Page 29 of His Reluctant Savior

“I… I know. I just…”

“You’re angry because this shit ruined your life, and that she had to die. I get it. Let’s figure this out first before we jump on the murder bandwagon.”

I huffed, unsure of why I was getting mad. I understood enough that Sid was trying to protect me, even from myself. Still…

“You’re a killer. Who the fuck cares what I think about Rush dying?”

He gave me a hard stare that shut me up. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Sid pressed play so we could watch the cover-up unfold.

Speaker Rush opened the door and called out to his men, who quickly came in, checking on the girl’s pulse and vitals, but they shook their heads.

“Goddammit! She wasn’t supposed to die! Fix it!”

Soon, his advisor came in, scanned the area, and talked to Rush, taking notes. He was thin, shorter than Rush, with thick dark, neatly cropped, blond hair. “I’ll take care of everything.”

“Just don’t tell me the details.”

The younger man nodded and walked out while his goons carried Ruby out of the room.

Soon, the camera went static, and Sid looked at me. “I’m assuming the person who sent you this removed the evidence before the advisor absconded with it?”

I shook my head. “They would’ve been caught, right? I mean, they would’ve hunted down whoever removed the evidence.”

Sid shook his head. “Not if it’s digital. They could’ve simply made a copy.”

“True, but would they have had time? Unless they were watching the entire time while recording.”

“Frame job?” he asked me.

“No idea, but I don’t think so. Besides, how would they know the girl would die?”

“Maybe they were just trying to nail him for sex trafficking, and that shit show fell into their lap.”

“Perhaps.”

For the next hour, Sid read through all my evidence of all those involved, from those who were bribed and paid off to whoever helped cover it up. However, we still didn’t have any names, only aliases.

“Did you know Jonathan Rush and Wesley Mardsen, Deputy Chief and Director, are close friends over at the DOJ? I keep tabs on all the higher-ups in our government.”

I leaned forward, placed my face in my hands, and nodded. “I did, and thought… ‘Gee, wouldn’t he like to know his good friend is a criminal and murderer?’ Yeah, that went over well.”

Sid patted my back and chuckled before gently gripping my shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up. You always see the good in people, even the bad ones. I know this from experience.”

“I’m not naïve, Sid. I don’t see the good in everyone, but this is literally Mardsen’s fucking job!”

“Can I send this to my guy? He’ll be able to dig even deeper than you. Once we have a clear picture of who’s all involved, we can then make plans on how we want to proceed.”

I jumped up and shook my head. “No! This needs to be done by the book. I want to see that prick, Rush, behind bars. If you get some hacker on this, we won’t be able to use the evidence. The lawyers will claim the evidence had been tampered with.”

Sid stood with me and frowned. “How do you think this is going to play out, Dalt? They have enough money to grease important hands. They have friends in very high places. No doubt if Rush is buddy-buddy with Mardsen, then he’s got friends inother judiciary branches. Sure, maybe he’ll be thoroughly investigated, but he’s a wealthy man and has the backing of other wealthy men and politicians. I’ve been doing this job long enough to know that Rush will get off scot-free. Then you’ll be devastated when nothing happens. But that’s not the worst of it. They’ll make you the scapegoat, and they’ll make you pay. They will ruin you and your son—if they don’t kill you first. These people are already hunting you, so you know what they’re capable of and willing to do to protect their interests.”

I suddenly felt cold, knowing Sid was right, but we had to do something. I wanted Rush to pay.

Sid gently pinched my chin, making me look at him. Why did I let him? “You just told me not a couple of minutes ago you wanted me to take Rush out. Make up your mind, Boy Scout. Now, Icouldtake him out, but sometimes, there are worse things than death. Before I make any decisions, I want every single detail, or as much as I can get. That means I need to send everything to my guy. Can we agree on at least that much?”

I nodded and licked my lips. Sid’s sight pinged straight to my mouth before looking back into my eyes. He moved his face closer, and for a second, I assumed he planned to kiss me again, but he let go of my chin and backed off.

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