Page 25 of Shielding his Legacy
Moto continued to work on the image, the pixels shifting to articulate edges and shadow. “It’s too low to be a belt buckle.”
“Off to the side too much, too,” agreed Cleats. “See how he’s standing? He’s almost in profile from this angle.”
“It almost looks like a…” Moto let his voice trail off.
Razorback crossed his arms across his chest, an all-too-familiar shape crystalizing into a recognizable form on the screen. “A badge.”
“No fucking way,” said Cleats, even as it became increasingly clear Razorback was right.
“Find out who our dead detective worked with, the cases he worked on,” Razorback barked. “Anything you can tell me about him or that task force that might be relevant to his murder. We could be looking for a dirty cop.”
“Hopefully it’s only one,” Moto said ominously.
Razorback nodded once. “Here’s to hoping.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Sloan, one of the most senior men on his team, who just so happened to have several higher-up police connections.
He answered on the first ring. “Domino’s Pizza.”
Razorback didn’t bother with pleasantries. “I’ve got four dead bodies at DeGrey’s cabin, and I need you to call in some favors to identify them before they disappear into thin air.”
“Ah, some of those fancydisappearingdead bodies. Got it.”
“You need to be quiet about this one, Dvorak. We might be looking at the handiwork of a dirty cop.”
“I’ll go up there myself.”
“No. I’m sending you, Champion, and Trace in as backup for DeGrey. Just see if you can get me a positive ID on any of our dead friends before you go wheels up.”
“I’m on it.”
Razorback hung up the phone.
15
Eva sat in the backseat of Gavin’s truck with the baby as they cruised down the highway. Snow was coming down at a pretty good clip, the fat flakes just beginning to accumulate on the wet pavement.
She’d listened as Gavin called his boss at HERO Force and told him what had happened at his cabin. Learning there’d been four men—and that Gavin had killed them all—wasn’t helping her calm down. Apparently, Gavin had already asked somebody named Moto to look into the murder she’d gotten on film, which made her wonder what else Gavin had done that he hadn’t shared with her.
His boss said he’d send several men to meet them, which at least made her think it wouldn’t be four against one if they encountered trouble again. She could barely stand to think about how close they’d come to being hurt or killed. The moment she’d heard gunfire, she froze with fear.
She knew she needed to protect her child at all costs. There wasn’t time for fear or trepidation, there was only time for action. She’d grabbed the baby and made her wayto the shed, determined to find a weapon of some kind while she hid from the men out front.
The shed was so full of planters and gardening supplies that it looked like a home improvement store commercial. All that was missing was the middle-aged woman with gardening gloves and a smile. Was this another side of Gavin she’d yet to see? Each time she thought she knew who he was, he revealed another facet of himself like the changing design in a kaleidoscope.
Her mind flashed back to their kisses. At least some things didn’t change. He still had the ability to arouse her like no man ever had. It was even worse now, because her body knew what it hadn’t back then—that his kiss held the promise of pleasure beyond her wildest dreams.
Her cheeks heated, today’s stolen kisses mixing with those in her memory like a churning vat of roiling hot liquid. She couldn’t resist him if she tried, yet he thought he’d forced himself on her!
Her face fell as she pondered what that must have been like for him to believe all this time. She wouldn’t have chosen to make love to him without a condom, that much was true. She certainly hadn’t volunteered to be impregnated and thrown out on the street by her family, but now that she had Abby, she would choose that outcome again and again.
She’d choose Gavin and their daughter, every single time.
“You okay?” he asked.
Her eyes shot to the rearview mirror, meeting his gaze in the dim light of the car. “Yes.”
He looked back to the road. “You’re not a very good liar.”
Tucking her chin, she focused on their sleeping daughter. Her own wellbeing wasn’t the issue. Eva had stoppedbeing the center of her own universe the day she’d learned she was pregnant. Everything was for Abby now, but she didn’t want to explain herself to Gavin, so she just said, “You’re right, I’m not.”
