Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 70628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Hell, I could’ve given you the list.”
“I didn’t know you had it.”
“I do, and you’re right. Gregory Simpson Wallace is on the list. Do you think he had a grudge against you, and he took it out on your daughter?”
“Yeah, I think that’s it. Aspen happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and once Wallace found out she was mine…” Heavy breathing on the other end of the line. “I’m not sure I can ever forgive myself. Lisa can’t know about this. She’ll never forgive me either.”
“Listen, Darnell. This wasn’t your fault. Greg Wallace is a psycho. Obviously you know that, because you got him kicked out of the SEALs.”
“For sure that’s true. He was a hothead. Quick to pull a trigger. No place for him in the SEALs or in any military outfit.”
“So it was a dishonorable discharge then?”
“It was. I can give you the details, but it’s a long story.”
“I trust you. I’ll get the story another time. But Darnell, right now, we need to take down anyone who had anything to do with this.”
“Greg Wallace is in prison,” Darnell says. “Although that’s too damned good for him.”
“I agree, but you and I are sane and rational people. We’re not vigilantes.”
“I don’t know, Moreno,” Darnell says. “I’m feeling pretty vigilante right now.”
I’m not surprised. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Aspen is ready to go vigilante herself.
But I have to protect her.
I have to protect her from what will happen to her if she does attempt to make her own justice. She and her father are both sane individuals. Good strong people. But damn, they both have a hot streak.
“Listen,” I tell Darnell. “Someone I know is holding a man named Chris Pollack, who was also part of this. Aspen and I are going to go question him, and we’re going to take Nancy Mosely with us.”
“The wife?”
“Right.”
“What the hell are you going to do about the dead body?”
Damn. I hadn’t thought of that. “I guess we’ll call 911 and let them find her. It’s clear she offed herself. Plus she used her own gun.”
“Good, good.” Darnell says.
“All right. Thank you for the information and I—”
“Wait just a minute. Are you dismissing me, Moreno?”
“No, of course not.”
Aspen doesn’t want her father involved. What do I do?
“Good. Let me know where you’re holding this guy, and I’ll come to you.”
“Darnell…”
“You think I’m some old man who can’t handle himself?”
“Of course not. It’s not me. It’s Aspen. She doesn’t want you involved. She’s protecting you.”
“It’s not her job to protect me. It’s my job to protect her, and I’ve failed miserably. She’s my daughter. My baby tree. And I will be involved in this.”
“What about Lisa?”
He pauses again.
“Lisa will understand,” he finally says. “She always does.”
I want to stop him. I want to talk him out of this. But how? He feels responsible now. There’s a link to him that may have started all of this.
All he wants is to protect his little girl.
He wants the same thing I want.
And he feels like he failed.
God, I get that. I failed to protect Emily from Lucifer Raven. I failed to protect Amira.
I won’t fail again.
I sigh. “All right, Darnell.” I give him the address of the safe house, and I hope like hell Lucifer Raven—Luke—won’t be pissed.
But if he is? Oh well.
I’m more concerned with Aspen’s wrath.
She’s going to be mad as hell that I brought her father into this.
“I can get there in an hour,” Darnell says.
“Wait. You’re in LA?”
“Yep. Just got here. As soon as I figured out this connection, I got in my truck and started driving.”
“All right. An hour. That’s about the time we’ll be arriving. Wait outside until we get there. And we’ll do the same if we get there first. We need to go in together.”
“My little tree is with you?”
“She is, Darnell. And she’s no longer a little tree. She’s a mighty fucking oak. You’d be proud of her.”
“I always was, Moreno. I still am. And I will take down the people who did this to my little tree if it’s the last thing I do.”
24
ASPEN
Buck drives, and Nancy and I sit in the backseat. I press my gun firmly into her side the whole time.
To say I don’t trust her is an understatement.
This conniving bitch…
“Why all of this?” I ask her. “You’re a software engineer, for God’s sake. Why did you even play pro volleyball?”
“Because I was good at it.”
“You were third choice,” I say. “Granted, that’s a hell of a lot better than most, but you had a degree in engineering. The sky’s the limit. Especially for women in the field.”
“I love volleyball,” she says simply.
Does it truly come down to that? Hell, I loved volleyball too. In some ways, I still do, but I know I’ll never play the sport again. First of all, I physically can’t. Not after the bone fractures I suffered on the island. But that’s not the issue. The issue is the nerve damage that came along with the bone fractures.