Page 104 of Royal Flush

I hadn’t told Jack about the second worn little black book my father had kept but my gut told me that everyone who had been killed in this massacre was on the list. With my father dead, did that mean someone else was finishing where my father had left off?

“Fucking great,” I said under my breath. How was I supposed to tell Jasmine her father was dead? “Is Jade Sinclair alive?”

“Yeah, shaken and she was tied up and beaten but whoever was responsible left her alive. As you might imagine, she’s under police protection at this point. I doubt I’m going to get much more additional information. Besides the rules within the State Department, the FBI, CIA, I’ll guess even the president are involved; you can bet information is going to be on lockdown from here on out.”

“To be expected. If you hear anything, let me know. Including who might be behind this.”

“I’ll keep my ear to the ground. One piece of advice. I don’t know exactly what you’re in the middle of since you can’t seem to trust me but stay clear of it for now. Not only because you hold power that people will always want to crush if possible, but because there’s always a chance someone is attempting to tie up loose ends.”

“I get that. I really do.”

“I hope so. I don’t want to attend your damn funeral, buddy. It would put a huge damper on my life.”

He was still laughing even after the call was ended.

Meanwhile, I continued to stare out at the ocean as if the waves and turquoise blue water would provide some sense of answers. Or at least a decent way to tell the woman I wanted to keep her family had been ripped apart. Normally, I didn’t care about being the bearer of bad news. I often enjoyed the hell out of doing so with anyone daring to stand in my way, but this was different.

This felt personal even if I’d had the same desire to destroy the man myself. After the day before, everything had changed, including how I felt about her.

I couldn’t avoid the ugliness. Tragedies had a way of breaching every surface, no matter how hard someone tried to suppress it. I headed into the living room, still uncertain of how I was going to broach the subject.

The closer I came to the bedroom we’d shared, the more my hackles were raised. What was that noise?

After a few seconds, I threw open the door. Seeing the television turned on in the bedroom for the first time shocked the hell out of me. But witnessing the news playing over and over again, Jasmine’s shoulders slumping as she sobbed was another moment that cut through me like a sharp knife.

The broadcast was horrible, the reporter going over details that shouldn’t have been mentioned, including the names of the victims. I walked further inside, trying not to allow my anger to get the best of me.

She tensed the moment she sensed I was close, turning around seconds later to show me her tearstained face. As she opened her mouth twice in an attempt to speak, something finally broke free within me and I took two long strides forward, gathering her into my arms.

“He’s… dead,” she managed in between sobs as she clung to me.

“I heard, baby. Your mother is going to be okay.”

“How can she be okay? Her husband was just murdered.” She was going through the range of emotions, her words stilted and at times, almost unrecognizable.

“I know. I know.” All I could do was hold her at this point, trying to keep her from continuing to watch.

But I did.

It was necessary.

I would take what Jack said seriously. My gut told me whatever was going on wasn’t over.

Not by a long shot.

A formal state affair.

I hated them almost as much as I did funerals. Jasmine had insisted we return to DC, which I understood but I was still concerned even after a few days had passed. In the days since, she’d retreated back into a shell, unable to discuss or convey her feelings.

Since then, she hadn’t shed a tear either.

I’d given her space while striving to continue protecting her, the news on what had occurred no more helpful than it had been the day after the shooting.

Jack and his team as well as Valerio were in the SUV located behind the motorcade. Justin Sinclair’s body had finally been released, allowing his coffin to return to his home country for burial.

Jasmine had opted to stay with her mother, allowing us only fleeting time to spend together. While I didn’t like it, what the hell was I supposed to say? She was allowed to grieve and care for her shattered mother.

At least Jade’s physical injuries would heal quickly enough, but the emotional scars were something else altogether. The once vibrant woman was merely a shell of herself.

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