Page 51 of Breaking Conviction
“Mitchell Strickland’s in the hospital though…” Ellie muttered before raising her voice. “Could someone go talk to him?”
There was a pause before Hawk nodded. “That’s an idea… except—”
“Except Devil fuckin’ shot the guy. I doubt he wants to be besties with us anytime soon.”
Wes hated to admit it, but Phoenix had a point. He racked his brain for a solution before Naomi spoke up. “H-he... he didn’t see Wes though, right? Since Wes was controlling everything from BlackStone? Maybe he won’t have the same, erm, reservations?”
Wes appraised her with an encouraging smile before nodding. “Yeah... that could work. We could call Marco to see if he has contacts who could get us an interview. Or hell, there’s also Henry.” Officer Henry Brown was a deputy with the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office and had grown instrumental in their mission to dissolve this trafficking ring. Some of what he offered them was off-the-record help, but the risks he was taking were invaluable to the cause. “Maybe he can ask him if he’ll talk to me? The worst he could say is no.”
Hawk nodded. “Sounds like a plan. The sooner the better. We have to figure out what these motherfuckers know. We’ve finally got people on the inside… we can’t let this opportunity go to waste.”
“Got it, I’ll call them,” Phoenix offered and Wes narrowed his eyes before shrugging. The man never volunteered to do anything, but hell, if he was going to start now, why not?
“Good. Snake” —Hawk jutted his chin at him— “get whatever you might need for an interview. Dress on the DL. They won’t let you into his room if they know you’re packing, if you feel me.”
“Noted.” He nodded and—out of habit—turned about face to his room.
Naomi followed quickly behind him. When they made it to the hall on the other side of the kitchen, she pulled his arm, stopping him. “Wait... Wes, is this safe? Y-you’ll be okay, right?”
Wes hated the fear in her eyes and he hated it even more that he was the cause, so he decided to lighten the mood. “Aw, Naomi, see there you go again. Letting me know you like me so much.”
He could tell her first reaction was to scowl, but the worry on her face held steadfast. Dropping the act, he turned to her and cupped her shoulders with his hands, bending to see deep into those amber fire eyes.
“I’ll be fine, Naomi, okay? First off, I’m not sure if they’ll even let me—”
“Strickland says he’ll talk! He’ll meet with you and Marco but he wants to do it ASAP,” Phoenix called from the other room, his voice echoing against the concrete industrial decor and Wes nodded once, his stomach turning in anticipation. It’d been a while since he was physically on assignment, but the adrenaline always felt like a jolt of excited energy.
Phoenix’s message seemed to have the opposite effect on Naomi. Her eyes widened and she started to shake.
“Hey, hey, hey, Naomi, I’ll be fine. I might be a computer nerd, but I’ve been in the field plenty of times.” He cradled her face in his hands, his thumbs stroking just above her jawline, and he marveled at the fact that she was letting him touch her at all. The high from his assignment and her soft skin under his fingertips sent pulses of need to his cock. But he tamped it down. Her level of vulnerability only went to show how terrified she was. “I was trained for this, baby, and it’s just an interview. That’s it. I’ll be a glorified reporter, okay?”
“Sometimes training doesn’t give a shit about a bullet though.”
At her whisper, he realized what she was afraid of and he cursed himself for not realizing his leaving was about more than just him. No doubt she was thinking about what had happened to her dad.
“Listen, I’ll be strapped. They just won’t know it. And I will come home, I promise you. Okay?”
Finally, she nodded and swallowed. She closed her eyes and took a long breath in and out before opening them again. He watched in disappointment as her proverbial steel walls raised back up. She backed away and nodded again.
“Well, um. Good luck.”
He straightened, warring with himself as to whether he should try to ease her worries anymore or if he should let her pretend away her fear. But something told him she wouldn’t feel better until he came back.
“Snake, you ready?” Hawk asked, clapping him on the shoulder with his large hand, Phoenix behind him. “We need to get going, brother.”
“Shit, I have to go, Naomi.”
Wes watched helplessly as Naomi completely shut herself off and retreated into the fortress she’d no doubt erected long ago. She’d probably perfected her defenses over the past five years with that asshole of an ex-fiancé.
“Like I said, good luck.” Her voice broke on the last as she turned away and walked to the apartment she and Thea had been staying in. The steel door closed behind her, creating a deafening separation that Wes felt cut deep into his soul.
Chapter Nineteen
The hospital loomed in front of them as they sat waiting in Hawk’s sedan.
“We’ve been going to this place too damn much lately.” Hawk spoke low in his deep voice, but received no response. What with Draco being in a coma, the victims they’d saved, Ellie getting hurt a week prior… he’d only said what Wes and Phoenix had been thinking.
Wes blew out a breath before seeing ADA Marco Aguilar coming out of the hospital and waving toward them.
