Page 74 of Avenging Kelly

Just then, a faint cry made itself known as the lights flickered, signaling the opening of the back door. “Aw, sweetie, it’s okay. We’ll get you to your mommy,” Dominic cooed as he tried to comfort Daisy.

Without finishing our discussion, we both rushed out of the gym and there, in Dominic’s arms, was a beautiful little angel with short brown ringlets and the biggest, bluest eyes in the world. “Hello, sweet Daisy,” I whispered as Kelly took her into his arms and closed his eyes, kissing her little temple as he held her close, clearly thankful to have her back.

“I talked to Mateo. Mia and Amy are at his house waiting for word on Daisy. Do you want us to take you?” Dominic offered.

“Can you take her to Mateo’s? We’ve got two things left to do,” Kelly asked as he patted the little girl on the back.

“What do we—”

Kelly glanced at Ritchfield on the bed, and I knew what he meant. Yeah, that business was unfinished, and we weren’t leaving anything to chance.

“Sure. We’ll be very careful with her, I swear,” Dom promised. Austin nodded as the two of them left out the back door with Daisy.

Casper and Maxi came downstairs, and I had to do a double take. Maxi was dressed in a girl’s prep school uniform, and he looked damn cute, but I really had to ask what the fuck was going on. “Was there a costume party while I was gone?”

The hacker chuckled. “Well, we do like a little role play at home, but my genius husband was happy to play the part of LaDonna Ritchfield to get that… that one to tell us what we needed to know to stop this shit.” He pointed to Ritchfield on the gurney.

Maxi, who was really one of my favorite people, did a deep bow before he walked over to Kelly. “I’m Maxim Partee. It’s truly a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard lots about you from Mathis. I’m so glad we got your niece back.”

He shook Kelly’s hand before he stepped back and grinned at me. “Hello, handsome.” With that, he gave me a big hug, which I appreciated.

These men right here were my family. We looked out for each other, and while we teased and taunted, if shit was going down, we would all be there to help the one in need. Of that, I was immensely proud and grateful.

* * *

“Seriously? We’re taking her chair and all?” I asked as Duke and Ace loaded Dr. Frances Ritchfield into the back of an SUV to take her to the FBI building in Manhattan with the video Kelly had made and the signed confession, both fastened to her blouse. They’d scoured the chair to make sure there were no fingerprints or touch DNA on it anywhere, and then we’d tied Frances to it.

“Yep. We’ll drop her out in front of the door, ring the bell, and then skedaddle. You got the package to drop off for the Times?” Ace asked.

At my suggestion, we’d had Casper make a copy of the video and the handwritten confession with Frances’ signature at the bottom to drop off in Midtown about a block from Times Square at the city’s premier news source with a “P.S.” that Dr. Frances Ritchfield was currently in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Investigation if they had questions.

It wasn’t so much we thought the FBI might try to hide the clusterfuck, but it involved the Army, and we all knew how that shit could disappear—which was also how I could convince Kelly not to put a bullet in her brain.

It would have been my instinct if someone had caused the same harm to my family that had been caused to Kelly’s, but with Ritchfield in custody and New York’s news source holding the same evidence as the FBI, it was the best course of action to let things play out as they may and keep our names and noses out of it. Maybe for once, justice would actually see the light of day without my Kelly committing mass murder.

“Yep. Somebody will find her. It’s not like she gave a shit about me when I was working with Operation Jackpot. Maybe someone will insist on sorting this out and making sure it never happens again. I’ve given it too much of my life as it is,” Kelly insisted. I definitely agreed.

After we dropped her off and hit the button outside the FBI Building at Federal Plaza—both of us wearing stocking caps and gloves to hide our identities—we took the drive to Times Square and paid a homeless guy a hundred bucks to deliver an envelope to the security desk addressed to those in charge of reporting on the Pentagon. The building wouldn’t have had a codename like “Las Vegas” if someone inside it wasn’t involved.

Kelly had two days’ worth of Poker Chips at the apartment, and by the end, I wanted him to be somewhere that they could help him with the hell he was about to endure going through the withdrawals from that cocktail of doom and all the counseling I was sure he’d need to put the mess behind him. Weighing on my mind was Casper’s comment about Kelly as a sober man, and I was dreading the idea that he might not love me once he was drug free, but we’d cross that bridge when we got to it.

“What about Trudeau?” Kelly asked as Duke drove us to Red Hook.

Ace turned around and grinned. “Worry about him later, man. Get yourself squared and come back. We can use a guy like you. The Met Gala comes up in the spring.”

I laughed so hard at that. Especially when I looked into the rearview to see Duke scowling at his partner. The big guy didn’t like wearing the penguin suit when he’d handled the security detail for the event and swore he’d never go again. We teased him about it for months, but none so much as Ace. They had a lot of inside jokes about what happened after they got home that night. I didn’t want to know.

I was happy to hear the invitation to join the ranks of GEA-A, but I had the feeling it would be a while before Kelly or I could ever show ourselves in New York again. I just had to find us a safe place for Kelly to recover and Mia, Amy, and Daisy to live without fear for their safety. That wasn’t too much to ask of the universe, was it?

29

KELLY

We arrived at London’s apartment, and the two of us hopped out after thanking Ace and Duke for their help. It had been quite a few weeks, and when I thought back on them, I couldn’t have imagined things would have ever turned out the way they had. I damn well didn’t see London St. Michael coming my way.

The cute Labrador puppy that Ricci had been carrying for Dylan and Searcy was squirming in Ace’s lap when we were saying our goodbyes. “Whatcha gonna do with that?” London asked.

Duke chuckled. “Well, Corby wanted a puppy for Christmas, but we just weren’t in a place to get one because we’re still in Gabby’s apartment building. We’re moving into a brownstone in a few weeks and it has a backyard. We’re gonna surprise Corby with the dog. Stay in touch, guys. Be safe, and if you need us, we’re just a phone call away.”

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