Page 64 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets
“I… I can’t, Bryce.” Her voice grew tight. “It’s just too soon. We haven’t even buried him yet. I can’t read his journal. Why don’t I bring it to you first thing in the morning and you can read it.”
Bryce hesitated. He really wanted his hands on that journal. Frank might have mentioned something vital about what he was investigating—and whether that something had led to his death. “Okay. If it’s not too much trouble.” He wasn’t sure it would be much easier for him, but he’d do it.
“It’s not,” she said. “See you soon.”
Bryce hung up and pressed his fingers to his eyes, then pulled up Jade’s text.Anything new?he asked.
Still waiting.
Should he say anything about Frank having second thoughts about the wedding?
Gotta go. Someone just pulled up.
Bryce closed his eyes to pray. Then opened them and grabbed his keys. Sitting here while Jade put her life on the line just wasn’t going to happen.
* * *
Jade sat in the command van and kept her eyes on the monitor, watching as a white truck pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse. With the earpiece in her left ear, she could hear the captain’s voice like he was standing next to her instead of in one of the unmarked police SUVs now closing in around the perimeter of the warehouse.
“Just got word that Dylan’s family is safe and the three men who were watching the house are in custody,” the captain said. “I sent officers over there, and they’ve been waiting for this moment to move in. If we’d tried to do it too soon, we would have tipped off the ring, but the timing was perfect and it went off without a hitch. Everyone is safe. Dylan? You hear that?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“Now it’s time to get the rest of them.”
Dylan rolled in shortly after the van.
“There he is,” Captain Colson said. “Keep eyes on him. And keep the body cams rolling. We do this by the book and take no chances on any lawyers getting these people off.”
Affirmatives echoed.
Jade gripped her weapon and made an effort to control her breathing. This was what she was trained for. Hours and hours. Trained to work as a team, to go in and catch the bad guys. To make her hometown a safer place for the people she loved. For her child—and, hopefully, future children. Gage and Jessica’s sweet faces flashed in her mind. How she prayed her parents were able to adopt them without any glitches holding things up.
“Let ’em get comfortable,” the captain said softly.
The van doors opened, and two men climbed out, then disappeared inside the warehouse.
Tense seconds passed. On the captain’s signal, Jade slipped from the command center van behind two team members and together, they scurried to the door. She took up a position on one side, connected eyes with the officer opposite her and nodded. He twisted the knob and pushed the door in. “Police! Everybody on the ground!”
“Show me your hands!”
Jade wasn’t sure who called the order as she and the others swarmed inside the building like ants on a hill. She held her weapon in front of her, sweeping it to cover the four men in the back of the warehouse. “Down on the floor!”
Two dropped, and two ran.
Jade bolted after the one closest to her. He darted toward the exit, and she quickly closed the gap. “Police! Stop right there!”
Of course he didn’t.
He reached the exit door. Pressed the bar—and went nowhere. The door was locked. Jade slammed into him, knocking the weapon from the back of his waistband. It clattered to the floor and he spun, fist shooting out. She ducked and threw a punch to his solar plexus.
The breath left him and he doubled over. She brought a knee up and caught him in the chin. He cried out and went down. “Stay there and put your hands behind your back.”
Wonder of wonders, he did. Jade snapped the handcuffs around his wrists and hauled him to his feet. He swayed, and she kept a grip on him. Looking around, she noted the others were in custody while yet more officers gathered the evidence. It was over. Before the sun came up, she had no doubt the rest of the ring would be captured.
And she and her family would finally be safe.
She directed her prisoner toward the entrance she and the team had breached and stepped outside to see Bryce standing next to her cruiser, Sasha at his side. Her eyes locked on his and her heart thudded a new beat in her chest. How could she still be so attracted to him when their future was still uncertain?
