While she was gone, the detective turned to him. "Maybe now is a better time for you since your mafia girlfriend is otherwise..."
"Danny," a female voice said suddenly- strong, authoritative. That was Shayna Smith, his supervisor. And leaps and bounds in possession of more power than the puny detective could ever aspire to. "I heard about Max. They say he's stable," she told me as she walked up in her nondescript black suit. There was a hint of a red shirt underneath, a small bit of defiance Shayna was known for.
Shayna Smith was in her early forties with a fit, but feminine body. Her blonde hair was pulled back neatly and she kept her makeup to a minimum. She was lucky enough to have fine enough bone structure, good skin, and stunning blue eyes- all things that made the lack of makeup all but unnoticeable.
He had worked with Shayna on and off since he came out of Quantico. He liked her better than most of the other men he knew in the same position. She had developed a laid-back sort of attitude toward the job, likely from all the years that she had been called a host of names for daring to be a woman in a typically male field- shrill, unpleasant, ball-busting.
Daniel would swear on all that was holy that he would take a thousand screaming fits from his male supervisors over one of Shayna's trademark quiet, disappointed-mother sit downs in her office.
"I have a couple questions for Danny," the detective said with a chin lift.
"I'm sorry. Detective..." Shayna said, waving a hand.
"Block."
"Detective Block," she said, sending him an icy smile. "You can continue your questioning of Special Agent Daniel Harrison after I have spoken to him. Is that in some way a problem?" she asked, brow raised, her tone insinuating she wasn't above going after his badge if he didn't back down.
"Yes, ma'am," Block said, condescension clear in his tone.
"And by ma'am," she called to his back, never one to let that shit slide, making him turn back, "I am sure you meant Special Agent Shayna Smith."
"Right," he agreed, not willing to bow down as he turned to go talk to Faith.
He was in for a long, hard, frustrating night if he thought he could get the better of women as formidable as Faith and Shayna.
He'd say 'the poor fuck', but he was a prick so he deserved all the roadblocks they could throw at him.
"I know this job has been a difficult one for you," Shayna said when they were, for the most part, alone. "This happening... this couldn't have been good for your frame of mind."
"My frame of mind is fine, Shayna. Have you forgotten that I once had to stand by while a man carved up a woman's back for hours? Or that I watched a fellow agent get shot execution-style right in front of me by a cartel member? This is hardly the worst I've seen."
"True," she agreed, not flinching because, well, she knew all about the dark shit her agents' jobs involved. "But never after any of those jobs did you say you were quitting. So you'll forgive me if I am concerned about you."
"I'm fine, Shayna. I'm just done. We all get done one day. Sometimes it's after the first useless death. Sometimes it's after the fiftieth. Sometimes it's when we get hurt. And sometimes it's when we realize we have nothing outside of the goddamn job," he said, not realizing his gaze had moved across Lam to land on Faith, smirking at Block with her hands on her hips, a brow raised at something he said.
"Oh," Shayna said, drawing his attention. Daniel looked at her, seeing that she saw and she understood. "Or sometimes it's a woman," she said with a shrug, not belittling that reality. "I've read a lot about that one," she added, looking back over at her as Block threw a frustrated arm out, making Faith just smile wider. "Is she everything her file says she is?"
"A lot more. That detective is going to ice his balls after this," he said, smirking because he knew it was true.
"Faith!" a deep male voice hollered through the open front door, making everyone's heads snap in that direction to see a very determined-looking K being held back by the cops at the door.
Faith's gaze flew to Daniel who looked at Shayna with a shrug. She, in turn, being the fucking fantastic boss he always knew her to be, nodded her head at the cops and K flew inside, making hard eye-contact with Daniel before moving away.
A lot was said between men without words.
So much so that Daniel could read three things in that look: this is your fault; I trusted you with her; and, lastly, you better fucking fix this.
Shayna, used to working with many, many men, was fluent in the unspoken male language as well. "Oh, someone has some amends to make. I have to check in on Max. Will I see you at the hospital?"