Page 13 of My Temptation

“Brody called me. Do you have the pizza?”

“Just got it. I checked the building and her apartment, but nothing seemed out of place.”

“I’m on my way to Ramino’s now. See you in five.”

He disconnected, and I jumped in my car, but my conversation with Nick, not even an hour ago, echoed through my mind. I guess he’d been right, and Beth was still a target. I saw Cam and Nick outside Ramino’s when I pulled alongside the curb. After giving them the pizza, they relayed their plan, and Cam told me to go to the hospital, saying they would take it from there. I was back in my car and heading to the hospital in minutes. I pulled into the Emergency Department, parked, and headed for the automatic doors.

The doors opened, and I rushed through, my eyes immediately landing on Brody and Striker.

I could tell Striker was pissed before he even opened his mouth, but I knew he would be. “Where the fuck is the shit I sent you for? I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you.”

“Brother,” Brody began, but I held up my hand. I didn’t need Brody to defend me.

“I called Cam and Nick, who met me and took the pizza. Nick and I know the same people, and he called in a few favors to get the forensics back on the pizza ASAP. I also called Raminos, and they said the delivery kid was still making deliveries tonight. Cam told me he had called their brother Luke, who, you know, is a detective with the police, and he had headed to the pizza place. He’s camped out at Raminos right now, waiting for the kid to return so he can take him to the station.”

“I told you I wanted him,” Striker growled.

I knew he was scared. He wasn’t even trying to hide how much the thought of losing Beth affected him, but he needed to realize I was on his side.

I leaned forward and lowered my voice. “If you think for one minute that any of your team will let you make impulsive decisions that could affect not only your freedom but also your life, then maybe you’ve forgotten who’s on your team.”

He stared at me for a few seconds, and it almost seemed like he respected what I said, but I had a hard time reading him. Striker had been a SEAL with Brody for ten years. He was practiced in keeping information and emotions to himself, so I had no way of knowing for sure if I’d done the right thing, but my gut told me I had.

When he finally nodded, I continued, “I also did a sweep of the building, didn’t see anything or anyone out of the ordinary, and calmed down the people in the lobby who were scared when they watched you carry Beth out. I told them she’d gotten very ill and you were taking her to the hospital. Don’t be an ass if they stop you to ask how she is.” I grinned, remembering the movie The Shawshank Redemption playing on Beth’s television. “By the way, I like your choice of movies.”

“It was Beth’s pick.”

“She has good taste.”

Striker shifted his attention from me to Brody. “We need to move on Skinner.”

Brody put his hands on his hips, but Jax responded this time. “Can’t.” He held up his hand, signaling for Striker to hear him out when it looked like he was going to argue. “I’ll sit down with Cam, who I think has the lead on this case over Luke, after we get an update on Beth.”

“I said we need to move,” Striker growled, “not the cops.”

“Not gonna do that, brother,” Brody said. “We don’t know Skinner was behind it. We need more information.”

“No chance this was a coincidence. She was safe with no incidence until Max Skinner was released.”

Jax crossed his arms over his chest. “We know that all signs point to him, but we have to play this shit right. We can’t put the company at risk with the cops and the FBI keeping an eye on him.”

Striker’s eyes narrowed. “This is about the fucking company?”

When it looked like Jax and Striker would come to blows, Brody jumped in. “The company employs a lot of men. Men who wouldn’t fit in damn near anywhere else. We can’t sacrifice their jobs. But you have my word. This will not go unpunished. We just have to be smart.”

“Family for Elizabeth Sullivan.”

Striker turned to face the doctor when Beth’s name was called and took a few steps away from us. When he addressed Striker as her fiancé, I grinned. No doubt Kyle did that in the system so we could get the information we needed. Taking a step forward, I didn’t even try to pretend I wasn't listening as the doctor confirmed she had been poisoned with arsenic but would be fine. When I heard that, I let out the breath I’d been holding.

“Christ,” Kyle spoke after the doctor walked away. “I didn’t want to believe it was true.”

“It’s an odd choice.” I shook my head, remembering what I’d learned about arsenic poisoning. “It doesn’t have a predictable ending. Unless he wanted to scare her but not kill her.”

“He was sending a message.” Jax crossed his arms over his chest.

“To her or us?” Kyle asked.

He considered that for a moment. “Both, if I had to guess. He told us without saying a fucking word that he can get past her protection. But something tells me he didn’t want to kill her.”

---