Page 60 of Fast Justice

What had gone down back at that safehouse would make a seasoned federal agent’s blood curdle, but for someone like Oceane? Who had until recently been completely sheltered from the cold reality of the outside world? Come on. She was fucking devastated and barely coping.

The SAIC kept glancing at his watch, practically counting down the seconds as they waited. At the five-minute mark, he spoke. “You want to go in there and get her, or should I?”

“I’ll go,” Gabe muttered, getting to his feet. At least he was a familiar face to her. Maybe she didn’t like or trust him, but better than a stranger right now. God, this day sucked.

The outer room was an office for the medical examiner and the pathologists working for her. She was at her desk working on her computer when Gabe walked in. “I need to escort Miss Nieto out now,” he said.

“Of course. Just through there,” she said, indicating a locked door with a keycode box beside it. She led the way, covered the keycode with one hand so he couldn’t see as she entered the combination, twisted the knob and stepped back. “Go ahead,” she whispered. “I’ll give you some privacy. She was pretty upset.”

Yeah, well, no shit. “Thank you.”

A wave of cold air surrounded him as he stepped into the refrigerated room. Oceane sat with her back to him on a stool beside the table where her mother’s body had been placed, on her back with a sheet pulled up to her neck. She was holding her mother’s hand, Anya’s medium-brown skin a few shades paler in death, nearly the same now as Oceane’s.

Hating to interrupt such a private thing but having no choice, Gabe quietly closed the distance and stopped a couple of feet behind her. Anya’s face was calm in death, beautiful. The sick fuckers who had attacked her had left her face alone, and the sheet hid all the wounds. At least Oceane hadn’t had to sit here looking at them.

After carefully choosing his words, he opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it. “If we hadn’t been caught in traffic on the way back, I might have gotten there in time to save her.” Her accented voice was so quiet, heartbroken.

Christ, he didn’t know what to say to that, stood there awkwardly, trying to pick his moment to deliver the news.

“She was my best friend. And I trusted Arturo.”

“I’m so sorry,” was all he could manage. His heart went out to her. No one should see what she had today. He thought of his own mother who had raised him as a single parent, tried to imagine what he would feel like if he’d had to watch happen to her what Oceane had today. He’d be in pieces.

Oceane twisted the stool around to face him. Her eyes were a pretty blue-gray, like the lake back home in Bend, Oregon. Her chocolate curls were looser than her mother’s. And the utter devastation in her face was so raw it sliced at his insides. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”

The shock of loss was something that never got easier. Not ever. So there was nothing he could do or say to make this part any easier.

“She’s always been there for me,” she continued in that same empty tone. “Even through all of this, even though I was angry with her and felt betrayed by her hiding the truth from me my whole life… I loved her more than anything. I thought we could build a new life together. I thought…I thought we’d have more time together.” She pressed her lips together, sucked in a ragged breath.

“You should have had more time together,” he said quietly, bringing her gaze up to his. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

She stared up at him for a long moment, then nodded. “Thank you.” Shifting, she glanced down at the hand curled around her mother’s, then back up at him. “I guess you’re here to say I have to leave?”

He nodded. “The special agent in charge needs to speak to you. He’s outside.”

The distress on her face made him feel like dog shit on the bottom of someone’s shoe. “I don’t…don’t know if I can leave her like this, I…”

Gabe reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. Even through the top she wore, he could feel how chilled her skin was. She shuddered, inhaled shakily.

“You’re freezing. Come out into the hall and talk to the agent. You can come back and see her later if you want.” He’d drive her here personally if he had to. This whole thing was bullshit.

Torment in her eyes, she turned to face her mother once more. Stared down into her still face for endless seconds. “Vaya con Dios, Mami. Te amo,” she choked out, then bent to kiss her mother’s cold, pale forehead, released her hand and stood. “Hurry,” she begged him, reaching for his hand as she took a step away from the table. “Before I lose my nerve.”

She looked so lost and alone that Gabe couldn’t help but wrap an arm around her shoulders and tug her close to his side as he hustled her to the door. God, she was a tiny little thing, the top of her head barely reaching his chin, her slender shoulders much too frail to bear this kind of burden. When she leaned into him, seeking either warmth or simple human comfort, even his battle-hardened heart squeezed in sympathy.

Out in the hall, the SAIC met them. “I have news on the investigation,” he told Oceane, who hadn’t moved away from Gabe. He stood there awkwardly with his arm around her, half supporting her, half protecting her. “Forensics shows that your former bodyguard killed one of the attackers.”

Oh, hell.

She sucked in a breath and went rigid. “What do you mean?”

“Right now we think that he arrived after the attack commenced. He likely engaged and killed one of the attackers.”

“He was…” She swallowed and continued, a quaver in her voice, and Gabe tightened his hold on her, a little afraid she might collapse again like she had back at the house. “He was trying to save my mother?”

“We can’t speak to his motivation, but the initial forensics support the theory that he shot the attacker found in the bedroom.”

“No.” She pushed away from Gabe, shaking her head, a hand over her mouth.

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