by Zoe Dawson
She had been more interested in making a strong family for her man, supporting his political goals. His only regret was that she hadn’t pursued her own dreams. He would be all for that.
She cared about him. That was evident, but maybe it was more because of the constant danger and the fact that he’d saved her life. She needed his protection.
This had started out as a rescue, then had changed and snowballed until his throat ached with how he felt about Piper. He loved Ty as a brother and that got all knotted up in him, too. Rock had been right. It was best to steer clear of your best friend’s sister.
But regardless of how Piper felt about him, he was going to see this through to the end. No matter the cost.
On his thirtieth lap, Dex was just getting warmed up when someone called from the pool deck. “Hey, Flipper! I’ve got something you need to see.”
Dex leveraged himself right out of the pool by his arms.
Austin threw him a towel. “The phone’s charged and I found a video on it. Brad made it the day he died.”
Dex dried off his upper body as he followed Austin back into the house. “I copied it to my laptop,” he said.
“I’ll go get Piper.”
He entered the bedroom and she stirred. He crouched down, kissed her soft lips. “Piper?”
She opened her eyes and smiled. “Good morning.”
“Morning, babe. We charged your husband’s phone last night. There’s a video on it that he made the day he died.”
She released a shaky sigh, and sat up, sliding her feet around to the floor as he rose. She reached for her robe at the end of the bed and stood, slipping it on.
He cupped her face, then smoothed down her hair. “I’ll be there every step of the way.”
“Let’s see what he had to say.” Her voice was uneven.
She reached for his hand and he threaded their fingers together. Back in the living room, Derrick was seated on the sofa and Austin had set the laptop on the coffee table. He was perched on the arm of the sofa.
“Morning, gentlemen.”
“Senator.”
“Please, call me Piper,” she said with a small smile, and sat, Dex folding down right next to her, his hand still around hers.
“Are you ready, Sena—Piper?”
“Yes.” She went a bit white, her hand going to the locket around her throat as she cupped it.
Austin reached forward and clicked play.
Brad’s face was conciliatory. It looked like he was in his parked car. “Piper, I want to tell you how much I love you. How much your support, energy, enthusiasm and willingness to take our dream as far as it could go has meant to me.” He smiled, and Piper’s eyes welled.
“I also want to apologize for what I’m about to tell you and feel like crap that I haven’t confided in you all along, but I was selfish. I didn’t want you in harm’s way. I’ve been investigating Robert Mullins.” His voice was subdued, but Dex could hear the underlying strain and fear.
“He’s tried to bully me out of the corporate change bill. But I had no idea what heinous acts he would commit in his bid for the White House.” Anger tinged his words and his face hardened. “I’ve gathered a lot of evidence against him, thanks to a man who was killed last week in a hit-and-run car accident in New York City—my PI, Sam George. His death was no accident. It just adds to the long list of people Mullins got out of his way. He’s got special interests in corporations that are paying into his campaign funds through blackmail and conspiracy. Mr. George has given me evidence that an assassin was involved in murdering the CEO of Markset Limited. Mr. George was a brave and loyal man and I’ll miss him. I’m pretty sure that Mullins is aware of what I’ve uncovered, as Mr. George’s office was ransacked, and all his computer files were taken.” He took a deep breath.
“I’m going to Edward with all this evidence I’ve gathered. I’m sorry I lied to you. If you’re watching this video, I’m probably dead.” He brought the booties out of his jacket pocket and Piper made a soft sound. Dex slipped his arms around her shoulders as tears spilled over and tracked silently down her cheeks. “I carry these around with me to remind me that making a better world for our daughter is more important than being safe and sound. I pledged my service to the people of California. I care what happens to the US and embrace what our forefathers, in their brilliant way, set up to govern our great nation.” Brad choked up and he took several deep breaths to get control. “Men like Mullins don’t deserve to even step foot into the Oval Office, let alone run this country.”
Brad leaned his head against the backrest, squeezing his eyes closed. “If I don’t…make it, tell our daughter, our Sophie, how much I love her. I’m sure she’s beautiful.” He rubbed at his eyes, his voice husky. “Don’t let her forget about me. Tuck her in each night knowing that I tried to make a difference. Everything I gathered is on my laptop, but in case that’s destroyed, you have what you need close to your heart to take to Edward.” He impatiently brushed tears away. “Stay safe, Piper, and please don’t mourn me too long. Life is too short for you not to be happy. Find love again. Hold on to it hard and live. Don’t let my sacrifice be in vain, sweetheart.”
The video ended and Piper covered her face and wept. It was the only sound in the room. Austin went to the window and looked out. Derrick’s eyes were filled with compassion.
A low sound of agony broke the silence of the room as Dex, unable to stand her pain, gathered her close. Austin motioned to Derrick and they left through the front door. It closed softly behind them.
Dex rocked Piper. Catching him by the back of the head, Piper hung on to him.
“It’s okay, babe,” he choked out. “It’s okay.”
Piper tightened her hold and Dex dragged his hand up and down her back, molding them together. In a crushing hold, he comforted her through this terrible revelation, this horrible news, driven by a need that burned through to his very soul.
“I’ve got you, babe,” he said, trying to swallow the knot in his throat.
She raised her head and met his eyes, hers swimming in tears, visibly moved beyond words by the gruff admission showing in those moist depths.
Neither of them spoke for a long time. Finally, she raised her head. He wiped away the moisture with his thumb. She faced him, her gaze frank and steady. “What do you think he meant about me having the means to take down Mullins close to my heart?”
“I don’t know. It was cryptic, but it was probably meant to be. If someone got ahold of Brad’s phone and saw the video, they would know you had the evidence. But where could he have put it?”
Dex rose and went to the front door. Opening it, he motioned for Austin and Derrick to come back inside. They had to figure this out.
Dex paced and Piper watched his powerful body move. “We thought your attack was about a bill,” Dex said, “but it had to be about this. About what dirt Brad dug up to nail Mullins to the wall.”
Piper fingered her locket, her heart still breaking over Brad’s video and the fact that she had never gotten to see her baby. Sophie had never been born. She felt so empty, yet so filled with rage.
Dex stopped pacing and stood still, staring at her. Piper felt his gaze and she raised her head. His eyes were watching her fingers caress the locket.
“Piper. You said Brad gave you the locket. When?”
“Just out of the blue, about two weeks before he died. I never take it off except to shower.”
He came closer, his eyes alight. “Does it open?”
“No, it’s old. Brad said it was…fused shut.” Her heart skipped a beat. “What? You think there’s something inside?”
“You have what you need close to your heart to take to Edward,” Dex said, and reached out his hand. “That locket is close to your heart, Piper. May I? I’ll try to be careful with it.”
She reached back and unclasped the locket and set it into the palm of his hand. Austin and Derrick followed him over to the dining room table. He set the locket down, pulled out a
wicked-looking knife and slipped the point into the seam in the locket and pried. He worked at it for several seconds, then the two halves separated.
Piper held her breath until she saw it, a dime-size metal square with a black head.
“It’s a flash drive,” Austin said. “Son of a bitch. She’s been wearing it around her neck all this time. Well played, Brad Jones. Well played.”
“If I hadn’t ignored everything after Brad’s death, people wouldn’t have died. Those Marines, those SEALs, Mr. Utley.” She gripped the counter, guilt making her gut churn. She ran from the room and just made it to the bathroom before she lost everything in her stomach.
Her brother Ty…he could have died.
Dex was there, pulling her hair back as she was sick again. She closed her eyes, but this time there would be no tears. There would be action and justice.
After she rose and he handed her a washcloth, he said, “I know what you’re thinking.”
“It’s all my fault. I didn’t want to face any of it. When I lost them…”
“Goddammit, Piper. Listen, and listen good! This isn’t your fault.” His voice shook with his barely contained anger, his jaw so tight. “I told you that in Afghanistan and I’m telling you now. You didn’t do any of this. Mullins did. He’s the one who’s got blood all over his hands.” His voice was husky and filled with steel. “Not you, babe,” he said viciously, dragging her against him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on to him as fiercely as he was holding on to her.
When they left the bathroom, Derrick and Austin looked concerned and fired up. “We can contact…”
“No.”
Derrick went toe-to-toe with Dex and Piper’s stomach jumped, the queasiness not going away. “Look, Kaczewski, we have a job to do. Find out who masterminded an attack on a contingent of US Navy SEALs, lured them into an ambush. Attacked a wounded SEAL. You! That’s what we were tasked with.”
Austin’s eyes narrowed and the surfer boy suddenly looked much more menacing. “Your men, Lieutenant.”
“I’m well aware of who died in my unit―good men―but I’m not turning this over to NCIS or anyone. I don’t give a damn what your chain of command is. This information stays locked down so no one else dies. This is Piper’s show. Her husband was murdered for this information, and she lost her child over this. We’re giving it to someone she can trust. Her brother Edward.”
“But SECNAV…”
“SECNAV can bust me out of the Navy, but I’m not budging. I don’t trust anyone. We’re taking this to Edward Prescott, Piper’s brother, and we’re keeping this under wraps until all the arrests are made.”
Piper curled her hand around Agent Gunn’s forearm. “Please,” she said softly. “Trust Dex. He’s kept me safe all this time.”
Derrick turned to look at her and quite plainly wasn’t happy, but as she held his gaze, he huffed out a breath and looked away. “All right. You’ve gotten us this far,” Derrick said, covering her hand and squeezing. “Beck?”
Austin agreed. “Kai is going to chew our asses, but we’ll take this to her brother.”
Piper called and set up a time to meet her brother at his house that night. She told him that what she was bringing to him was huge and that it was Brad who had died for the evidence to put away Robert Mullins.
“I’ve got to call Monty,” she said as Dex and the two NCIS agents were busy strategizing. She picked up her cell and went into the kitchen. She dialed his number and as soon as he answered, she said, “Monty.”
“I’ve got evidence for you, Piper. We should meet.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea. We’re planning on giving evidence we’ve uncovered to my brother Edward at his home tonight at seven.” Piper was so numb, moving on autopilot, trying to sort through everything she’d experienced since she got the call that Tyler had been wounded. She wanted to shut down, but she couldn’t. She had to see this through. “Could you be there and bring what you have?”
“Gladly.”
As they drove over to Edward’s house, Piper asked again, “Where are Austin and Derrick?”
“They decided to go back to San Diego. There wasn’t anything else they could do here. This situation is solved and you’re in good hands with me.”
It was over. She was going to be safe after she gave Edward the evidence that Brad had gotten with his life. She would be free to continue with her own.
Dex would slip out of her life and, suddenly, she felt so bereft that she wouldn’t see him every day, go to sleep with him, wake up to him, make love to him.
Her emotions had been so tested this week, along with plenty of danger and shocks that had been hard to take. How could she even begin to sort it all out?
When he was in DC, Edward lived in Bethesda, where their family estate was located. He’d taken over the mansion and the upkeep. It was a lot of responsibility, but Edward was so darned responsible.
They pulled through the gate once Piper gave Dex the code and it closed behind them.
“Just park out front,” she said. They got out of the car and went up the walk.
Dex’s brows rose as she used her key to get inside. “You really are filthy rich.”
They entered the grand foyer, a beautiful chandelier illuminating the white marble floors.
“Go ahead. I know you want to say something about the pillars.”
“No. Just that you have them in your foyer.”
She walked through the house, and Dex followed her, looking around. “I can give you the grand tour. Sounds like Edward’s on the phone, anyway.”
She took him into the formal dining room, the more casual living room and then into the gourmet kitchen. “My mom loved to cook.”
“Is your Georgetown home this large?”
“No, but I do have a six-bedroom home.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of space.”
She bit her lip. “I was hoping to fill it with children. The beginning of our political legacy.”
Dex squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Piper.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“Hey, now look here. There’s a pool. Why didn’t you learn how to swim?”
“I don’t know. I was too busy doing things, and the shallow end of the pool was fine.”
The doorbell rang and Piper headed back toward the front of the house. “I’ve got it, Edward.”
He came out of a wood-paneled room and covered the receiver. “I’ll be a few more minutes.”
She pulled open the door to Monty, who had a man with him dressed in a suit. “Pippy,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight for a minute. “I’m so sorry about all this terrible news and all that you’ve been through.”
“Come in.” Monty entered the foyer and eyed Dex. “This is Lieutenant Dexter Kaczewski.”
The man behind him lifted his arm, and before she could even shriek, he shot Dex in the chest. The bullet pushed him back and he hit the floor hard.
Piper’s scream echoed off the walls as the man grabbed her by the hair and dragged her down the hall, past Dex’s prone body.
Sobbing, he took her into the library, where Edward backed up, and the man shot him, too. By this time, Piper was in so much shock and pain she could barely think straight. The man shoved her onto the small sofa in the mahogany-paneled room.
This was the man who had chased them and tried to kill them in DC. She was sure of it, and he was with Monty.
It was almost more than she could process. “I trusted you.”
“This isn’t personal, Pippy. It’s business. Now turn over the evidence to me and this will be very painless for you.”
“No,” she bit out.
“Pippy,” he said softly, like he was still in her good graces and she was little again. “Don’t make this hard on both of us. Nyx isn’t a patient killer.”
“No, he isn’t,” Robert Mullins said as he strode into the room. “Senator Jones, I warned you about going against me.�
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“You’re in on this together.”
“No,” Monty said. “He’s blackmailing me.”
“Monty had your husband killed because of the bill, but I made sure to let Monty know how damaging it could be to his company. When your brother started digging, Monty got nervous. He used my contacts to get the information about the SEALs, and when you went running off to him, it was the perfect scenario. I made sure to include one of my men to ensure the job got done right, but then your Navy SEAL stepped in and all bets were off. The two of you were very good at hiding, but now it’s over.”
“Nyx,” Robert said, and he raised the gun.
Piper closed her eyes. They were going to kill her whether she gave them the flash drive or not. She wasn’t going to give in. The assassin turned slightly and pulled the trigger. Suddenly, Monty staggered back, his face going white as he clutched at his chest. “You…bastard.”
He careened into the bookcases and fell to the floor.
“Poor Monty,” Mullins said. “He thought he was going to get the information and turn the tables on me. But I always have a backup plan. Now, Senator, give me what your very resourceful and goodie-two-shoes husband collected on me.”
Piper glared at him. “You’re not going to get away with this.”
“You mean those two NCIS agents.” He shook his head. “That’s the trouble with law enforcement. There’s always a chance of dying in the line of duty.”
“You’re a monster.”
He advanced on her, grabbed her by the shirt and hauled her up. “I will be sitting in the White House and you will be nothing but a memory. They’re never going to find your body. Oh, and Nyx will take care of Tyler. Just so you know.” He backhanded her across the face and shoved her back on the sofa. “Kill her, search her, and make sure her and the SEAL are never found. Leave Montgomery and Edward here and clear out the place of anything valuable. Ditch that rental of theirs. You can keep any of the profits you make.”
The man turned to her with a cold smile on his face and her insides iced over. He raised his gun. “Goodbye, Senator Jones. You’ll get to see your SEAL and your brothers soon,” Mullins said with a smirk.
