Chapter Thirteen

Angel cursed the fog in his head. Slams of adrenaline were great for winning a fight, but the aftermath came with a high price tag. Bone-weary fatigue and a muddled brain. His body was yelling for him just to lie down and rest.

That wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

Mia and he had gotten through the first part of this latest shitstorm. They’d once again given their statements to the police who’d responded to the scene. RJ and Melanie had as well, after RJ had been treated for that cut on his head. It wasn’t a serious injury which meant they’d all gotten damn lucky.

They could have been killed.

And Angel hated that luck played into something that critical. He could have lost Mia in this attack, and he cursed the gunmen for nearly succeeding in doing just that.

Now, they were dealing with the aftermath.

After seven grueling hours at the police station, they had all finally been released. RJ, Melanie and their foster girls had gone to a hotel, and Angel had brought Mia back to his place—where the grueling was continuing. They were both searching for some answers as to who had orchestrated the attack and why.

Mia had taken up her now usual position on the sofa in his office, and while she was indeed typing away on her tablet, she looked as exhausted as he was. Probably more since she hadn’t had the experiences he’d had as a cop and in the military. No. This was all new ground for her, and soon, she’d need to crash.

He only hoped she didn’t get plagued with nightmares.

Angel was about to suggest, again, that she just close her eyes and give in to the exhaustion, but he saw the silent notification pop up on his phone. It was a request for him to join a video call with Ruby. That gave him yet another hit of adrenaline, and he put the call on the wall monitor.

Ruby opened her mouth and then sighed. “Since you answered this right away, that means you were awake to see the notification of my call. I silenced it in case you were sleeping.”

“We’ll rest as soon as we have the names of those two men I killed,” Angel assured her.

“Then rest will be happening soon because I have the names. Craig McBride and Reggie Crawford.”

Angel repeated the names under his breath. Mia did the same, but they both shook their heads.

“Maybe their pictures will jog something,” Ruby added, and the photos appeared on the monitor.

Not images of their lifeless faces as Angel had seen when he’d lifted their masks after he’d killed them. It’d had been hard to tell much about them since they’d both died from gunshot wounds to the head.

The pictures on the screen were clearly taken when both men had been very much alive. Angel studied both but then had to shake his head again. Mia did the same.

“Who the hell are they?” Angel had to ask. “They look like kids.”

That gave him a split-second of guilt until he remembered that these kids had had murder on their minds when they’d fired shots into the house.

“McBride is twenty-one and works mainly as temporary, fill-in type help for a catering company,” Ruby explained. “He’s not married, has no offspring, and no police record. That’s the reason the cops weren’t able to ID him from his fingerprints.” Ruby paused a moment. “Crawford is twenty, a high school dropout who’s been working at various fast food places around San Antonio. No record for him either.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Angel grumbled. “How did these two go from having no trouble with the cops to being killers?” Then, he tacked on the most important question. “And who hired them?”

“That’s what the team and I are working on,” Ruby said. “It’s a six-degrees of separation kind of search, though since neither man directly connects to anyone involved in Kenton’s murder. But there are some loose connections.” Something like an apology went through her eyes. “The strongest of those possibilities is to Melanie.”

Shit.

“How?” Mia and he asked in unison.

“Both Crawford and McBride were in foster care with an old high school friend of hers. Melanie actually visited the friend’s home several times while Crawford and McBride were there. The techs found that through a photo that the friend posted of Melanie and her on social media.”

“Were McBride and Crawford in the photo?” Angel asked. “In other words, is there proof Melanie actually met them?”

“No and none. The police are interviewing the friend now to see if she can place Melanie with the two, who would have been teenagers at the time since that visit was three years ago.”

Some of the tightness in Angel’s chest eased up. “I don’t think Melanie kept the two on tap as potential killers for if or when Kenton’s remains ever surfaced.”

“I agree, but the police will have to investigate it, too. They’ve also got a warrant for RJ and Melanie’s financials and are doing another search of the house. This time for any sign she would have paid the two men to attack.”

“Paid two men to shoot into a house where she was at the time,” Angel snarled, and he didn’t bother to take out the sarcasm.

However, he did remember that Ruby was just the messenger for this so he toned down his anger over having Melanie front and center in attempted murder. Including the murder of her own husband. And either RJ was a phenomenal actor or else he’d been genuinely terrified for his life when those shots had started.

“You said the strongest of those possible connections was to Melanie,” Mia commented as she stood and went closer to the monitor. “So, who else are the men connected to? Dwight?”

“You’d think so, but it’s to Roger,” Ruby said without hesitation. “And while it’s thin, the link is more recent than Melanie’s. McBride was on the catering staff of an office party at Roger’s company four months ago. There’s absolutely no proof that the two ever met, and in fact, Roger had already been interviewed, and he insists he doesn’t recall seeing McBride.”

“You believe him?” Angel asked.

Ruby made a so-so motion with her hand. “Roger is wealthy enough to hire hitmen. And since these two failed, he has the money to keep hiring until he gets his targets.”

Mia made a slight gasp. That definitely wouldn’t help stave on nightmares, and despite the fact that Ruby was watching, he slipped his arm around Mia and eased her side by side against him.

“Then, there’s the motive for Roger,” Ruby went on. “Or in this case, the lack of a motive. Unless, of course, he believes RJ, Melanie, Mia or you know something that could incriminate Birdie.”

Angel had to shake his head. “I’ve made a full disclosure to the cops. Mia, too. And if RJ or Melanie saw or heard something, why haven’t they spoken up by now?”

“You know the drill on this,” Ruby answered. “Maybe because they aren’t aware they heard or saw something. Or in this case, it could be because Roger wants to make sure everyone who was in that house is dead so that nothing can come back on Birdie. After all, it wasn’t just RJ and Melanie under attack. It was the two of you as well.”

Hell. She was right.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already alerted Presley, and he’ll take precautions. I want both of you to do the same. Heck, I’ll even give Dwight a heads up just in case he’s innocent.” Ruby’s gaze dropped to Angel’s arm that was still around Mia. “In the meantime, quit working and get some rest. That’s an order,” she added before she ended the call.

Angel looked down at Mia and was about to reinforce that order, but she spoke first. “Please don’t let it be Melanie or RJ,” she muttered.

He was right there with her. It was hard to wrap your mind around beloved foster parents turned would be killers. Still, it was impossible to know what was in a person’s heart.

“Too bad McBride and Crawford aren’t alive so they can tell us who hired them,” Angel grumbled. “Because I seriously doubt this was some sort of botched home invasion or armed robbery.”

She caught onto his chin, turning his face toward her so they had direct eye contact. “You had to take the kill shots. It was the only way you could guarantee our safety. RJ, Melanie, and I would likely be dead if it weren’t for you.”

It twisted at him to know that was true. To know just how damn close he’d come to losing them. If he’d missed either gunman… Angel stopped. Best not to conjure up the worst-case scenarios.

Especially since he didn’t believe the killer was done with them.

With that dismal thought racing through his head, he decided to obey Ruby’s order. Also, since Mia looked ready to collapse, he scooped her up in his arms, causing her to first make a sound of surprise before she chuckled.

“I could walk,” she muttered, dropping her head on his shoulder and yawning.

“Possibly,” he said.

“Where are you taking me?” Her voice was coated with that same fatigue that she apparently wasn’t able to fight off any longer.

“To bed. Alone,” Angel added.

“No, not alone,” she insisted. “I want to be in your bed, please. And stay with me.”

Angel debated that. Sleeping with her probably wouldn’t lead to a whole lot of sleep.

But rather sex.

And while that appealed to him very much, he knew that sex wasn’t what Mia needed. That meant he was going to have to force himself to keep his hands off her. Thankfully, the adrenaline crash would help him with that.

He took her to the room and eased her onto the bed. Thankfully, she didn’t protest, didn’t try to kiss him. If she had, he would have been toast. No way could he have resisted her. But no protest, no kiss.

The moment Angel had her on the bed, she closed her eyes and muttered something indistinguishable.

Angel covered her with a throw that he took from a chair, and when he was certain she was out like a light, he did as she’d asked. He would stay with her.

He took off his boots and holster, putting his gun on the nightstand, and he slipped in next to her. Angel pulled her against him and let the fog and exhaustion drag him under.

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