It had been particularly sweet to know that same dumb kid was one of Tate’s biggest dupes in the entire RevitaYou/Capital X scam. A scam that had been going smoother than silk before the Coltons had gotten involved.
Now it was all upside down. His number two, Gunther Johnson, was sitting in a jail cell, the cops had figured out how deadly RevitaYou was and Tate’s cover had been blown.
He had contingency plans, of course, but there was no foolproof plan that could make up for how quickly it had all collapsed. That was why he was going to make sure Sadie went down with him. He’d given her the perfect role. Loving fiancée to one of the city’s most successful businessmen. And she’d betrayed him.
It was unforgivable. And because of it, she was going to pay.
* * *
Tripp glanced around the waiting room at the county hospital and wondered how the Coltons had seemingly managed to multiply overnight.
The eldest, Riley Colton, had been the first to arrive with his pregnant fiancée, Charlize. He had been quickly followed by the rest of Sadie’s siblings, each with their own significant others. They were all there except for Sadie’s sister Kiely, who apparently couldn’t get a babysitter on short notice. The entire Colton family seemed to have coupled up lately, and while Tripp wouldn’t consider himself on the pulse of local gossip, it had been impossible to ignore the heavy strikes of Cupid’s arrow on this one family.
Working with Emmanuel, he’d seen firsthand the man’s relationship—and hard fall into love—with Pippa Colton. And Sadie’s twin, JAG paralegal sergeant Vikki, had recently fallen in love with Army Sergeant Flynn Cruz-Street.
They were all there, concerned about their sister and equally concerned at the news Tate Greer had gotten away yet again.
Tripp was already expecting the quiet outreach when Riley approached him. The family had settled in, anxious for news of Sadie’s condition. Coltons were scattered across the waiting room, and the moment he left to get a cup of coffee, Riley followed.
“Can I buy you a cup?” Tripp gestured toward the large machine.
“Yeah, thanks.” Riley seemed to hesitate for a moment before diving in. “I know she’s going to be okay. She’s young, and strong, and I know that all works in her favor. But I also need to know what happened to her.”
Tripp knew that need, understood it intimately, and so he would play it straight with Riley. “She’s fine, physically. Greer didn’t get a hand on her, and for that we can all be grateful.”
“Why do I hear a ‘but’ in there?”
“Because the psychological is going to be a lot harder. She spent a month in the safe house, mostly alone, and even that wasn’t safe enough.” That same raw anger and fury-fueled frustration welled up once more. “And that’s on me.”
Riley took the cup Tripp handed to him, his eyes wide. “On you?”
“Damn straight. I put her there, and it’s my responsibility to make sure she stays safe.”
“I could say that right back at you. She’s my sister. My family. It’s my responsibility to make sure she stays safe, too.”
“In a government safe house?” Tripp shook his head, no intention of getting into a pissing match with Riley. “Greer found her on my watch. I need to get underneath the why and the how.”
“You can count on me to help, however I can. This isn’t on you, man. Greer and Capital X’s tentacles run far deeper than we know. And they’ve been burrowing in for a lot longer than any of us realized.”
The comment might have been meant to make him feel better, but Tripp took minimal comfort. Nothing could change the fact that Sadie had been kidnapped from an environment he’d controlled. And he was going to make it his personal mission to find out who had facilitated that access.
After, of course, he put that bastard Tate Greer behind bars.
“I do want to talk to you about some ideas we’ve been working up for RevitaYou,” Riley added. “I think we may have a way to get Wes Matthews back on US soil.”
Tripp’s mind flashed to the crime board in his office. If Tate Greer was the man behind Capital X funding RevitaYou, banker Wes Matthews was the linchpin in the operation. He was the centerpiece of their investigation. Get him and they had a chance to get to the bottom of it all—and they’d get Tate, too. “That’s gotta take some doing. Matthews doesn’t have a lot of incentive to come back.”
“That’s where my new soon-to-be sister-in-law, Matthews’s daughter Abigail, has been a tremendous help.” Riley tilted his head in the direction of the waiting room. “She talked to Griffin about trying to help, and he convinced her to bring her ideas to all of us. She and her father have always been estranged and I get the feeling she’d have been just fine ignoring him for the rest of her life. She has helped us immensely.”
Tripp considered what he knew of Sadie’s siblings, and the news that Griffin was cooperating so closely was something of a novel development. Falling in love with Abigail and her foster daughter, Maya, had changed him. Clearly for the better. “I’m glad to hear it, man. But I guess I’m a little surprised to hear Griffin is helping out the family business.”
“It’s amazing, actually.” Riley clearly warmed to his subject. “I feel like I have my brother back. I know it was hard for him, an adopted child in the midst of five more kids, but we love him. We’ve always loved him. All of us. And now it feels like we might have him back.
“I guess it’s the beauty of having an amazing woman in his life.”
At that comment, Tripp couldn’t help but think of Sadie. She was an amazing woman. Hadn’t tonight proved that? Not just what she’d survived, but the gumption and the attitude that had carried her through it all.
Vikki poked her head in the door, her excitement palpable. “Riley. The doctor just came out to see us. We can go back and visit with her.”
Tripp gave Riley a solid pat on the shoulder. “Go. Go see your sister. We can pick this up later.”
Riley didn’t wait, just headed for the door. It was Vikki who hesitated, calling after her brother as he passed through the door. “You go on. I’ll be right there.”
She moved forward, coming right up to Tripp and laying her hands over his. “Thank you. Thank you for finding and saving Sadie.”
The steady need to protest that he’d nearly been the one responsible for losing her died in his throat. Vikki was so earnest—so determined—and for the first time he let himself slightly relax that Sadie was safe. He still wasn’t convinced that Tate Greer wasn’t going to try again, but for the moment, she was safe.
Now, all he had to do was make sure she stayed that way.
* * *
Sadie battled the mix of exhaustion and impatience that fought for purchase in the back of her mind. She was thrilled that her family was there and took deep comfort in the presence of all of them. But she also wanted to see Tripp.
She needed to see him.
It was the strangest thing, but ever since the doctor had given her the news that she was going to be okay, she’d wanted to see Tripp. To tell him herself.
It was because of him that she was going to be okay.
If left to her own devices and Tate’s demented criminal activities, she could’ve drowned in the lake. And deep down inside, she recognized the truth of that.
Yes, if given the chance she would run from Tate Greer all over again.
But she also couldn’t deny she’d made a narrow escape, all because of Tripp’s quick thinking and amazing police work that had put him at the lake in the first place.
Vikki must’ve sensed her exhaustion, because she finally put an end to the fun. “Okay, loved ones. I think Sadie’s had enough. We can come back tomorrow morning. And since Kiely couldn’t get a babysitter on short notice, Flynn and I will swing by to see her and Cooper and let her know our girl’s okay.”
Her siblings hugged her, each in turn,
Pippa hanging on an extra few beats before she let go with a promise. “I’ll bring the donuts first thing tomorrow morning.”
“I’m holding you to that.” Sadie smiled. “And there’d better be chocolate-frosted ones.”
“Why bother buying donuts if you don’t buy chocolate-frosted?” Pippa shuddered in mock horror before moving to stand with her fiancé, Emmanuel.
“Clever girl.” Abigail leaned in to give her a quick hug. “And it also ensures that your brother will be here bright and early, too. Assuming Maya doesn’t wake up when we get home and pay the babysitter.” Sadie’s future sister-in-law said it all with a smile, before jokingly giving Griffin the lightest edge of her elbow to the middle of his stomach. Griffin used the shift in position to wrap his arms tightly around her, and it made Sadie’s heart happy to see them together.
To see all her siblings, together with their significant others.
“Come on, come on. The donut mandate has been laid down. Now it’s time Sadie got some rest.” Vikki maneuvered them all out with a drill sergeant’s precision, before walking back over to stand by her bedside.
“I’m so glad you’re all right.” The stern voice vanished as quickly as it had come, replaced with a quaver Sadie rarely heard coming from her twin. “I’ve been so worried.”
“Vik, I’m okay. Really, I am.”
It wasn’t a lie, exactly, but Sadie wasn’t silly enough to think there wouldn’t be repercussions. But right here, right now, gathered up in the love of her family, she simply refused to focus on any of it. “Now get out of here and go kiss that hot guy of yours.”
“You’re my sister! You’re my priority and I’m worried about you.”
Sadie waved a hand. “Well, I’m fine now. And I’m ordering you to go kiss Flynn. If I had a man like him, that’s what I’d be doing.”
The tease was enough to bring a smile to Vikki’s face, removing that crestfallen, ashen look that had been there only moments before. While there would be plenty more to say, for now, Sadie knew that had to be enough.
She kept her smile bright until Vikki was out of sight and then let it fall. She was happy for her brothers and sisters. Deeply happy, and so pleased that they had found such wonderful men and women to share their lives with.
But it did hold up a mirror to all she didn’t have.
She hated thinking that way. It was so against her nature to begrudge anybody anything, especially those she loved as much as Riley, Griffin, Pippa, Kiely and Vikki.
Yet, try as she might, their happiness was also a counterweight to all the pain she was dealing with over Tate. She’d believed herself happy, as well, preparing for an upcoming wedding, only to find it all had vanished. And in the worst, most embarrassing—and dangerous—way.
She felt the first tear well up as a light knock came on the door.
“Hey. You up for a little bit of company?”
Tripp McKellar stood in the doorway, tall, broad, and exactly what she needed. “Hi. Yes, that would be nice.”
She quickly brushed away that last tear, refusing to let him see such an embarrassing bit of selfish emotion, before meeting his gaze across the room. “What are you still doing here?”
“I wanted to see how you were. I didn’t want to interrupt when your family was here.”
“So you’ve been waiting this whole time?” It was absurdly touching, the idea that he’d hung around, waiting to see her.
“I just needed to see you for myself.”
“That’s funny, because you were the person I wanted to see, too. The doctor gave me a clean bill of health. And it’s all because of you.”
Those compelling blue eyes shot to the floor and with it his face settled in harsh lines before he seemed to compose himself. “You saved yourself. Don’t forget that, Sadie.”
“As nice a thought as that might be, I think we both know it’s not true. If you hadn’t been there, my jump into the lake would likely have ended very differently.” It was strange to say it—that knowledge that a split-second decision could have had such a horribly different outcome—but that didn’t make it any less true.
“I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Sadie wasn’t quite sure where the impulse came from, because it was probably better just to let him leave, but she waved him forward. “Why don’t you stay a few minutes?”
He didn’t hesitate, just nodded as he walked into the room and took the seat beside her bed.
“I’d like to ask you a question, but I need you to promise that you’re going to tell me the truth.”
“Of course I’ll tell you the truth.”
“You haven’t heard my question yet,” she said with a smile.
He answered that with a smile of his own, one of those rare ones that lit the depths of his eyes. “Okay. Fair. What do you want to ask me?”
“I need you to tell me everything you know about Tate Greer.”
“Sadie, come on. What good is going to come from that?”
It was basically the answer she had expected, which was why she’d pressed for honesty. “The good is that I’ll finally know. The good is that I’ll finally understand what I got myself into.” She reached over and took his hand in hers. “I need to know.”
“You’re still a member of the GRPD. This case isn’t exactly a secret.”
“Not something out of a case file, but in your own words, Tripp. Please.”
Whether it was the urgency in her voice, or the personal nature of her touch, she wasn’t sure. But Sadie knew the moment she got through to him. Resignation painted his face before he took a deep breath. “He’s not a good guy, Sadie. But I suspect you already know that.”
“Yes, I do.” It was only as her eyes shot down that she realized she still had her hand over his. She pulled it back, even as she couldn’t deny how nice it had been to touch him.
“From all we’ve been able to figure out based on the most recent evidence, Tate has been revealed to be the head of the Capital X organization. Likely its founder, too. They engage in some really nasty loan-sharking and do whatever they have to to enforce their rules.”
“And murder?”
“When it serves their purposes.”
Just like Fred, she thought. “I’m sure your team has already found him, but Tate shot one of his henchmen when I was there.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that. We did find him, but we didn’t yet know the reason why he was dead.”
“Tate claimed Fred had been followed and that the cabin was being closed in on. Tate shot him for sharing the news.”
The memory sent a shudder through her and those earlier tears she had managed to hold back welled up once more.
“I called him and the other guy who was looking after me Fred and Barney. He was the big one, Barney was the little one, and they seemed to be a duo, you know?” She sniffed hard, even as a few more tears dropped silently down her cheeks. “I have no particular affinity for either of them and I know they chose their paths. But the man I was going to marry, to bind my life with, shot one of them in cold blood. I don’t know how to reconcile that in my mind.”
All the tears she had been so determined to hold back finally fell with all the finesse of a dam overflowing in spring. It felt like she kept traveling the same ground—endlessly—yet all she could ask herself was how she could’ve been so stupid. How she could’ve missed it all.
She was so wrapped up in her emotions that it took a minute before she realized Tripp had shifted some of the wires and her IV to settle in beside her on the bed. His big arms came around her, just as they had in his SUV, and he pulled her close.
“Shh. It’s okay.”
“It’s definitely not okay. I’m a cop. And CSI. I should’ve known better.”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret. It’s something I don’t tell anybody.”
&nbs
p; She twisted a bit in his arms so she could look at him, curious about what he was going to say. “What secret?”
“Much as we try to be, no one in this job is omniscient. No one’s a mind reader. And no one can anticipate another human being’s every move. It’s just the way of things, as hard as it is to accept.”
“I should have known.”
He pressed a light kiss to her forehead. “Someday, I promise you, you’ll understand and accept why you didn’t.”
It didn’t make sense, and Sadie wasn’t even quite sure she believed him, but sitting there in his arms she felt better. For the first time in weeks, she could see the real possibility that, someday, she might feel like herself again.
And she had Tripp McKellar to thank for it.
CHAPTER 5
Tripp held tight to Sadie, for the second time in less than twelve hours, and marveled at how good she felt nestled in his arms. He’d only meant to comfort and care, yet somewhere between pulling her from Sand Springs Lake and pressing a kiss to her forehead, something inside him had broken wide open.
And the balance between his rigid self-control and the interest he’d had in her for years had decidedly shifted.
Attraction or not, he was still a leader in the Grand Rapids PD and she was not. Her CSI role meant she didn’t directly report to him, but he was still her superior as far as departments went.
It was time he remembered that.
He carefully disengaged himself from the wires, gently settling her back against the pillow. “I think it’s probably time for you to get some rest.”
Those pretty green eyes were dazed, her brow knitted in confusion, before she nodded. “I probably should.”
“I want you to think about what I said. You don’t need to keep beating yourself up, Sadie. You couldn’t have known. Really, you couldn’t.”
He sensed her protest, her lips opening, before she closed them. “Thank you for saying that.”
“Now, get some rest. I’ll come back and visit in the morning. I’ve even heard a rumor there might be donuts.”
Harlequin Romantic Suspense December 2020 Box Set Page 6
