Page 109 of Second Chance Savior

He huffed. “Because you’re still breathing, Mr. Kwon.”

My captors marched me over to him. “You know my name. How about you share yours?”

“Special Agent in Charge Michael Stanford.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Charlotte

The FBI was swarming my parents’property. Agents were speaking into radios, going in and out of the buildings. Taking photos. Cordoning off the dead bodies of the attackers River and Brynn and I had neutralized.

This was not good. But compared to Stillwater trying to kidnap or kill us all?

An agent ushered me and Brynn inside my parents’ house. “Lieutenant Governor, Agent Somerton, please wait in the living room. SAC Stanford will be with you shortly.”

He spoke as if this was now FBI property, and not the home I had grown up in.

“Where’s River Kwon?” I asked. “I want to see him.Now.”

“Mr. Kwon is in custody. I’m sure SAC Stanford will be able to answer your questions. If you’ll excuse me.”

Brynn lifted her chin in acknowledgement. I paced in front of the fireplace.

Dammit, this was such a mess. And yet, it could’ve been so much worse.

River had been vastly outnumbered. Brynn and I had run for the ATV, but we’d heard the sounds of the battle ragingbehind us. It had been awful running in the opposite direction, knowing that River could’ve used our help.

Instead, he had gotten an entire phalanx of FBI agents. At least he was alive. That much, I had confirmed shortly after the FBI had charged in.

The problem was, there could be corrupt agents here even now. People working for Stillwater. That was exactly the problem, wasn’t it?

I leveled a glare at my friend. “When were you planning to tell me you’d called your FBI colleagues?” I whispered. “Was that before or after you promised we could trust you?”

“It was when you and River were talking to Jud in the garage, and I was very clearly not invited. You’re keeping things from me too. Like the list you and River mentioned? And a key to Jud’s safe deposit box?”

I shushed her, glancing around. “Keep your voice down.”

“I didn’t demand explanations from you yet, and I haven’t mentioned those little details to my boss either. But that trust has to go both ways. Yes, I made contact and let my boss know our location. I had to let them know I was bringing Jud Hale into custody. I also confirmed that River was one hundred percent not the bad guy here. SAC Stanford believes me.”

“Then why is River under arrest?”

“It’s a formality. If my backup hadn’t arrived, River would probably be dead. Like Jud is now.”

I flinched at that reminder. “Do not compare them. River is nothing like Jud.”

“You know what I mean.”

I had left any sympathetic feelings for Jud far behind. But then seeing him gunned down right in front of me…

No, I couldn’t spare any emotion for that man. In the end, River, Brynn, and I had tried to give Jud a chance to make up for what he had done. But it had been too late.

I didn’t want to think about the fact that Jud had been cuffed when he’d died. Defenseless.

And now, River was the one in cuffs.

I pulled her closer. “We don’t know who else in the government is working for Stillwater.” Exactly the reason we’d been trying to stay away from the authorities since the attack on the fundraiser had first begun. Until we had our hands on that list, we remained in the dark.

“I’m telling you, SAC Stanford isn’t one of them,” Brynn insisted.

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