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Krystal looked at Violet now and tapped the headset she wore, the one that e at a pop concert than as part of a high-tech tactical response teaht purple tights, and Harley-Davidson boots "Soe of Coeneral direction, where Sara was just closing the file she was holding and shaking hands with the detective--"doing whatever it is Sara does Liaising and whatnot And it’s not like Rafe’s gonna do it In case you hadn’t noticed, he’s not much of a talker" She cast wide, innocent brown eyes at Rafe when he turned to glare at her "Well, I’ his hands deeper into his pockets "Whatever"

Sara joined the three of the to stay out of the way of the police ar thelance in Violet’s direction, her eyebrows rising slightly, and it wasn’t hard to tell she was annoyed "Rafe, Violet, would you twobehind for a minute? I’d like a word"

Krystal pursed purple lips that were the exact sa "Ooh, sounds like someone’s in trouble" The I-told-you-so in her voice was obvious "Should’ve answered me when I asked where you were"

"Whatever," Violet whispered back to Krystal as discreetly as she could "We found her, didn’t we? Neither of us did anything wrong"

But Krystal just snorted, as if Violet was being ridiculous "Except you broke contact with your team And Rafe was supposed to keep track of you" As she stripped off her headset, her collection of necklaces--long chains strung with healing crystals, stones, and charether "Later, losers Hope you don’t have to stay in detention for too long"

Violet shook her head as Sara walked with Krystal across the blacktop, toward the car Krystal had affectionately dubbed "Roxy," her heavy black boots looking oversized for her scrawny legs A crowd had already gathered, probably people orked in the area, those who’d heard the sirens and wanted to knoas going on Violet kneouldn’t be long before the news crews arrived too, and started asking questions

She waited until Sara and Krystal were out of earshot, then turned to Rafe "What did Krystal mean?" she insisted "Did Sara ask you to watch ed "Does it matter?"

"UirlI don’t need you babysitting littered mischievously, but before he could respond, Sara was already co first at Rafe, and then to Violet, her gaze serious "What happened back there, Violet? I thought we talked about this? You said you were ready"

Violet let out a gusty sigh, stalling as she tried to decide whether to defend her actions, or to outright lie to Sara Looking at the wo in front of her, always starched and no-nonsense, Violet finally lifted her shoulders, settling on the truth "I honestly don’t know I thought I could handle it, but then I was thereand I could feel it" She glanced uneasily at Rafe, who stood beside her, no longer holding her hand buther just as uncoelse ain, defeatedly She knew she’d let Sara--and her team--down "I’ the safety of the team, especially after how often they’d talked about that very thing

But it was Rafe who Sara turned to, her blue eyes narrowing "I asked you not to let her out of your sight, didn’t I?"

Rafe just shrugged again, in his usual Rafe-ish way, like he didn’t really care what anyone else thought "I told you she needed

Violet’s cheeks grew hot as she stood there listening while they talked about heras if she were completely invisible

She winced when Sara continued, "It wasn’t your decision, Rafe When we’re out in the field, you need to follow orders, just like everyone else"

Rafe’s shoulders squared, his jaw flexing almost imperceptibly "It’s hard to follow orders when they don’t htly, to Violet, atched therined silence "Besides, I didn’t mean to lose her I only turned my head for a second, and when I looked back"

Now they were both staring at her, and Violet felt the heat in her cheeks creeping down her neck, coiling into an angry ball in the pit of her stomach She shook her head, not sure whaton the teaer situations We had no idea if the tip was legiti us so he could aht Of course she was right And, e Violet had known she was breaking the rules when she’d wandered off Besides, she’d only barely been allowed to be there at all, and only because Sara had pulled sos and promised to keep "her people" in line