Page 41 of Fierce Hope
He watched her expression pinch as she read the ugly words.
“We’re getting close,” he assured her. “This ends soon.”
She let out a shaky breath and let the paper flutter to the desktop. “So we’re back to not knowing who’s behind this.”
“Yet. We don’t know yet. But whoever hired Delgado left a digital trail. Zara and Kenji will have answers as fast as they can type.”
Wanting to distract her, he nodded at the letter Pastor Dan had dropped off. “You make any headway on that storage puzzle?”
“Not yet.” She shrugged. “Their offices aren’t open until Monday. I’ll check with them then. Probably something left over from when the church rented space. That was a few years ago. I’m sure it’s a paperwork glitch.”
Or it was another clue. The hairs on his neck prickled. He leaned forward to snag it. “May I?”
The letter appeared legitimate—corporate letterhead, proper formatting, reference number. But the account details triggered every instinct honed through years of security work.
“Did Pastor Dan say he never authorized the storage rental, or that he doesn’t remember doing it?”
Her lips twitched despite the tension. “With the pastor, there’s not usually a difference.”
He leaned back, rubbing his burning eyes. He’d bring this up to the team, but for the moment, he worried he was jumping at shadows. And this was no time to get distracted. Catching Delgado in the act was a gift.
A few minutes of cyber-hacking and they’d know who was harassing Jade.
He just needed to keep his eye on the ball.
His chest tightened, watching Jade return to sorting church records with deliberate calm. She was unexpected—strong, resilient, faithful despite legitimate fear.
In another world, under different circumstances ...
DJ’s angry face flashed through his mind. His son barely tolerated him now. Adding Jade into that volatile equation wouldn’t be fair to anyone.
“I’ll coordinate with Kenji about Delgado. He and Zara can look into the storage unit, too. They’ll have answers way before Monday.”
He rose, needing distance from the dangerous pull she exerted.
She looked up then, eyes meeting his directly. Something deeper than gratitude passed between them—something that accelerated his pulse way beyond professional boundaries.
Around them, the church hummed with Saturday life. But watching her quiet determination, he knew his world had already shifted.
He just couldn’t afford to let himself acknowledge how much.
24
Less than an hour later,Jade sat at the glass-topped conference table back at Knight Tactical, fidgeting with a pen as she watched Kenji and Zara work their technological magic. Their wide monitors cast blue-white glows on their focused faces as they pulled up banking records and location data on the wall-mounted screens.
“Got another hit on Delgado’s credit card,” Zara announced. “Gas station near the church, right before the incident.”
Kenji nodded, adding the data point to his timeline. “Building quite the picture here.”
Their easy banter wrapped around Jade like a familiar blanket, but she couldn’t shake the morning’s unsettling revelation. Chad Delgado. Sarah’s ex. The thought made her stomach clench. How had he gone from Sarah’s lovesick puppy to ... this?
The ambient hum of air conditioning felt too loud in her ears as she tried to focus on the updates scrolling across the screens.
A crackle of static broke through her thoughts as Ronan’s voice filled the room via speakerphone. “We found the kid’s ride,” he reported. “Front bumper’s damaged ... looks like paint transfer from Jade’s car.”
Axel’s voice chimed in from the background, “His living situation’s sketchy too. Four guys crammed into a one-bedroom condo. Place is a disaster.”
Jade’s pulse quickened as Ronan continued, describing the matching paint flecks they’d found.
