Chapter Four

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While she watched the EMTs load Colonel Rosa into an ambulance, Marise's mind was spinning with everything that'd happened. And spinning, too, with what Slade and she had learned.

His father was the man in the photo.

The man who'd threatened Rosa and her and then had left the dead rat.

She had so many questions about Sonny's involvement. For instance, had Sonny known about Rosa's connection to Slade? And Slade's connection to her? Or was Sonny's involvement solely with Rosa until she had intervened by going to Rosa's room to stop what could have turned into an altercation?

She simply didn't know.

Slade no doubt had plenty of the same questions since shortly after getting the news, he'd stepped away from her to call his boss. He'd then continued the conversation after they'd gone downstairs to meet the ambulance. Continued it outside as well, though Slade had stayed on the porch while she'd accompanied Rosa to the ambulance.

Slade wasn't doing a whole lot of actual talking, so Marise couldn't tell what his boss was saying to him, but judging from his expression, he wasn't getting any news he wanted to hear. Then again, probably nothing good could come from having his father resurface this way.

"I'll visit you in the morning at the hospital," Marise told the colonel as the EMTs finished putting him into the ambulance.

Rosa's expression wasn't any better than Slade's, and she knew that wouldn't improve once he learned that Slade's father had been the notorious Mr. Smith. But Rosa would need to be questioned about that since Slade would need to be aware if there was a personal connection between Rosa and his dad.

Once the ambulance doors were closed and the EMTs drove away, she turned to go back to the porch where Slade was still pacing. However, just as she reached him, he ended the call.

"Are you okay?" she asked but then waved that off. "Silly question. Let's go inside so I can make a call to SAPD to request a guard for Rosa's hospital room."

"Already done," Slade provided. "Ruby took care of that. If SAPD doesn't have the available manpower, she'll send out someone from Maverick Ops."

"Then, thank Ruby for me." That was one thing she could check off her list. Good thing since there were two other serious things that had to be dealt with.

Slade and his creepy father.

"Ruby doesn't want me on guard duty," Slade added in a mutter. "She ordered me to go home and get some rest."

"Then, thank Ruby for that, too, because she's right. Come with me to my office so I can get my things, and I'll go home with you."

He lifted an eyebrow as he opened the door for her, and they went inside. "I thought I'd have to convince you to stay with me."

"Nope. You might have a concussion, and since you're too stubborn to go to the ER, I'll be your nurse on duty. You're sure you want to go to your place? We can go to mine if you prefer."

"Mine," he insisted. "We can go to my lake house. It's only about twenty minutes from here, and I've got all the equipment needed there to start figuring out what the hell is going on."

"And it has excellent security," she tacked onto that.

"It does." He gathered his breath and stepped into her office with her. "I need to make sure you're safe. That's why I wanted you to stay with me. It's possible Sonny will come after Rosa and you."

Yes, she'd already gone there. "Considering how he loves to lurk around the parking lot, I agree. And while I could still bash him with this…" She picked up the paperweight from her desk. "…I'd rather not have to go one on one with him."

"I'd also rather you not do that." He sighed. Then groaned. Then cursed.

Marise did some sighing of her own and went to him, and because he looked as if he needed it, she pulled him in a hug. A gentle one since he was probably aching head to toe with his injuries.

He went stiff, maybe because this sort of contact wasn't their norm. Yes, they sometimes hugged when they hadn't seen each other for a long time, but there was nothing happy about this moment. Slade's world had just been shaken to the core, which meant there was a lot of dangerous, edgy energy coming off him. With her need to care for and comfort, that wasn't a good combination.

She kept her arms around him but eased back so she could meet his gaze. And she did that all right. Met in a head-on collision sort of way, and the eye contact held, too. They stood there, bodies pressed against each other and so close that she could…

Marise kissed him.

And then jumped back as if he'd scalded her. Which was close to the truth. There'd been a flashfire of heat from that mere touch of their mouths.

"I shouldn't have done that," she was quick to admit.

He smiled a smidge. "I was thinking about doing it. You beat me to it. But my thoughts about you were of the impure sort. Yours was a pity kiss."

She did a smidge smile as well. "Pity with a side dish of impurity. I've stitched your ass, Slade. Trust me when I say that it's hard not to have dirty thoughts about you after seeing that particular part of your rather fine anatomy."

"Now, you're doing pity jokes to flatter and distract me," he concluded.

"Flatter and distract with more of the dirty side dish. Let's face it, the dirty is always going to play into what we feel for each other. As long as we resist, we'll be okay," she tacked onto that.

However, at that moment resisting felt even harder than it usually was. To fix that, Marise focused on his injuries and what had to be a god-awful state of mind. Slade didn't need her to test his willpower. He needed a friend.

And first and foremost, that's what she was.

She stepped back and caught his little finger with hers. A pinkie swear gesture that they'd adopted over the years when things had gotten bad. Their current situation was the very definition of bad, and since this could trigger her own PTSD, she needed Slade as much as he needed her.

Finding a lover was easy.

Finding someone like Slade was a once in a lifetime deal.

Marise grabbed her laptop bag, purse, and the small overnighter she kept stashed in her closet for those occasions when she ended up spending the night here at the facility. It had not only some clean civilian clothes but an extra set of scrubs.

She texted Stu, the night nurse, to let him know she was heading out. She also used her phone app to turn on full security for the building. That way, if Sonny came looking for Rosa, he wouldn't be able to just waltz into the place.

After more consideration, she sent another text to Stu to warn him about Sonny and for him to pass along the warning to the day shift workers when they arrived.

Slade moved in front of her as they walked out the door, and he fired some glances around the parking lot. No doubt looking for his father. If Sonny was there, he was staying well out of sight. Then again, it was nighttime so there were plenty of shadows for hiding.

Slade and she got into his vehicle, and while still glancing around, he drove away. He didn't say anything until they were out of the parking lot and onto the street.

"Shit," he growled.

For one heart-stopping moment, she thought he'd seen Sonny, but then she realized he was cursing about the situation and not a sighting.

"I let Jericho and Nash know when Rosa was being taken to the ambulance," Slade said a moment later. "Or rather I left messages for them. Both are on assignment right now."

Getting that news would definitely be a blow to both of them. Marise didn't know the whole story about their father, but she knew the high point. That he'd murdered his wife and then disappeared. His return was going to be like pouring salt in old wounds for his sons.

Slade got on the interstate and headed north toward the Texas Hill Country. She'd been to his townhouse on the Riverwalk plenty of times, but the lake house would be a first for her. Still, she knew the area they were heading to. High-priced luxury vacation homes tucked away on a private lake but still only minutes from the city.

"I had to alert Caroline Maverick, too," he went on. "Ruby's daughter and Nash's significant other. Caroline's the one who killed Bodie when he attacked Nash, Ruby and her."

Marise did some muttering and cursing of her own. She'd already known that since she'd read all the reports, but she'd forgotten that Ruby's daughter might play into this.

"So, Sonny might want to try to settle a score with Caroline." Marise came out and asked.

"Might," he admitted. "And that's why Ruby has arranged for some extra security for her until Nash gets home."

Good. It was a security measure that would make everyone breathe easier. "Has Sonny had any kind of recent contact with Nash, Jericho or you?"

"None. Not since he left Stronghold years ago."

Stronghold, she knew, was the name of the compound where Slade and his brothers had been raised. An off the grid community for survivalists and extreme doomsday preppers. Apparently, a place for killers, too, since Sonny had made it his home.

"That's where he killed your mother?" she risked asking.

"It was near there. He pushed her off a bank and into a creek that's behind the compound. It's one of those areas with high chalk bluffs and lots of boulders. Jericho said she hit one of the boulders when she fell and plunged into the water."

She considered that for a moment. "Any chance it was an accident?"

"None. People have survived a fall from there over the years, but Jericho said Sonny shoved her." A muscle tightened and flickered in his cheek as he took the turn off the Interstate toward the lake. "Sonny's a dangerous, misogynistic asshole who believes he has the right to do whatever he wants to a woman. Bodie had that attitude, too."

"And now he's dead." She hesitated before pressing this a little harder. "Will you be able to confront Sonny without outright killing him?"

Slade stayed quiet for a while. "I don't know," he admitted just as his dash flashed with an incoming call.

From Ruby.

He accepted it right away. "Marise and I are on the way to my lake house," he let his boss know.

"Good. I wanted to give you an update on what I've found. One update," Ruby emphasized. "And then I want you to get some rest. That's an order in case you didn't pick up on that."

"Understood," Slade said in a grumble. "What's the update?"

"Stephanie Rosa. You were right to be suspicious of her. She's been having an affair with her best friend's husband, Carlyle Hutton. They've mainly managed to keep it secret, so I'm not sure the colonel or Hutton's wife knows."

"Mainly?" Slade questioned.

"I did a compilation of feed from traffic and store cameras and then used facial recognition to identify Hutton and Stephanie going into a Riverwalk hotel. Not once but on four separate occasions. According to the records I accessed, this is a weekly deal for them that's been going on for about six months."

Marise hadn't known so much information could be gathered from traffic and store cameras. But she was glad Ruby had found it because it gave them a launching point.

"Two weeks ago, Hutton's wife reported him missing," Ruby went on. "She said he went to work but didn't come home. I found him on a traffic camera feed heading in the direction of the Rosa's house."

"Hell," Slade blurted. "Two weeks?"

"Yes, about the time that Rosa said he witnessed a murder, and that's also when Stephanie had him admitted to Patriot's Retreat."

"Stephanie could have murdered Hutton," Marise concluded.

"She could indeed," Ruby agreed. "And that's why I need to do more digging on the woman. On her assistant, too, Julian Randall, who would apparently do any and everything for his boss. FYI, I've alerted the hospital and SAPD to keep an eye on her and her assistant if they visit the colonel."

Marise was glad she had done that because if Stephanie was a killer, then she might go after her husband, too.

"Now, Slade," Ruby went on, "I want you to get home and in bed. I'll give you updates after you've had at least eight hours rest."

Slade opened his mouth as if ready to argue about that, but Ruby ended the call. "I knew there was something off about Rosa's wife," he grumbled as he made the turn toward the lake.

Ahead, Marise saw the massive limestone sign for the Pearl Bluff Estates. There was a dark-colored pickup truck parked next to it.

She got just a glimpse of the tall security gate and the lights glistening off the water when she saw the figure step out from behind the sign. A man dressed head to toe in black.

He immediately lifted a gun.

And he fired right at them.

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