She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (The American Soldier Collection 8)

Sam placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sometimes the system sucks. Just call Ellie at work and let her know. Make sure someone is there to pick her up after work,” he told Justice.

“I can’t believe this.” He texted his brothers and then called Ellie. He wished he were with her right now as he told her. The sound of her shocked voice, the silence, and then her pretending to be brave.

“I’ll be fine. You go back to work. I’ll let you guys know when I’m done here,” she told him and he hung up the phone.

“How did she take it?” Gunny asked.

“Like a fucking trooper. She’s scared.” He heard the texts go off on his phone and looked down at his brothers’ responses. He quickly texted back, and Seno said he would meet her at the office before she left.

“Okay, so when do they want to do this raid on the warehouse?” he asked Gunny.

“Wednesday night. Our sources say a delivery of women and art is coming in. We got the warrants to search Sentinel’s and Phillip’s homes and offices, plus to bug their phones,” Gunny told them.

“We also got another connection to those murdered women. They were hired through a call girl company, half-legit, if you can believe that, which was connected to the manager at Venero’s,” Sam stated.

“You don’t mean Kelly York?” Justice asked. Sam glanced down at the text.

“Yep, that’s her.”

“Shit, she was so concerned over Tiffany. She was playing us,” Justice stated.

“Well, then maybe we ought to go have another chat with her?” Vin suggested.

“Sounds good. Let’s go,” Justice said, and then Gunny and Sam gathered their things to head out and assist with the raid set up for Wednesday.

* * * *

“So, how are things with you guys and Ellie? Making progress?” Vin asked as they headed out of the department toward the unmarked police cruiser.

Justice got into the driver side and started the engine. “Really good. Honestly, it’s incredible.”

“You sound shocked, Justice.” Vin chuckled.

“Well, I guess I sort of am still in shock. We wanted this—me, Hunter, Seno, and Mace—for so long. We went through some stupid shit with stupid women. Especially Hunter.”

“You mean because of his issues about his leg? Man, he’s come so far, and has accomplished so very much. He’s a role model for other soldiers, other amputees.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I thought he was doing all right, until Ray Ann.”

“Ah hell, that bitch is a conniving two-faced witch. What she said that night at Casper’s was frigged up.”

“It’s funny you bring that up because that’s when I saw a change again in Hunter. We had just met Ellie.”

“That’s right. Sam was with Moira and Ellie. So what do you mean that you saw Hunter change?”

“He was angry, but he was also hurt even if he didn’t say so. The four of us are close, and if one is not on his game or has something on their mind, the others just know. It’s crazy. But meeting Ellie that night, hearing her stand up for Hunter, not even knowing him, was incredible and showed such character. From there on out, meeting her in other places, trying to get to know her, became a combined effort. We were all on board. We all were attracted to her.”

“Shit, I remember your face when she came out of the back room at Tratorra’s with Phillips and Sentinel. Holy shit, I thought you were going to do something stupid.”

Justice chuckled. “I almost did. But then you guys had the party after Hunter’s race, and things just happened naturally between us and Ellie.”

Justice was quiet a few moments as they drove down the highway.

“She’s been through a lot. It really fucking pisses me off to know that Paul is out there somewhere, free to roam the streets and maybe even be dick enough to try and hurt her again. How the hell are we going to handle this, Vin? What if something happens to her? What if one of us gets there too late if he tries to hurt her again? I love her. We all do.”

“I understand your fears, and rightfully so, after everything that has happened. But you can’t smother her. You can’t constantly be with her even though having her in your arms gives you the peace of mind you need.”

Justice looked at Vin and then back at the road. “You get it, don’t you? You feel the same way about Moira?”