She glanced over her shoulder and spotted Ryan heading toward her with two extra-large coffees in his hands. “Hey. Heard you were coming in.” He handed her a coffee.
“Thanks.” She took the coffee, desperately needing a caffeine boost, and set it on the desk. “You always know what I need.”
“Six months is a long time, Vic. Not sure how I’m going to make out with a new partner until you get back.”
“You’ll survive,” Victory said, delaying the news of her departure. She finished emptying the drawers and pitched the items into the box. She stared at the photograph of her, Josh, and Jade next to the phone. Her stomach clenched. They all looked so happy. They were at one time. She put the photograph in the box.
“Grab the box, will you? And walk me out.”
Ryan picked up the box and put it under his arm. Victory grabbed her coffee.
As they walked down the hall to the elevator, she felt like she was dying inside again.
“Are you going to be okay? Do you need anything?”
She wasn’t going to be okay. Not for a very long time. “Yeah. I’m fine. I just need a break.” She took a sip of her coffee.
The elevator dinged, and the door opened. They stepped inside and remained silent until the doors opened again to the main floor.
“We found Lily Sutherland. Alive and well. She didn’t have anything good to say about her former fiancé.”
Jeremy Elder was the last thing in this world Victory wanted to talk about, but it would help put off her news a little longer. “That’s good you found her alive. I really figured he had killed her.”
They continued walking through the building, bustling with FBI agents and support staff.
Ryan nodded. “She’s been living in Florida. She said she changed her name after telling Elder she wasn’t going through with the wedding. From what she said, he was controlling to the point of following her to work and back, and even was recording her phone calls. She was terrified of him.”
“Good thing she got out when she did. If she hadn’t, he would have killed her.”
“For sure. Get this. Guess where she broke off the relationship? Daniel Drake Park.”
“That explains why he chose to dump the victims in parks.”
Ryan nodded again. “I asked her about the bubble wrap and baby oil. She said she used baby oil daily because her skin is really dry. He loved the smell of it. She also said, they used to enjoy popping bubble wrap together.”
Victory cringed and pushed the images of Jade from her mind. “Fun times. Two of his favorite things. Baby oil and bubble wrap. It explains a lot.”
He opened the back door to the parking lot.
Sunlight beat down on her face. It felt good. She snatched her keys from her pocket and opened the trunk of her car.
Ryan put the box inside and closed the trunk.
She smiled at him, nervous about how he was going to react to the news. Victory leaned against the car.
“I guess this is it. No more extra coffee runs and no more catching bad guys together for a half a year.”
“About that.” She brushed the hair out of her eyes. “I’m not coming back, Ryan.”
His eyebrows raised. “What are talking about? Sure, you are.”
“No. I’m not. I’m transferring to Washington.”
“Washington? No way, Vic.”
“Joe Mains and Curtis signed off on it and gave me their blessing. It’s a done deal.”
“Vic, you can’t leave. Take the leave of absence and see how you feel afterward.”
“Ryan, I can’t live here, be here anymore, in Cincinnati, Cleveland, or Ohio for that matter. I need to go.” She fought off the tears that were ready to flow. “I’ve lost too much here—my family.”
“You haven’t lost me.”
“I know, and I’m happy about that. But it’s time to move on.”
“What am I going to do without you here?”
“There are airplanes, you know. You can come and visit. There’s only a three-hour time difference. Or you could get busy working on a transfer, Riddle Guy.”
Ryan’s eyes widened, and he grinned. “Now that’s a great idea. What office are you going to be working at in Washington? And what the hell happened with Derrick at the hospital? What did he do? I overheard part of the conversation. You were really mad, Vic. I’ve never heard you so angry.”
It was a good thing Ryan hadn’t caught all of the conversation otherwise he’d be questioning her about the Elara Project. Victory ignored his question, unable to answer for her own good.
“I’ll be the agent-in-charge of the Counterintelligence Division for the Washington field office.”
“Holy crap. Congrats. You deserve it.” He paused. “What about Derrick?”
She opened the car door and continued to ignore any questions about the man. She wasn’t going to discuss Derrick. She still blamed him for not finding Jade in time when he could have. It was a hurt Victory would never forget.
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Damn, Vic, I really hate to see you go.”
“I’ll be here for another week before I move.” She gave him a hug. “Take care of Angie. You need each other.” Victory walked to the other side of the vehicle and opened the door. She shielded her eyes from the sun. “We’ll get together for dinner or something.” She climbed into the driver seat, closed the door, and rolled down the passenger window.
Ryan bent down and poked his head inside. “Sounds good. I’ll give you a call later. See how you’re doing. If you need anything, call me.”
Victory started the engine and looked at him. “You were right about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“No matter how good we are at our job, we can’t save everyone. It doesn’t work that way.” Victory put the car into drive. “It’s time to save myself.”
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed reading Deadly Shadow, the first book in the thrilling Assassin Chronicles series! Watch for Invisible Truth, Assassin’s Prophecy and Vision of Fire. Coming soon!
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Don’t forget to check out the action-packed Whitney Steel Novels , a pulse-pounding romantic action/thriller series, featuring investigative reporter Whitney Steel!
Acknowledgements
A huge thanks to Author M.K. Chester and Paul Crowley for their continuing support and to my editor at wording.ca!
To my fans, readers, and reviewers—thank you!
You rock!
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