I usually have a handle on it, but it’s been a little difficult lately.”
The waitress returned with their coffees. Once they were alone, Seth seemed to wait for her to speak again. Interesting. She liked patience in a man.
“I’ve had some issues since we took down Hank.”
