Page 70 of Sutton's Shadow

“Jesus, Bethany, crass much? And what do you know about bumping uglies? You’re fourteen.”

Bethany rolled her eyes. “Pahleeze, you forget I lived with Ronnie.”

Wyatt’s entire body went rigid, and his expression slid into a frown. Being reminded of the life Bethany had endured affected him greatly. Before he could get lost in his dark thoughts, Sutton stepped away, remarking, “Something smells amazing.”

“The dork made lasagna.”

Sutton made her way to the kitchen, shooting Wyatt a glance over her shoulder. “What? I can cook, you know. It may not be up to Chef Layla’s standards, but it will at least be edible.” Sutton laughed. She’d heard about the Nighthawks’ chef’s lasagna but had yet to be treated to that feast.

“I’m sure it’s perfectly palatable,” she teased. And it was more than palatable. Bethany was right, Wyatt was an excellent cook. But the food quickly congealed into a ball in her stomach as he told her about the conversation he’d had with Wade. Liam’s old teammate would arrive in two days to take possession of the SD card. Sutton was thankful he’d talked Wade into meeting them so as not to leave a digital footprint if they had sent the images online.

“It’s the right thing to do, Sutton.”

“I know.” She pulled the little card from her pocket and handed it to him. As soon as it left her fingers, she’d felt a moment of panic. But then she regarded Wyatt, and the panic dissolved. He smiled and grasped her hand, which he brought to his lips, the plastic card clutched in his palm.

Bethany got up from the table and took the dirty dishes into the kitchen. Sutton rose to help, but Wyatt stopped her.

“Let’s take another look at the images and see if there are any you want to delete,” Wyatt suggested while throwing his gaze toward his sister. Sutton understood he wanted the girl distracted with the dinner cleanup while they scrutinized the images that were too horrific for a young person to witness. “We can also make some copies in case something happens to this card.”

“Okay,” Sutton uttered past the lump that had formed in her throat at the thought of seeing those horrendous pictures again.

“You’re not alone,” Wyatt affirmed, as if sensing her trepidation.Gah, this guy.He was so in tune with Sutton’s emotions. Liam had never noticed the little nuances in her feelings like Wyatt did. She hated to compare the two men, but it was the truth. With Wyatt, she felt like she could let all her emotions fly. He could take it. Liam would have fled to the beach.

Wyatt got his computer and set it on the table after pushing the empty dishes to the side. Once it booted up and they installed the SD card, Sutton took a deep breath and forced herself to skim through the images one more time.

In the end, they agreed that each and every image would be important to Condor’s Overwatch’s investigation. Wyatt explained that Liam’s former boss had technology that could pick apart the pictures until they found something that would help them locate the group responsible for the atrocities.

“Who’s that?” Bethany’s voice from behind them startled her so badly she jerked in her seat. Wyatt put a hand on her leg and squeezed to settle her nerves. They had ended the slideshow on the photo she had of the man in charge of the nasty group of murderers. Wyatt had said he was called El Sombra. The Shadow. A fitting name for the man whose soul was as dark as a shadow. He stood out among the soldiers surrounding him, Valeria beside him, facing away from the camera. Sutton was thankful there were no dead bodies in this particular image that would scar the teenager for life.

“A very bad man,” Wyatt answered.

“What did he do?” Bethany asked. Wyatt glanced to Sutton, as if asking her permission to tell. She shrugged. It was Wyatt’s choice as Bethany’s guardian as to how much to share with her.

“He’s responsible for a lot of deaths in Colombia. He’s also suspected of running a human trafficking operation out of the country.” Wyatt paused, darkness crossing his midnight eyes as he stared at the image of the man responsible for his friend’s death. She wondered if he would tell his sister the rest, but Bethany was on to her next question before he could say any more.

“Where did you get his picture?”

“I took it,” Sutton explained.

Bethany’s eyes widened and moved back to the picture. She knew exactly what she saw. Men with evil hearts carrying automatic weapons like their only intentions were to kill. The picture was chaotic. Buildings and tents burned in the background, the flames the only illumination in a night full of such darkness. You could tell they were celebrating whatever job they had just completed, and you knew instinctively that activity had been immoral.

“Does that mean you were there?”

“Yes.”

Bethany shot her an incredulous glance before her eye was drawn to the picture again. “But why? Why would you want to be there? They look like really bad men.”

“They were the worst of humanity. They attacked a small village I was visiting. I hid to take those pictures. They killed a lot of my friends. They... they killed Liam.”

Her wide eyes darted between her, Wyatt, and the computer screen, then back to Wyatt as if looking for confirmation. When Wyatt didn’t deny it, Bethany slumped onto a stool that sat at the island that separated the dining area from the kitchen.

“Holy shit.”

Sutton wanted to laugh at the girl’s uttered curse but noticed the tears building in her eyes. She stood, then knelt down in front of her. “What is it? What’s the matter?” She worried the images had triggered whatever had been bothering her and kicked herself for not protecting Bethany from seeing them.

“I miss him,” she whispered.

“Who?”

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