Page 88 of Faith
Montgomery looked at Zeke. “We’ve been summoned. They need our help. All three of us. Now.”
19
Zeke did not belongin the room where decisions were made. He wasn’t in charge, he didn’t have any advanced education, he was just Montgomery’s best friend and Nina’s protector. His opinion wasn’t important.
So he stood against the wall and kept his mouth shut tight. No one asked him questions. They talked. They all talked. Where was Gwendolyn? How were they going to find her? Everything they’d tried had failed, for years, and they needed a new idea.
“She’s a step ahead of us,” Adam growled. “How in the fuck is she always ahead of us?”
“We closed all the loops in the department,” Marcus said.
When the news broke about local cops being involved, doing anything from killing witnesses in custody to handing over confidential information to getting rid of evidence, the local cops were vilified in the news and in public. As police captain, Marcus took the brunt of that. He got rid of cops, did investigations into all of them, and hand selected the few he brought into the secret task force Zeke and the others had been asked to join.
It wasn’t the first time Rose Protection Agency had been involved with the investigation, but it was the first time Zekeand Montgomery were specifically called. And the first time they were all together.
The group included law enforcement, civilians, and the women who called themselves the Curvy Vigilantes. As soon as Zeke, Montgomery, and Nina walked into Dawn Patterson’s mansion, Nina was wrapped up by Frannie and the other women. Nina sat on a couch across the huge living room, where Zeke could watch her, between Frannie and Raina London.
The whole thing was insane to Zeke. It violated every law he knew about how investigations could work, but the knowledge in the room trumped any laws, apparently. Each person had a unique interest in finding Gwendolyn Lennox. Personal, in most cases.
“How is she finding out what we’re doing? Could she have bugs somewhere?” Braden Wright asked. The firefighter’s girlfriend was framed for murder and nearly ended up a victim herself. “In our phones or something?”
Lorelei shook her head. “We don’t think so. My phone and Adam’s have top level security and are checked constantly for any spyware or unapproved software and hardware. I imagined the police is the same.”
Marcus nodded. “Especially ours.” He jerked his chin toward the other cops in the room. Pryce Murphy and Drake Foster both nodded in agreement.
“Everyone else could be a risk, but we’re not all together before every operation.” Lorelei looked as defeated as the others.
“How did she know about the raid on her house?” Adam asked, turning to Nina.
Nina shook her head and swallowed roughly, taking in all the attention on her. “She didn’t. Not as far as I know. We were in the house when it started.”
“You were?” Marcus blurted.
Nina looked at him and nodded. “Her primary guard came in and told her we had to go.”
“And she took you with her?” Pryce asked.
“I was her favorite. She would call me her sister. Said she wanted to keep me safe,” Nina told him. The flush rising on her cheeks said she knew what the others were thinking.
Marcus and Adam clearing their throats said they knew what the others were thinking, too.
“Nina is on our side,” Adam said definitively. “She’s done nothing but help us since she got away from Gwendolyn. We all have full trust in her, so any of those thoughts need to go away right now.”
“Thank you,” Nina whispered, straining for a smile at Adam as Raina took Nina’s hand.
Zeke stared at Nina, willing her to look up at him. When she finally did, he winked at her and smiled, hoping it would help her relax and remember she belonged in that room, stopping the woman who destroyed the last twelve years of her life.
Nina smiled back and marginally relaxed.
“Did anything Robert say remind you of something? Anything you didn’t think to tell us before?” Lorelei asked.
Nina thought for a minute, then shook her head. “No. I…” She paused to control herself before continuing. “I’ve told you everything I’ve thought of. I want her gone as much as everyone else.”
“More,” Frannie said, wrapping her arm around Nina’s shoulders. “Nina has been through the worst hell of all of us because of Gwennie. She spent twelve years with her. Nina came to us right away to tell her story. She’s been trying to help since day one.”
Nina smiled up at Frannie, but it wasn’t a confident smile. It was one that said the attention made her anxious.
Zeke wanted to say something, to take the attention from Nina, but he had nothing to add. He caught Mont’s eye and tried to convey his thoughts, thankful when Montgomery stepped forward.
