The police were screeching to a halt in my yard as I gathered Sam in my arms. I held her close against me, feeling her arms slip around my neck. She forced herself into my lap and pulled her head up to mine, colliding our lips as people began to hustle around us. I held her tightly in my arms as paramedics surrounded us, our tongues dancing like peaks of fire devouring a rainforest.
It was over.
It was done.
And we were safe.
Chapter 24
Sam
Two Months Later
“IT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED. Jacob Carl, former COO of Steele, Incorporated, has been found dead in his home. The fallen man, accused of attempting to murder his boss and best friend, Derek Steele, was found hanging by a belt in his motel room. Experts say his body was in the latter stages of decomposition, and a trusted source tells me Mr. Carl has been dead at least a week. More on this story and much more coming up after the break.”
I lay there, my leg bandaged up as I watched the news report. Suicide. What a cowardly way to end the life of someone as sleazy as Jacob. It was nauseating to think about. My team had been so close to tracking him down, so close to finding him and bringing him the justice he deserved. Death was too peaceful of an act for a man like him. He had deserved to rot in prison, forever haunted by the decisions he made. Forever reminded of how far he had truly fallen and of the life he could have lived had he not gotten so greedy.
But more than that, I was still haunted by John, a man I trusted with my life and my secrets. He had so easily betrayed me and my team for a quick buck. It had compromised everything I had built my task force on. It had compromised everything I had worked for in my career. The one person I should have been able to rely on was the one person who was ready to throw me underneath the bus at the first sign of convenience and profit
It made me sick.
Even though I was laid up in Derek’s home, I was taking some time off. I kept running things through my head, trying to pick out the signs I’d missed, the looks John had given me that should’ve tipped me off to what he was doing and the convenience of him being with Jacob at the time of Mr. Carl’s assault. He played a good game, put up a good fight, and added in some delectable acting, but there were signs. There always were.
And I was picking out each and every one of them.
I’d worked with John for years. We had gone all the way back to my latter military days. He was the person who’d convinced me to leave the military and go to a private contractor. He was the first person I brought onto my civilian team when I heard he had left the military as well. He’d saved my ass more times than I could count and picked up the phone more times than I cared to admit. He was my go-to. My comfortable teammate. My second-in-command and the person who always listened to me rattle on about my nightmares until three in the morning before acting like nothing had happened.
He had betrayed a client. He had betrayed my trust. He had betrayed this team, and I knew I had done the right thing in taking him out.
But it meant I needed time away from all this to screw my head back on straight and refocus.
The idea of John turning because of money was shocking. Especially with a client like Derek. We were paid beyond top-dollar for this assignment, so it wasn’t as if John was hurting for money. The average client we would take on shelled out anywhere between three hundred thousand and a million dollars a month for the teams we put together. Money was the last thing we worried about with clients like Derek.
“Hey there, beautiful.”
I groaned as I shifted on the couch, feeling Derek press a kiss to the top of my head.
“Yep.”
“It’s time for your pain medication,” he said.
“I can feel that,” I said.
“You shouldn't be watching that garbage. I know what you’re in here doing.”
I watched as Derek picked up the television remote and turned the news station off.
“I need to pick this apart so the same mistake doesn’t happen again,” I said.
“And I’m sure you’re doing a fantastic job of it, but it’s time for your pain medication.”
“I hate that shit. It puts me to sleep.”
“Which is what you need, given that you’ll be laid up for a couple more months.”
“But I’ve already been laid up for two months.”
“Then take it up with your body. I have no control over how your leg heals,” he said. “Now take this and drink.”