Page 105 of When He Defends
Two days.Two dayshad passed since she’d watched Gray fall beneath the pounding hooves of horses. Two days since he’d fired his gun to save her. Two days since she’d told him that she loved him.
Two days of chaos. Of case work. Investigations. Getting transported back to Atlanta. Two days of not being alone with him. Of aching to just throw her arms around Gray and make certain he was safe. Alive. To be certain that they’d made it out and everything would be fine.
But things weren’t fine, not yet.
“Cass wanted revenge.” His gaze never left hers. “What do you want, Emerson? What do you want me to do for you?”
“I want to find out what really happened. When I was seventeen. Now. I want to find out what happened to my father when I was a kid.” So many secrets. Way too much pain in her life. “And I want to bury that part of my life. I want it deep in the ground.”
“You want me to kill for you.” A nod. “Done.”
“Wait, no!” She grabbed his shoulders. He’d way misunderstood. “No. No, I want the answers. I wantproof.I need proof because I have to know that—” Emerson caught herself. Held the words back. But, thought…screw it.“I have to know that I’m not crazy. That I’m not slipping away in the darkness the same way that my father did.”
His features softened. He bent his head, and his lips brushed over hers. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry but…”
Why was he sorry?
“I don’t think he ever went into the darkness at all.”
Her brow furrowed. “Gray?” A fist seemed to squeeze her heart.
“But I’ll get you the truth.” Another soft kiss. “I’ll get you any damn thing that you want in this world. Always. Know it. Believe it. Believeme.”
“We shouldn’t be meeting,”Rylan Tate groused, as he glanced over his shoulder toward the busy road near the entrance of O’Sullivan’s. He was huddled on the side street. The same street where a perp with a knife had once nearly attacked Emerson and Gray. “This is bullshit, and there is zero need for us to interact like this. You owe me money, but you could have sent it to me via an app like everyone else does, dumbass.”
Nathaniel Hadaway stepped from the shadows. The sun had already set. Darkness slithered from the corners of the nearby buildings. “I need more information.”
“I have nothing else to give you! Look, I know you said that if you took Emerson’s place, I’d be the agent featured most in your new book, but I can’t help you any longer.” Rylan made a slashing motion with his right hand. “Can’t. Won’t. This shit ends now. I’m done with the sneaking around and the reporting, and I don’t even care if the senator is involved or not. Gray Stone fucking scares me, and if he finds out that I’ve been feeding you information?—”
“Spoiler alert, he’s found out,”Gray announced as he pushed away from the brick wall. He’d been there the whole time. Watching. Waiting. He’d arrived before Rylan. Before Nathaniel.
It had been easy to hide in the dark.
At his words, both men spun toward him.
“Oh, hell.” Rylan’s shoulders slumped. “I’m about to be demoted so hard.”
“You’re about to be in a world of pain.” Gray smiled at him. He walked forward, his suit coat covering the gun he had holstered beneath his arm. “You sold me out because you thought you’d be the hero in his book? Seriously? That’s why you did it? For five minutes of fame?”
“All I did was tell him a few details about what you and Emerson were investigating. Senator Marlowe asked me to do it. Personally ordered me to cooperate with him. Said he’d be taking over Emerson’s spot.” Rylan backed up a step. “The senator swore that if I didn’t help her, then she’d make sure I never advanced in the FBI.”
“Advancing is going to be highly problematic for you,” Gray assured Rylan.“Highly.” But he turned his attention to Emerson’s ex. Nathaniel who had gone eerily still. “What was the plan?” Gray asked him. “Why lure Rylan here?”
“Lure?” Rylan repeated the word, turning a bit toward Nathaniel.
“Were you hoping to makehimlook guilty?” Gray asked, curious. “He already had deposits that could tie back to the senator in his bank account. Maybe you thought you could pin Emerson’s attacks on him. Maybe you thought you could kill him and make yourself look like a hero. Bet that seemed like a fun storyline for your book, huh? Psychiatrist unmasks rogue FBI agent.”
“Rogue agent?” Rylan seemed to be repeating a lot of things. He shook his head.“Kill me?”
But Nathaniel didn’t speak. Just stood there, with his hands buried in the pockets of his oversize coat.
Gray pulled out his own weapon. He aimed it straight at Nathaniel. “It’s over.”
Nathaniel still didn’t speak.
“Lift your hands out of your pockets. Put them in the air.”
Rylan whipped out his own weapon. Pointed it at Nathaniel and then…then he pivoted and pointed the weapon right at Gray. Laughter poured from Rylan. “You really thought I was being led around by this prick?” More laughter. Coming harder. Faster.
