With a muttered curse, Daveed tightened his hold on Murphy. “If I let you go, you must promise not to kill him. Not yet.”
Murphy grunted, his tanned face flushed red from anger. “Fine.”
“Fine.” Daveed thrust him away then snarled at Heath. “Yes. I got your precious files. For what good they’ll do now.”
Taking a seat in a chair across from where the guys were standing in front of the sofa, Heath pulled out his replacement phone and set it on the coffee table. For once, he wasn’t sure how to begin this meeting. He’d been leader of their special ops group since back when they’d been stationed in the Middle East, had remained in charge after they’d all gotten out and decided to run their own investigation into Aileen’s disappearance. He was tough, smart, detail-oriented to a fault. But never, once, had he ever imagined this awkward as ass situation. Until now, he’d always put the team and his buddies and his family above everything else when it came to protection. Now, even after the way things had ended, he found Aileen foremost in his thoughts, his heart, his everything.
“Dammit.” Frustrated, he raked a hand through his shaggy blond hair and focused on the coffee table in front of him because meeting the ragged hurt in Murphy’s eyes right then was too painful. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about your sister, okay? It was never my intention to keep it a secret for so long. It was just one thing led to another and things got out of hand with the story she was working on and it all went to shit. I’m sorry, dude. More than I can say.”
“Jesus, man! I trusted you. I reported to you right away on our missions, never held anything back.” Murphy stepped closer and Heath fully expected a hard punch to the jaw, but for some reason his friend stopped. “Fuck!”
Murphy stalked away, over to the open kitchen. He pulled a beer from the fridge, started to open it then set it aside, grumbling. Considering it was not yet six in the morning, it was probably a wise idea. Heath watched his friend from beneath his lashes as he paced the room. Finally, Murphy slumped back down on the couch and scrubbed his hands over his face before meeting Heath’s gaze again. “This is not okay. I’m not sure it will ever be okay. But I want Aileen safe. Now that we know where she is and what she’s working on, we can deal with the senator situation and end this shit once and for all, yeah?”
Heath exhaled and glanced at Daveed. “Yeah?”
After a moment of silence, Daveed took a seat on the opposite end of the sofa from Murphy. “Yeah.”
“Right. So how are we going to take down this son of a bitch Lawrence?” Heath sat back and scowled. “I’ve got to tread lightly. Not only because of Aileen, but the senator said he had dirt on my father as well. Whatever it is, I can’t risk it coming out.”
Daveed sat forward and rested his forearms on his knees. Tall, dark, and muscular, he carried himself with a regal air that bespoke his royal heritage, even though he’d turned down the throne of his homeland, Al Dar Nasrani. “I’m guessing Senator Lawrence plans to trot out the old rumors about your father paying off congressmen to get favorable bills passed.”
“Trouble is, he did that. It’s true.” Heath shook his head. “I never claimed my family was spotless and I won’t go there now. Right before I joined the Navy, I remember overhearing a meeting between my father and Senator Lawrence in his office. My dad wanted to secure the natural gas drilling rights for a company he?
?d bought stock in and he was trying to grease the wheels by bribing Lawrence.”
“Did the senator accept?” Murphy asked, still frowning darkly.
“Hell, yeah. He couldn’t get his hands on that cash fast enough. Said he would put it toward his legacy fund or some such shit.” Heath gave a derisive snort. “God, I even used that hidden meeting as leverage to get my dad to sign off on my enlistment in the Navy. What a mess.”
“Is your dad still tight with the Federal Prosecutor?” Daveed asked.
“As far as I know.”
“Good. I’d advise you to tell your father to talk with him and explain this situation with Lawrence. That will head off any more threats on that front.” Daveed squinted down at his own phone screen. “On the other front, I’ve received word from my father as well. That’s what I came to tell you at the BrightStart offices a few days ago, but you were otherwise occupied.”
“Shit. You took Aileen to your work too?” Murphy all but spat the words out. “Why didn’t you rent a frigging parade float and drive her down Park Avenue?”
“When I need your advice on how to live my life, I’ll be sure and ask,” Heath snapped, unable to stop himself. God, he’d been such an idiot where Aileen was concerned and he wished he could go back and change it all now, but it was too late. Knowing that was a hopeless cause, he refocused on Daveed. “And?”
“My father has spoken with the Minister of Energy for Al Dar Nasrani and they’ve agreed to a deal. They’re going to make the offer to buy out EnKor Energy today.”
“Holy shit.” Murphy stared wide-eyed at his friend. “Does Shayma know?”
“I’ve no idea.” Daveed shrugged. Shayma bint Amr Kahn had once been his fiancée. Now, Daveed was engaged to Melody Hascall-Ebons, Heath’s ex, and Murphy and Shayma were a happy couple. Things were beyond complicated in Heath’s little corner of the universe.
Daveed continued. “Since her father is the Minster of Energy, perhaps they’ve talked, but I really don’t know. I’ve been busy planning a wedding.”
From the grimace on his face, Heath guessed his upcoming nuptials weren’t going exactly as he’d wanted. Then again, love’s path rarely ran smooth. Heath bit back a smile. He knew firsthand how carried away Mel could get when she was working on one of her “projects” and she’d spare no expense when it came to her own wedding, Heath was sure. “Trouble in paradise?”
“No.” Daveed shuddered. “It’s just that she made me go with her to pick out a cake. Do you guys have any idea how many different types I had to try? I’ve got a sweet tooth, but damn. And then the decorations. Having to choose between eggshell and ecru and blush and peony when all the fucking shades look exactly the same. Exactly, I tell you. No difference whatsoever.” Daveed raked a hand through his hair. “Talking about torture.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Murphy chuckled. “You got it so tough. Shayma made me get a pedicure the other day. Me. Sitting in a fucking salon with my feet soaking in bubble bath and sipping sparkling water, hoping like hell no one I know comes in and sees me. God, I’d never live that down.”
“You’ll never live it down now, buddy.” Heath laughed. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”
The guys sat there, staring at each other in silence, until finally Daveed said, “Well, with the sale of EnKor, that should effectively shut down this deal of Senator Lawrence’s. I’ve already told my father all of the man’s sins and he’s livid. He won’t be speaking to the senator anytime soon. Plus, he said they’ll have some of the island’s top scientists look a bit more closely at this bogus clean energy invention of theirs. Perhaps it might turn out to be workable after all.”
“That would be awesome. The investors who put their life savings into the company will get to keep their standard of living and might even strike it rich if the invention pans out.” Heath sighed. “The only thing left is Aileen’s story. She was really banking on this making her career.”