Page 87 of Rescued Duty

Naya turned the music volume down.You’ve given me a second chance at family, Lord. How can I stand by and not defend them? Not fight for them?

Wasn’t that what families did? They fought for each other. Protected one another. Jesus had done that for her on the cross. He’d made a way to bring her into His forever family by laying down His life.Thatwas love.

By the time Naya pulled into a parking spot at the Tribune, she’d made her decision.

She took the elevator to the third floor and knocked on Tucker’s cubicle. “Can we talk?”

Tucker motioned her inside, and she took a seat across from his desk. She’d only been to his space a handful of times. When they’d been dating, she’d insisted they keep things professional around the other employees, which meant visits to each other in their offices had been few and far between.

The early morning sun streamed through the window and revealed a meticulous area devoid of any dust or stray belongings. Yet it still felt stuffy without any personal touches to adorn the mahogany wood desk and filing cabinet.

“What do you have on the water contamination story?”

Tucker leaned forward in his chair and raised his brow. “You want me to divulge information to get you closer to reaching your goal of landing the promotion?” He laughed. “We have five more days. No way am I doing that.”

“This story has already put my life in jeopardy enough times. Yesterday a man was killed.” She’d lain awake remembering Will lying on his kitchen floor. “This is bigger than a promotion.”

“I already told you I wasn’t responsible for any of the attacks. Although…” He squirmed in his chair.

She’d been around the man long enough to pick up on his tics and when he wasn’t being completely honest. “What do you know?”

“The note someone put on your car…” Tucker paused. “I didn’t write it, but I can tell you who did.”

Naya wanted to jump up and say it had been him. Instead, she gripped the chair handles. “And you kept this a secret because…”

“I was planning to tell you I saw it, but the woman acted sketchy when she slid the note under your windshield wiper. Like she wasn’t supposed to be there.”

Clearly not, when the note was a direct threat.

But if Tucker hadn’t written the note, then Will would have been her next guess. Not a woman. Given the likelihood of him being behind two of the other attacks, she’d made all kinds of assumptions. If it was a woman, that meant more than one person might be involved in the illegal activities.

“Yeah. After hearing about the other series of, uh, events, I thought coming clean would put a target on my back too.”

Not only had Tucker kept quiet, he’d done so to save face. The confession stung. How could he have been so selfish? Clearly, he didn’t have her best interests at heart. He was in it for the job.

You’ve got a guy who cares about you. Don’t throw it away.

Ingram’s comment earlier resonated. Zack’s disagreement with continuing to write the story had been a hard pill to swallow. Although, now she understood the difference between the two men.

It didn’t bother Tucker whether her well-being was at stake. He’d signed on to do a job, and he was going to finish it one way or another. And if she got hurt, it wasn’t his problem.

Instead, Zack was willing to risk stepping into the crosshairs alone to keep her safe. Not because he didn’t think she was competent—rather, he cared enough to have her back.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” Tucker cocked his head.

She hadn’t realized she’d spoken the gratitude out loud. “Nothing.” She waved her hand.

He’d helped her see what she needed in a friend and a potential significant other. The qualities she’d overlooked before were actually the greatest assets.

She needed to talk with Zack. But first Naya had to finish what she’d come in here for. “Do you know the person’s name?”

“No. I never talked with her. Only observed from a distance. But she had short blonde hair.” Tucker held up his hands to his ears.

Naya grabbed her phone from her pocket and swiped through pictures until she came to the one she’d been tagged in. “Is this her?” She held up the image of Sylvia.

“Right there. Front and center. That’s her all right.”

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