Page 119 of Cole

He took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving hers. “Annie, we think the investigators have found Angelica.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

When Annie’s legs buckled, Cole moved quickly to catch her, wrapping his arms around her again. Maybe he shouldn’t have been the one to tell her the news, but she’d known something was wrong. Plus, he hadn’t liked keeping the news a secret from her.

He’d understood why secrecy was the best course of action while they weren’t sure. But now that it had been pretty much verified, he felt it was time to let her know.

When Duncan had informed him that they’d managed to confirm that the woman was Angelica, he’d been shocked. It had only been a few hours since he’d given the man the information.

But then he remembered… this was one of the richest men in the world. People didn’t ask how high when he said to jump. They just jumped as high as they possibly could and hoped it was enough.

In this case, whoever Duncan had called with the information Cole had given him, had managed to dig deep with only a name and phone number. It wouldn’t surprise Cole if he discovered that the person responsible for digging up the information was able to hack government servers.

“Are they sure?” Annie asked, her voice thready.

“Your dad seems pretty certain, given the information his contacts dug up.”

“How?”

“Why don’t we go in?” Cole suggested. “Then your dad can give you all the details.”

“I don’t know how I feel about this.”

Cole tucked her against his chest and ran a hand down her back. “I know it’s a shock. You don’t have to feel anything right now.”

Annie clung to him like he was a life preserver, and maybe, in that turbulent moment, he was. And that was just fine by Cole. If she needed him to support her, he would absolutely be there for her.

A whine had Cole looking down. Sitting pressed against Annie’s legs was a large tawny-colored dog.

“I think Nyla is worried about you,” Cole murmured.

“Yeah. She picks up on my moods.” Annie moved back enough to put her hand on Nyla’s head.

“I’m okay, girl. And Cole is safe,” Annie said, then took Cole’s hand. She removed his glove, then held their joined hands out for Nyla to sniff. “Safe.”

She said another word that he didn’t quite catch, but it made Nyla’s tail wag, and she licked his hand.

“What did you say?”

“I used a word the trainer made up to let her know you’re a friend.”

“Oh, I see. Can I pet her?”

“Yep. She loves to be scratched behind her ears.”

Cole lowered himself so he was closer to the dog’s level, without actually sitting or kneeling on the cold ground, and used both hands to give her scratches. He had always liked dogs, and they’d had one when he was growing up, but he’d never considered getting one as an adult.

“She’s beautiful,” Cole said as he straightened.

“She likes you,” Annie told him with a smile.

“I’m glad.” Cole took her hand. “Should we go talk to your dad?”

Annie sighed. “I suppose. Has he told Julian?”

“I don’t think so. He wasn’t sure that Julian was in any state to hear the news.”

“Well, Jill should be happy.”

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