Page 46 of Second Chance Savior

River nodded. His expression had turned sardonic. If he made another quip about my questionable choice of boyfriends…

But amazingly, he didn’t crack a joke.

“When Jud was a state legislator, he had the power to pull strings for Stillwater,” River said. “He also got extremely interested in a murder investigation Owen was doing, an investigation that led directly to Stillwater.”

“Wait, which murder?”

“I told you this is a long story.”

River kept filling me in on the twisted tale. But as I listened, I tried to make sense of his suspicions of Jud.

I had issues with my ex. There was no question about that. He’d done some things that raised red flags for me. But this? Taking money from a criminal organization like Stillwater? Was it possible Jud could have gotten mixed up with them without realizing who they really were?

But he would’ve known he was taking bribes in secret. And I wasn’t ready to believe that of him. I hadn’t been in love with the man, but he’d been an important part of my life for years when we were both legislators.

No, I couldn’t believe it.

But there was something I needed to tell River. He was sharing everything I wanted to know, so I shouldn’t keep back any detail from him. Not if it could possibly be relevant.

I held up my hand, interrupting him. “On my way to the fundraiser, Jud tried to call me. It was the first time I’ve heard from him in months. Then during the event, he called and texted several more times. I really don’t think he could be working for Stillwater, but I don’t know how to explain that timing either.”

River frowned, gaze sharpening. He opened his laptop. “You didn’t look at his messages? You don’t know what they said?”

I shook my head. “But they must still be on my phone. Same with the voicemail he left. My phone automatically downloads voice messages.” I went to dig my personal cell out of the bag it was in, but River stopped me.

“We can’t turn it on. Not yet.”

“But you told me to put it in airplane mode. It won’t connect with any cell towers, right?”

“I don’t want to take the risk. Not until I’ve confirmed there are no other trackers present. In the meantime, I needto let Cerberus know. Make sure he’s not taking his eye off of Jud’s movements and communications.”

“Could Jud have known about the threat against me? Do you think he was trying to warn me?”

“That’s a possibility.”

I pushed aside the other half of the protein bar. My stomach was no longer cooperating. “This is a mess.”

Everything,everything, about my life had exploded in the last several hours.

“It’s a lot,” River said. “But we’re in a better position than we were a day ago.”

“How do you figure that?”

I was running from people who wanted to kidnap me, hurt me in unknown ways for reasons I didn’t understand. And I couldn’t trust anyone completely except for the man sitting next to me.

A man I had far too much history with.

“Before now, we had no idea when the strike would come,” he said. “We were just reacting to the new information as it appeared.”

“And I wasn’t reacting well,” I admitted.

“Can’t really blame you. Sometimes the wait is worse than the actual battle. Now, the attack is behind you.”

“Thefirstattack, you mean.”

His smile was grim. “I wish I could promise you the hardest part was over, but you told me not to coddle you. At least you’re not out in the open anymore.”

“So what’s our next move? You said we’re just staying here for the night.”

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