Page 8 of Soldier, Tailor, Spy

“The house is yours,” Jake whispered. “You could have forced the issue.” He didn’t understand how or why Ginger wouldn’t prod, especially since she hated when Jake wouldn’t tell her what mission he was going on or why. Surely she would have wanted someone who’d be honest with her and include her in on their lives.

“I guess I was so busy at work, I didn’t think twice about it. I keep the door locked in my studio too, but that’s because of how expensive the material is and the fact the kids can be a handful sometimes. If Oscar asked to see a suit, though, I let him in. I hid nothing from him.” Jake believed her. Ginger was honest to a fault, which made the situation worse for her because she never received the same courtesy.

Thomas pressed the green button on the charred box. It might not work because of the damage from the fire. However, if there was anything in there, they needed to retrieve it. The agent glanced over his shoulder at Ginger. “Do you think you know the combination of the box?”

Ginger furrowed her brow. “Maybe. I can only think of three combinations. It’s either our anniversary, Declan’s birthday, or my birthday—though I don’t think it’s mine. It could very well be Oscar’s.” She gave the combo for each one and they waited impatiently to see if the box would open.

When it did after Thomas used Ginger and Oscar’s wedding anniversary, he opened the door and pulled out a small USB thumb drive. “Interesting. This is the only thing inside of the box.”

“I’m so confused,” Ginger muttered.

So was Jake.

“I’ll start working on it,” AJ said. “I’m sure he’s encrypted it. If so, I have the patience and technology to crack the encryption and figure out what Oscar was saving to the stick. It could be a master file for the cases Thomas and Oscar were investigating.”

Thomas frowned. “The last major case we were working on was the real estate development case out at the cove. Because of the testimony and tracing more evidence from other incidences Salvador was involved in, we weren’t finished yet. Plus, Cruz has a copy of the hard file too.”

Jake stared at them as if they were speaking in code. He hated being out of the loop. Hated being behind his team even more. Since he’d been gone, the few instances he’d heard about R.O.O.T.’s missions had been brief. Most of the news stories glossed over the hard facts because of them being classified. The real estate developer case was the newest venture for the team. Obviously, it was larger than what he knew and probably went deeper as well. Speaking of which. “Ginger has a request, Asher. She’d like to sit in on the interrogation.”

“Absolutely not,” Asher replied without hesitation. “That’s not something I can give civilians permission to witness.”

“Bullshit!” Ginger yelled. “Whoever they are killed my husband. Almost killed my ex-husband and held my children and myself at gun point while they burned down my house. They took away my security. They took away my home. I havenothinganymore, and you’re going to tell me I can’t at leastseemy tormenter? Fuck you, Asher!”

Asher stood there, arms folded, his eyes narrowed on Ginger as she tore him a new ass. Jake loved that spitfire attitude of hers. When she turned that inferno of anger on him, the sex was amazing.Stop thinking with your dick, asshole. She’s not yours anymore, remember.There was no way he couldn’t not remember.

“Let’s compromise,” Jake said, breaking their staring competition—Ginger would have won, anyway. “Please allow Ginger to at least see the people who attacked her family. She has the right to know who they are. Later, after the interrogation, she can hear the bits and pieces we can tell her without the classified information.”

“I agree to the terms,” Thomas said. “Right now, our only clue to what Oscar was doing lies with Ginger. She might know the suspects in the holding cells. If so, we might understand what happened better.”

Asher sighed. “Sometimes I wonder why I’m still the commander of this outfit. None of you listen to me anymore.”

“Because you have more patience than any of us old assholes,” Jake said with a grin, trying to lighten the situation.

“Fuck off,” Asher grumbled. “Don’t butter me up now.”

“I’m just telling the truth.”

Asher flipped Jake off as he exhaled again. “Fine. When Rae gives you the go-ahead to get out of that bed, we’ll make the interrogation happen. Until then, AJ, you have your assignment. Remember to dot your i's and cross your t's. We don’t want anything to happen once we dig into Oscar’s life.”

“Roger that,” she said, hurrying to the door. “First, I’m going to shower. I smell like a chimney.”

“I should do the same,” Thomas added. “Ginger, I’m truly sorry. I wish I could help you understand this complicated situation better than how we’re fumbling through it now.”

She waved Thomas off. “We’re in the thick of it now. All we can do is keep going forward and hope to hell we get the answers we’re looking for.”

Jake agreed. However, he had a sinking suspicious what they might find could turn their world on its head and not in a good way either.

Chapter 2

Ginger sat on the couch in the family apartment they’d been assigned, nursing Declan while keeping an eye out on her older daughter, who was off playing on a brand-new tablet—since hers had been burned to a crisp in the fire. Ironically, Ginger had always wanted to live in one of these rooms when she had been married to Jake. It never happened, and now she just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Of course, she couldn’t, because a man she thought she could trust had brought danger to her front door. Literally. Now she needed to protect her children. Something Oscar, who swore to love, honor, and protect her, should’ve been doing all long, but hadn’t.

Declan fisted her breast. She winced in pain, pulling her from her thoughts. She glanced down at his sweet face and was surprised when he stopped suckling to give her a milky grin. No doubt Declan was sensing all her crazy, fucked up emotions and tried to ease his mom’s worry.

Obviously, she knew she should mourn her husband. Deal with her grief. Truth was, she hated Oscar. He’d brought danger mixed with the unknown into her life, and she needed to step forward and do the job he was supposed to do. Protect her and the children. Everything she knew about him was wrong. In her opinion, Oscar was a little coward bitch.

Fawn, thankfully, removed her hearing aids for the night, and Declan was too young to understand Oscar’s terrified ramblings. But Ginger heard him clear as day that night. Her life changed again—not for the better. Oscar, the bastard, tried to save his miserable soul by offering his family as collateral. Who did that type of shit? The question was rhetorical, of course.

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