Ignite (Unbreakable Bonds 7)

“I know,” JB said firmly. “Chris, Paul, and I all talked regularly. He was so happy to be home with you again.”

Sally nodded, giving him a teary smile.

“Do you happen to remember the name of the company Chris was working for?” Rowe inquired.

“Sure. I have a card, too. Hold on.” She got up and went into the kitchen, coming back with the card in hand. “It’s Clayborne Security.” She handed it to JB. “Chris was really upset about this guy, but he didn’t tell me why other than he was sure he’d seen him before overseas. I wish I could help more.”

“Do you know how Chris heard about this job opening?”

She shook her head. “No clue. I just assumed he found it online. He’d applied for a few government jobs, but he was looking more for something in the private sector.”

“Did he talk about anyone else at the company? Give you the name of his boss or any other coworkers?” Noah asked.

“No, I’m sorry. The job was new and he was excited about it. Said that he’d be working with a lot of people who were ex-military, but he never gave any other names besides this Dave person. He was just sort of obsessed with him.”

“What did the police say about the accident?”

“Just that it was a hit-and-run.” Her voice hitched and she hugged herself. “Someone slammed into his SUV and left him there to die. He’d gone out for ice cream I asked for. If I hadn’t wanted that damn ice cream.” Her eyes filled with tears. “He’d been spoiling me since he got out of the service. And he was so happy to have that new job. We’d planned to start a family. But if what you think is true…” Her shoulders sagged. “I don’t know what to think.”

God, Rowe’s heart ached for her. He looked around the room, taking in the pictures of her with her husband and was taken back to the days of his own loss. That pain had been like nothing he’d felt before, and he could see that same suffering in her face. Noah reached out and took his hand, squeezing it. He threaded their fingers together and held on tight.

“I don’t know anymore,” Sally said. “Do you really think his death wasn’t an accident? What’s going on?”

“We don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.”

“Well, if you find anything out, let me know. I want to see the asshole who hit him pay.” She tightened her lips.

“We will.” Rowe stood and offered his hand. “Thanks for talking to us. And again, I’m sorry for your loss.”

She offered a tremulous smile as she stood and shook his hand.

They walked outside into the bright sunlight and Rowe fought to take a deep, cleansing breath. He didn’t mean to be rude to her suffering, but the pall of death over that house brought back too many of his own ugly memories and emotions. He couldn’t risk letting himself fall into that old, tangled knot and getting distracted when Noah’s and JB’s lives were on the line.

Standing on the sidewalk, he closed his eyes and tilted his head up to the sun, leaving its warmth soaking into him. The house had been stifling hot, but Sally’s suffering had chilled him down to the bone. Behind him, he could hear both Noah and JB checking to make sure that she didn’t need anything and that she knew how to contact them if she had problems of any kind.

With his soul warmed again, he glanced down the street and immediately noticed the same black sedan from the night before parked a few houses down, under a low-hanging tree. He slipped his sunglasses off his head and stared at the car. There were once again two people inside, but it was too shadowed to see much more. Definitely not enough light to tell if they were the same two people, but they definitely had a clear view of Sally’s house and anyone who came and went.

Once Sally shut the door behind JB, Rowe pulled out his phone and called Gidget. “You in the mood to do something sneaky like in the old days?” he asked.

“Always. Shoot,” she replied with her usual bubbly enthusiasm.

“I need you to look up Clayborne Security. Get pictures and names of all the employees.”

She made a little dismissive sound in the back of her throat. “Is that all?” They both knew Rowe had asked for far sneakier from her over the past several years.

“Take down this license plate number.” Squinting, he read off the letters and numbers from the plate affixed to the front of the sedan. “See what you can find on it and anything you can find on the company. Anything in the news—just any information you can find.”

“Got it.”

He hung up, got into Noah’s Jeep, and started it, waiting until Noah and JB were in the car before nodding toward the sedan. “Same car as last night.”