“I think it’s obvious we’ve put together an attractive offer.” Zerta was finishing up his pitch. “A man of your skill sets and experience is valuable and we hope you’ll agree working with us is equally of benefit for you.”
Forte tipped his head to one side, pretending to consider. “Perhaps.”
Zerta’s face flushed red. “This offer is extended without room for negotiation.”
Forte raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? I find that hard to believe.”
“We’ve already expended significant resources in our interactions with you.” Zerta snapped his mouth shut.
Temper, temper. This man had a short fuse. How fun.
Forte shrugged.
A vein began to literally pop out on Zerta’s forehead. The man had to have some insanely high blood pressure. “If you aren’t enticed by our offer, I’ve been authorized to inform you that our organization is prepared to apply pressure on certain persons of interest in order to assure your cooperation.”
“Already threatening me. Tch.” Forte shook his head slowly. “I don’t respond well to threats.”
“There was a contract out on a young woman named Sophie Kim.” Zerta ground out the revelation as if Forte didn’t know.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Forte shot back. But he had what he wanted. All they’d needed to do was acknowledge the existence of it.
“We—”
Forte stood. “Threatening me and mine isn’t the way to gain our cooperation. This is not the kind of team I want to work with and you all know it. I shouldn’t have to say more, but just to be sure, I’ll say this clearly: Leave Sophie Kim alone. We’re done here.”
He walked out of the office, leaving Zerta sputtering in his wake. Haydn kept pace with him as he found his way back to the front entrance. He’d visually confirmed the presence of each of the three individuals he’d noted previously, spread out around the office as he left.
He walked out into the parking lot and wondered how quickly he was going to find himself in hell. A spot between his shoulder blades itched. They weren’t likely to shoot him down right in their own parking lot, but there were eyes on him. He didn’t like it, even if it was exactly what he’d planned.
Getting Haydn safely in the back of his SUV and pulling out of their parking lot took patience. He pulled out on the highway and made a call.
“Kymani.”
“I’m out.” Forte scanned the road as he drove with the flow of traffic. There were a couple of potential vehicles behind him. They could be following him or they could’ve pulled onto the highway at the same time as him out of coincidence.
“We’ve got you.”
Forte ended the call. He considered calling Sophie. He hadn’t told her he was coming here to do this. In fact, only Kymani, Rojas, and Cruz knew. None of them had liked leaving the ladies out of this but what one of them knew, they all knew. It was a part of the way their friendship worked. Considering how tough it must be to be partnered with veterans like them, neither he nor Rojas nor Cruz minded the way they shared with one another. They were a support network.
The scary part was that they were all going to be mad at him if he got through this.
A dark SUV pulled up next to his. Forte glanced to his left and caught the impression of a familiar face from the Labs-Anders Corporation offices. Then his right tire blew.
Gripping the wheel, he fought to control his vehicle as the other SUV swiped him, sending him into a spin across the highway.
* * *
“This hospital room is more familiar than it should be.” Forte groaned.
Cruz leaned against the far wall. “This is the first time you’ve been the one in the hospital bed.”
The sound of a stampede grew loud in the hallway.
Forte swallowed hard and looked at the door apprehensively. “Save me.”
Cruz laughed. “Uh-uh. I’m in enough trouble just knowing about this crazy plan in the first place. You get to have all of them fuss over you.”
“Shit.” Forte watched as Sophie, Lyn, and Elisa piled into the hospital room. Rojas followed at a slower pace and shut the door behind him to give them all some privacy.
Sophie skidded as she came in, still wearing her medical boot from her stay in the same room. “Are you okay?”
“I’m awake,” he responded cautiously.
She stopped at his bedside, staring at him intently. She was pale, tired looking, with bruises under her eyes.
Guilt crushed his chest. “I’m sorry.”
She didn’t respond, instead crouching to look under his hospital bed. “Haydn, he’s lucky you came out of this without any new injuries. You could’ve been seriously hurt.”
Oh great, she was more concerned about the dog than him.
There was a perfunctory knock on the door, then it opened to admit three more people. Forte would’ve called it a party, but none of them had particularly party-type expressions.
The doctor was probably irritated with their entire group. They were all becoming too familiar in these hallways. Kymani was in law-enforcement mode, there in his capacity as a police officer rather than as a friend. Captain Jones rarely smiled, if ever, as far as Forte knew.
Sophie straightened and studied each of them. Then she crossed her arms over her chest.
Forte wasn’t the only one to tense.
“Someone please explain.” There was an element of command in her quiet tone worthy of the highest-ranking officer in any of the armed forces.
Or maybe it was just that what she said mattered so much to him.
Captain Jones took note of everyone in the room and sighed. “I’d like to allow the good doctor to complete his checks first, then answer your question.”
Sophie considered, then stood back.
Forte thought he saw sweat on the doctor’s forehead as the examination moved along.
“Concussion. Bruises and minor cuts. I’d recommend a day or two of rest, but all in all, the vehicle took the brunt of the damage. He should be ready for release in the morning after a night of observation.” The doctor looked at Sophie to give his diagnosis, and Forte mildly resented not being included in his own results.
“It could’ve been worse.” Forte didn’t know why he was so defensive. Especially since he was actually damned happy Sophie had come.
“Much worse.” The doctor shook his head. “Each of you is here far more often than this quiet hospital can handle. I suggest all of you take stock of what it is about your lives and take steps to live healthier.”
“As if you can fix car bombs or assault and battery with regular exercise and a balanced diet,” Sophie muttered.
Forte choked back a laugh as the doctor gathered his dignity and departed.
“Sophie.” Lyn’s reproof triggered a release of tension in the entire room.
“Okay, I’ll go apologize later.” Sophie sounded genuinely repentant. “It’s weird being back here.”
“I know what you mean.” Elisa sighed, and Rojas wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Forte leaned back in the hospital bed and ignored the twinge of pain in his back. Bruises would probably be showing up for days. “Captain Jones, I think the number of people in the room is going to remain steady at this point.”
Captain Jones exchanged a glance with Lyn and rolled his shoulders. “The intel you gathered by investigating Labs-Anders Corporation turned out to be valuable.”
Sophie turned and stared at Forte. He studiously kept his gaze on Captain Jones. “I’m relieved.”
“The video capture allowed us to confirm several operatives we’ve been investigating and looking to tie to unresolved cases. The connection to Labs-Anders is extremely helpful.”
Ky pushed away from the wall to stand next to Captain Jones. “The files Sophie audited were account records for at least one executive of Labs-Anders Corporations. There were transactions between private accounts and organizations also under investigation by the federal government.”
/>
The odds had definitely not been in their favor there. Not only had the mercenary group Captain Jones had been investigating held a grudge with Cruz and Hope’s Crossing Kennels, but Sophie had stumbled across valuable proof of their activities.
“The account records Sophie audited, those will help build your case?” Forte waited until Captain Jones nodded. “And the video I captured?”
“Allows us to go after those individuals directly.” Captain Jones looked pleased, actually. “We wanted to go to the root of this issue, but it’ll be good to clean up the stragglers, too. This gives us key evidence to ensure this specific group is shut down permanently.”
Which meant Sophie was safe. Forte leaned his head back and allowed himself a moment of satisfaction. There were others who’d experience a similar moment out there, maybe more than they knew about. The people involved with Labs-Anders Corporation had joined either because they’d been warped individuals attracted to the company or because they’d been coerced. Hell, Zerta had attempted to threaten Forte, too. When a person had family, friends, loved ones, those people were points of leverage.
Labs-Anders Corporation had to be eliminated.
“You went in there with a camera on you?” Sophie asked him quietly.
He opened his eyes, drank in the sight of her beautiful face. “No, I didn’t.”
Her gracefully arched brows drew together. “Then how?”
Cruz cut in before Forte could answer. “We all got involved with Labs-Anders Corporation because Atlas’s camera had been on and capturing video feed during an unsanctioned interrogation. Seemed fitting to send Haydn in with a camera installed in the harness that holds his prosthetic on him. The dogs captured the video. The handlers were just providing escort.”
Captain Jones nodded.
“We’re done now.” At least, as far as Forte was concerned. They were all safe now and free of the shadow of this organization and the investigation.
“Your collaboration has been appreciated.” Captain Jones stepped toward the door. “It’ll take some time for the prosecution to complete, but we have the right people in custody. It’s only a matter of time, and for now, all of you can get back to your individual lives.”
The captain opened the door and exited. Lyn exchanged glances with Cruz and followed her stepfather, probably to have an extra word with him. Their familial relationship had been strengthening incrementally.
Kymani nodded to Forte and exited, too. They’d touch base once Forte was out of the hospital. With Captain Jones taking over the investigation, Ky had probably handed over all of his findings. They’d wrap up any last questions Ky needed answering.
Rojas sighed. “You know, I’m thinking we’re going to go find some coffee.”
He and Elisa took themselves out of the room.
No. Not obvious or anything.
It was several long seconds before he dared to look at Sophie. He’d been half afraid she’d find a reason to leave, too. He’d deserve it if she did.
She was staring down at the sheets, fussing with wrinkles. “You did this for me, didn’t you?”
If he said no, he’d be lying. If he told her what she expected to hear, she’d wallow in guilt. “It needed to be done, for a lot of people.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted any of you to go in there.” A tear fell and hit the sheet. Followed by another and another. “You couldn’t have been sure you’d come back home alive.”
“No. But then again, I wasn’t sure I’d come back in one piece when I left to join the military, either.” As soon as he said it, he cursed himself.
She shook her head. “This is why I didn’t want to forgive you. Because you did it again. You would do it again. It’s who you are. You are going to keep leaving and there’ll be no way to know if you’ll come back safe. Healthy. Whole.”
It was the challenge faced by every military family. There wasn’t any getting around it. Some tried to pretend. Others fought emotional battles to keep the soldier from deploying again. But the truth was, every relationship faced it and the way to weather through it varied for every individual.
“I can’t promise I won’t do something like this again.” His throat constricted as he forced out the words. He could lose her with his honesty.
But she wouldn’t be his friend anymore if he wasn’t honest. It was who Sophie was. He waited, his mouth going dry. A cold weight settled deep inside his chest. He wanted to brace himself for the worst possible answer, but he didn’t have it in him.
“I wouldn’t ask you to,” she said finally. “I wanted to be angry with you. It was easier. Because I had no control over my own life. You let me know I’d lost control way back when you left, not just in the last week. It wasn’t a car bomb that took my life away from me. I never really built it for myself. And I wanted to be angry at you for taking a major decision from me.”
He’d left. He hadn’t let her decide if she wanted to challenge her father over him. “Your ties to your family were more important.”
“So you decided.” She glared at him. “I am mad at you for still thinking it was okay to decide it by yourself. You had a family, too. Parents, siblings. They still love you even if they aren’t as much a part of your life as my family is involved in mine.”
She was right about that. But he’d admired the way her heart could expand and give so generously to so many. She had a big family, a circle of friends, and she’d wrapped him in her joy effortlessly.
“I didn’t fit.” He mumbled it because she’d have a quick retort for that. “You deserved better and I decided to go make myself into someone I could respect.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it.
“You asked why I left.” He reached out and slipped his finger under her chin. “Ask me why I came back.”
She blinked. “You were building a new life for yourself.”
“Yes.” He kept her gaze locked through sheer power of will. Their friendship was in pieces anyway. So this, at least this, needed to be out in the open. It was time for her to understand. “Why?”
“Because you needed to come back home.” It seemed so simple to her. And it was, but not for the reason she thought it was.
“Did I? I could’ve gone to where my parents decided to move, or one of my siblings. Why do you think I came and settled here?”
C’mon, Sophie, quit hiding from it.
“Because this is home for you, where you grew up.”
“No.”
She jerked her head back angrily. “Yes. This is home. Don’t you see? Maybe you don’t even know why. But I was here, and I saw you. You came back. You built Hope’s Crossing Kennels here because this is home.”
He shook his head. “No. If you’d have moved somewhere else, made someplace else yours, I’d have built Hope’s Crossing Kennels there. Where didn’t matter. You are home for me, Sophie.”
She froze.
“I left and remade myself. When I was ready, I’d have followed you wherever you were to see if you’d have me. And here, now, if you don’t want me, that’s your choice. I’ll respect it.” It’d kill him, but there it was. “It’s up to you, Sophie. This is me and I’ll be a friend if that’s what you want. But I want more. I want to build our lives together from here on out, and I don’t know how else to say I love you.”
She stood, staring at him, without moving. Hell, she was barely breathing.
He didn’t know what to do, so he held his empty hands out to her.
She placed her hands in his. “This.”
“What?” He spoke carefully, out of words and not sure if the next thing he said would ruin everything he’d managed to tell her.
“You went through hell and came back. It hurt my heart to see how many ways you’d been broken and scarred. I watched you work with your dogs and heal day by day, and I wanted so much for you to be happy. I wasn’t sure when you would be. But I was so determined to be there the whole way.” She traced the inside of his palms until he closed his hands o
ver hers. Her gaze met his again, finally. “I thought this week was my own personal hell. I wondered how you survived these things. And now, I’d go back and do it again if you were with me.”
It was his turn to hold still, hoping he didn’t break this moment. “With you.”
“In the middle of hell, I’ve never been happier,” she whispered. “I’ve always loved you, Brandon. And the minute you gave in and let me into your arms, I was in heaven. Even with people trying to kill me. Because I’ve always trusted you to keep me safe.”
He tugged her hands until she leaned over him, then he wrapped his arms around her. “I always will.”
“No more leaving without warning.” She whispered it into his neck. Her warm lips pressed against his pulse. “If you have to, I’ll understand. Just tell me.”
He adjusted his grip and hoisted her up and over, until she landed next to him on the hospital bed with an incredibly cute squeak. “If I go anywhere from here on out, it’ll be with you. I’m not leaving you, Sophie. Not ever again.”
“Promise?” she whispered.
“Promise.”
LOVE IS AN
ACT OF BRAVERY
See the next page for an excerpt from ULTIMATE COURAGE, the second book in the True Heroes series.
Available now.
Chapter One
You’ve got to be insane.”
Elisa Hall took a prudent step—or two—back as she observed the standoff brewing in front of her. A tall man stood between her and the emergency room reception desk, glaring at the woman in scrubs behind it. He stood at an angle to Elisa, so he could see the reception desk to his right and the entirety of the waiting area in front of him.
He clenched his fists.
Elisa retreated farther back toward the entrance, releasing her throbbing wrist and letting her hands fall to her sides. Harmless. Nothing to see here.
Absolute Trust Page 25
