Guarding Forever

He paced the office several times before he stopped and leaned on his desk. “Missing?” he asked into the speakerphone on his desk.

An audible sigh came from Dax. Nothing he could say would make his friend relax, but he had to tell him. “Yes. Apparently, someone hacked the system and wiped them away. I’ve already met with the specialist and they said all the files were irretrievable.”

“I thought other copies were made.” Gage knew the standard practice included several copies to be stored to prevent loss since it was critical evidence. Without it, it was Hope’s word against Baxter’s.

“Yes we had a set of hard copies on CD, but they’ve disappeared. The station suffered a small fire, and during the process of putting it out, they were stolen. At least that’s what I believe.”

“Do you know who the prosecutor is on the case?”

“DA Rivers and ADA Jones out of the San Antonio field office.”

“Who was the judge?”

“Rivera.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“What? Why?”

“I ran into him while I was out to dinner with Hope, and he managed to piss me off by implying that I’d been whoring around before I met Hope. She pretended not to be bothered by that shit, but she tensed when he first said it.”

“Do you think?”

“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past these assholes. At this point, I know there’s at least a handful of corrupt motherfuckers. It took at least more than one person to pull off the fire and the theft at the same time.”

“Yeah, I’m looking into it, but this other case I’m on has me running around like an asshole. I’m betting someone involved dropped this one on me intentionally. I almost forgot to tell you. I have a nurse at the hospital who would swear that Cummings’s injuries didn’t come from a beating unless it was from a massive bovine.”

“What?” Gage busted out a legal pad and started jotting down everything Dax told him along with what he already knew. Being a prosecutor had taught him to learn to ask the right questions. The key to bringing him down was out there. They just had to find it.

Dax had pulled the nurse aside and interviewed her when the doctor wasn’t around because no one could be trusted in this. His close friend and wife were in danger, and hell if he would stand by and do nothing. “Yeah, she saw a hoof impression on his shirt before it was torn off him. As a trauma nurse, she’s seen many of these over here. You know how dangerous these bastards are.”

“Fuck, he was the one trying to get on my property, I bet.” Gage had already watched hours of footage to get a better view of that morning, but there wasn’t anything damning on any of the cameras.

“I’m betting he was hoping to pin it on Perkins, who had an alibi.”

“That’s what I’m thinking as well. Do you think we can get her to testify to other charges?”

“I mentioned it to the prosecutors, and they said without proof they couldn’t go on one nurse’s opinion.”

“What about the doctor?” If the nurse noticed, the doctor and anyone else working on him would have too. They lived in cattle country where animal accidents occurred on a regular basis.

“Nope. He claims to have seen shit. He works at the same office that your wife ran from.”

“Shit. Did he get lucky, or did they call that bastard in to take care of him?”

“Good question. I’ll be on that. Damn, it sucks that you’re retired.”

“I bet Cummings and whoever he’s working with is banking on that shit.”

Chapter 9

Another month passed quickly as Hope’s stomach swelled with their second child. The threat had come and seemed to have disappeared. She knew that she couldn’t live in fear for the rest of her days, so she had to talk to Gage. Searching the house, she spotted him in the playroom with Johnathan. For a minute, she just stood there and watched her men. Everything appeared perfectly serene until Gage shifted his gaze to her.

“Hey, baby. What’s going on?”

“Gage, can we talk?” His face changed. It was like a dark cloud had loomed over him.

“Hope, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.” He stood up and closed the distance. Cupping her chin, he raised her gaze to his. “Tell me.”

“I’m nervous about going out.” He pulled her into his arms, securing her tightly while he kissed her neck. The tension started to leave her body, and then he released her just enough to stare into her eyes. He loved her to the point of distraction, and he hated what the email and the whole bull fiasco had done to her. She’d lost that sparkle of adventure she had from the moment he met her.

“I know, but we have to see the doctor and get the scan done.”