Standing, I return to the living room to find Sorina sobbing in Blake’s arms on the floor of the kitchen. He rocks her back and forth, whispering in her ear.
“Dresden, move Samuel in with Jameson, please.”
He and Rhett move him as Sammi comes in to stand next to me. All eyes are on us, but I keep my mouth closed until Dresden and Rhett have returned.
“I need you to find every file on Jax, and every contact he had for the rings, Sammi.”
“Jax? Lily, you can’t be serious?”
“Those gunmen are Nigerian. This note is in a language called Hausa.”
“You know Hausa,” Dresden asks.
“Yes. Jax taught me. It’s his native language.”
Pain, anger, confusion, and guilt swim through my mind and I can’t tell where one emotion stops, and one begins. I’m covered in the blood of two men who should still be alive.
Sinking to the floor, putting my head between my knees and squeezing my hands on either temple, the numbness takes over . . . and I let it.
18
~Lily~
I stand in the basement of the funeral home, my eyes aching from the nonstop tears. Bates and Monroe argued with me for two days about escorting Samuel and Jameson home, but in the end, I won. Samuel was first, and his parents are due to be here to identify and claim his body at any moment.
It will have to be a closed casket no matter what. No mortician in the world is going to fix a sniper shot. At least Samuel didn’t suffer. I’d thought about that a lot on the plane ride here. The door opens and the funeral director steps in followed by a short, blonde woman clutching a tissue to her chest.
She stumbles to the table Samuel lays on and strokes the side of his face, silent tears streaming down hers. I swipe the moisture from my own eyes, trying to keep my composure. Kissing his head, she turns toward me, her heels clicking loudly against the concrete floor.
“You must be Agent Williams,” she says in a hoarse voice.
I swallow the lump in my throat, keeping my eyes downcast. “Yes, ma’am.”
“My son had been set on working for Interpol since he was twelve.” She sucks in a ragged breath and dabs the corner of
her eye with a tissue. “He wanted to change lives and make a difference.”
Images of Samuel and Sorina walking by the woods, laughing on the sofa, and goofing off at dinner, flash through my head.
“He made more of a difference for some people than he ever knew.”
“Would you come speak with me? I’d like to know about his time with you. He was never allowed to say much.” She gestures to the door.
We sit in an empty viewing room on the ground floor. Hyde spoke to Hayato’s family after Sammi killed him last year, and before him, we’d never lost a team member. She sits her purse on the floor and twists to face me.
“Ma’am, you realize anything I say has to be confidential?”
“Yes, Agent Williams. I just want to know whatever you can tell me. I hadn’t seen my son in over a year. This weekend we’ll bury him, and if you don’t tell me about that time, I’ll never know.”
“Your son was an agent with the Human Trafficking Taskforce, which at the moment is under the Witness Protection Program, protecting a family.”
She smiles sadly, fresh tears pooling in her eyes, and my stomach heaves.
“Was he a good agent?”
“Yes, ma’am. Levelheaded, strong, fast, and efficient in everything he did. He was a quick learner and saved my life only a few weeks ago.”
Her eyes widen in surprise. “How?”