Page 104 of Leading Conviction
“You have a funny way of ‘caring’ for people, General, considering you’ve called your own daughter a loose end and told me to cut her out.”
The General smirked. “You’re right. Hannah was never a loose end. My little girl is too important for that, but you didn’t see it then and left her anyway.”
“To keep her safe,” Hawk hissed.
“Bah! Keep hersafe? After that stupid Braves game, it was easy to convince you that anyone could hack into your system and find your loved ones to retaliate. You were so scared, you didn’t even start looking until a few months ago when you realized she’d gone missing after the fundraiser! Yeah, that’s right, Officer Henry Brown and that fool Andrew Ascot told me all about it. You couldn’t keep her safe then, and you obviously can’t now.I’llkeep her safe, Captain, and I won’t leave without what’s mine.”
“I’m not yours!”
“You’re mydaughter. There’s no greater ownership.”
Oddly enough, the stress in Hannah’s muscles eased at his declaration and she shook her head.
“You know, one of the problems I’ve had this whole time is that I couldn’t understand how you acted the way you did with your owndaughter. As a parent, I can’t comprehend it. It’s pure evil. But knowing I was just athingto you? That makes the past easier to swallow.”
The General’s face contorted, obviously irritated she found solace in the revelation rather than fear or revulsion.
“I see you wanted a rise out of me,” Hannah pointed out calmly, finding peace in her courage. “But I’m not going to give it to you. You’re the type of man that puts himself over everyone and everything else, at times in the cruelest of ways. You’re all about status. You want to be seen and revered in the spotlight, but still get to gorge on your depravity in the shadows.” Hannah shook her head. “But you’re nothing to me. And soon your secrets will be out. The rest of the world will knowexactlywho you are. I’m done with you, and after you’re sentenced for all the crimes and hurt you’ve caused, the world will be done with you, too.”
“You think this is over?” The General’s eyes took on a crazed gleam as he glanced between Hawk and Hannah, apparently no longer caring that Callie still aimed her gun at him, too.
His gaze landed on Hawk and spittle collected at the corner of his lips as he yelled, “Don’t act like you care about her now. I know what you really want. Youneedme for your so-called justice. Your loyalties don’t lie with her. If you ever did care about her, it wasn’t enough. All I had to do was trick you at that stupid game and you were gone”—he snapped his fingers, making Hannah jump in her skin—“like that. So fucking predictable.”
“Itwasyou,” Hannah whispered. “You orchestrated the shooting at the Braves game? To make him leave me?” She gazed at Hawk, pain and adoration fighting for her expression. His eyes drifted to hers as she whispered. “You really did end us for my safety.”
A small, sincere smile lifted his lips and love burned in his charcoal eyes. “I’ve always loved you, Hannah. Aboveeverythingelse.”
Hannah’s chest ached right underneath where her necklace rested, as if her heart wanted to leap out and join the one she loved.
The General’s blotchy skin turned a bright magenta as he whirled around to face Hannah.
“You stupid girl! He doesn’t loveyou. He had a choice once before and he abandoned you! I could’ve escaped, but I gave up everything to come back for you. With men like Captain Hawkins Black, it all comes down to God, country, and cause. You’ll see. Just watch. If we give him the same choice, it’ll be the same outcome.” His gun waved erratically as he turned to shout at Hawk. “You can’tkill me and I need her. So all I have to do is this—”
In the blink of an eye, he snatched Hannah’s wrist and tried to bring her to his chest. A shot rang out in the small corridor and the hold on Hannah’s wrist disappeared.
She tripped forward from the momentum, but before she could fall, Hawk’s strong arm of steel caught her by her waist and tugged her to him.
“I choose her.” His voice vibrated in his chest against her cheek before he murmured softer into her hair. “I choose you, dove. Always.”
She clung to his chest, holding him tight as he tugged her impossibly closer. Her breaths came in heavy pants, but his assurances settled her.
“It’s okay, dove. It’s over.”
She tried to turn in his grasp, but his biceps and forearms became stone, stopping her from moving.
“No, Hannah. Don’t look.”
She lifted her chin to see the furrow in his worried brow and shook her head. “I need to look.”
His lips tightened but he nodded once and loosened his hold on her. She pivoted slightly, catching Callie’s stunned brown eyes before her own gaze fell to the ground. Hannah held her breath, resisting the urge to gasp at the sight of the clean, perfect hole in her father’s forehead.
In life, his faded-blue eyes were hard, his face always held a scowl, and his mouth was perpetually ready to remind her that he was in control of every aspect of her life.
In death, vacant rheumy eyes stared unseeing at the ceiling, his slack jaw held no power, and his flaccid body sprawled on the concrete floor, impotent. Blood seeped from the bullet wound in the back of his head, blooming into a shimmering puddle against the shiny stained concrete underneath the fluorescent light.
She turned back into Hawk’s chest to find shelter. As he embraced her again, she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Her first breath of true freedom.
It smelled like a spring morning, leather, and pine.
