Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

B raxton

It was early on the West Coast, which meant if I was a decent brother, I’d wait to call either Valerio or Gage. Not that I’d call myself decent in any regard, especially today since I’d remained awake half the night trying to find answers as to what was going on in DC.

Even the couple of buddies I had working in the justice system had been tight lipped. That meant I should consider it an issue, whatever it was. Since when had anyone in Washington, DC been tight lipped about anything?

After the few sleepless hours, I was standing on the deck furthest away from the bedroom we now shared, doing everything I could to protect her from whatever this was. I’d searched the internet endlessly, but even several hours later, obtaining anything worthwhile seemed hopeless.

The moment my phone rang, I answered without bothering to look at the screen. “Yes? I mean Braxton Royal.”

“Either you’re up early or you didn’t get any sleep.” Jack’s voice sounded as exhausted as I felt.

“Both. You found something.”

He sighed and instantly, the hair stood up on the back of my neck.

“What, Jack? I know there’s something going on.”

“Yeah, there is. A goddamn coup.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t know what you expected to find or who you needed to destroy but there’s no need to bother any longer.”

Swallowing, my gut told me a tragedy had occurred, not that I’d label the man’s death that at this point. “He’s dead.”

“Not just him. He and his buddies, including a judge, were killed last night. Taken out in their own homes.”

I took a deep breath, rubbing my eyes. “Shit.”

“One of the other victims is none other than Secretary Bishop.”

“What in the fuck is going on?”

Jack snorted. “I don’t know, buddy, but the conspiracy theories are already going nuts. Before you ask, no criminal element had claimed responsibility and from what one of my friends told me, there’s no evidence whatsoever at this point. Of course, forensics is still keeping a tight lip, but I got this from the horse’s mouth.”

I hadn’t told Jack about the second worn little black book my father had kept but my gut told me that everyone who had been killed in this massacre was on the list. With my father dead, did that mean someone else was finishing where my father had left off?

“Fucking great,” I said under my breath. How was I supposed to tell Jasmine her father was dead? “Is Jade Sinclair alive?”

“Yeah, shaken and she was tied up and beaten but whoever was responsible left her alive. As you might imagine, she’s under police protection at this point. I doubt I’m going to get much more additional information. Besides the rules within the State Department, the FBI, CIA, I’ll guess even the president are involved; you can bet information is going to be on lockdown from here on out.”

“To be expected. If you hear anything, let me know. Including who might be behind this.”

“I’ll keep my ear to the ground. One piece of advice. I don’t know exactly what you’re in the middle of since you can’t seem to trust me but stay clear of it for now. Not only because you hold power that people will always want to crush if possible, but because there’s always a chance someone is attempting to tie up loose ends.”

“I get that. I really do.”

“I hope so. I don’t want to attend your damn funeral, buddy. It would put a huge damper on my life.”

He was still laughing even after the call was ended.

Meanwhile, I continued to stare out at the ocean as if the waves and turquoise blue water would provide some sense of answers. Or at least a decent way to tell the woman I wanted to keep her family had been ripped apart. Normally, I didn’t care about being the bearer of bad news. I often enjoyed the hell out of doing so with anyone daring to stand in my way, but this was different.

This felt personal even if I’d had the same desire to destroy the man myself. After the day before, everything had changed, including how I felt about her.

I couldn’t avoid the ugliness. Tragedies had a way of breaching every surface, no matter how hard someone tried to suppress it. I headed into the living room, still uncertain of how I was going to broach the subject.

The closer I came to the bedroom we’d shared, the more my hackles were raised. What was that noise?

After a few seconds, I threw open the door. Seeing the television turned on in the bedroom for the first time shocked the hell out of me. But witnessing the news playing over and over again, Jasmine’s shoulders slumping as she sobbed was another moment that cut through me like a sharp knife.

The broadcast was horrible, the reporter going over details that shouldn’t have been mentioned, including the names of the victims. I walked further inside, trying not to allow my anger to get the best of me.

She tensed the moment she sensed I was close, turning around seconds later to show me her tearstained face. As she opened her mouth twice in an attempt to speak, something finally broke free within me and I took two long strides forward, gathering her into my arms.

“He’s… dead,” she managed in between sobs as she clung to me.

“I heard, baby. Your mother is going to be okay.”

“How can she be okay? Her husband was just murdered.” She was going through the range of emotions, her words stilted and at times, almost unrecognizable.

“I know. I know.” All I could do was hold her at this point, trying to keep her from continuing to watch.

But I did.

It was necessary.

I would take what Jack said seriously. My gut told me whatever was going on wasn’t over.

Not by a long shot.

A formal state affair.

I hated them almost as much as I did funerals. Jasmine had insisted we return to DC, which I understood but I was still concerned even after a few days had passed. In the days since, she’d retreated back into a shell, unable to discuss or convey her feelings.

Since then, she hadn’t shed a tear either.

I’d given her space while striving to continue protecting her, the news on what had occurred no more helpful than it had been the day after the shooting.

Jack and his team as well as Valerio were in the SUV located behind the motorcade. Justin Sinclair’s body had finally been released, allowing his coffin to return to his home country for burial.

Jasmine had opted to stay with her mother, allowing us only fleeting time to spend together. While I didn’t like it, what the hell was I supposed to say? She was allowed to grieve and care for her shattered mother.

At least Jade’s physical injuries would heal quickly enough, but the emotional scars were something else altogether. The once vibrant woman was merely a shell of herself.

“I wish there was something I could offer in the way of information,” Valerio said as the various vehicles pulled into the private airstrip. Justin’s body would be given a ceremonial send off, members of Congress and the vice president present.

However, it had been deemed too dangerous for the president to attend. Given no one knew who was responsible, the conspiracy theories had gone wild.

Jack and his team had remained diligent, doing their best to track down Santini, who’d been safely tucked away in his estate in Australia. Of course, that didn’t mean he hadn’t ordered the hits, which had left eight powerful men dead. The heinous acts were considered one of the worst events in DC’s history.

But as I’d heard more than once, there were still no leads, which had put every member of law enforcement into a significant panic. I couldn’t blame them, but everything within the city limits was in full lockdown mode, which didn’t bode well for so many of the businesses.

Every foreign dignitary who’d been on camera had expressed terror. Somehow, I doubted their lives were in jeopardy, but I certainly couldn’t provide my own theories.

“You can tell me if you’ve found anything out via your contacts,” I told him. Their limo was just now pulling up thirty or so yards from the secure plane, our driver preparing to stop as well. I’d been surprised we’d been given clearance, but we were pretty darn persuasive when we wanted to be.

“I wish I could provide you with something but no one is talking.” Valerio seemed tired and stressed. He’d finally gone into detail about the threats our company and family had received, although they’d amazingly stopped coming on the day the hits had been made.

I was hoping clues could be found by deciphering them one at a time, but none of them seemed to be connected to the other. Maybe the fucker just wanted us on edge after all, concentrating on potential problems instead of paying any attention to the secret book found.

Right now, I wasn’t in the mood to play a guessing game, for the rest of the night at least. With her mother heading back to Australia, I needed time to spend with Jasmine. She would feel alone, more frightened than before.

At least she was staying in the US, but I had a feeling part of that was based on wanting to find out who her father’s killer was. I’d need to watch her carefully or she was likely to do something drastic.

“Yeah, as I suspected. Tomorrow, we start figuring this shit out.”

I noticed Valerio and Jack studying each other. Yeah, maybe they had every right to think I was nuts. If the cops couldn’t figure out the person responsible, how the hell was I supposed to? Didn’t matter. I was more determined than ever.

When the FBI agents stepped out given their official duties, assisting both Jasmine and Jade onto the concrete, I was on the tarmac in a split second.

Within seconds, all four men flanked my side. I knew that I needed to keep my distance until all the pomp and circumstance duties were over. However, all five of us were armed and prepared in case of an attack. Of course the person responsible would be a complete idiot to plan anything at this location. It was heavily armed, the Marines and Secret Service assigned prepared to issue rounds of fire without hesitation.

Jasmine stood with her mother, darting glances in my direction every minute or so. She was so different yet stronger somehow after the ordeal. Yet I sensed the significant impact would change her forever. How so remained to be seen.

As his funeral vehicle’s back door was slowly opened, still following every protocol, I wasn’t entirely certain how I felt. When the casket was removed, the carved wooden object draped in the Australian flag, Jade began to sob all over again.

“Mrs. Sinclair couldn’t provide any details of who attacked them?” Valerio asked, trying to keep his reverence for the moment.

“No. Whoever broke in threw bags over their heads so she saw nothing. No one spoke either, which tells me whoever it was had an accent.”

“Interesting,” Jack said from beside me.

“Yeah, but not earth shattering.” We stood in silence for a couple of minutes as the casket was lowered onto an official gurney, several men guiding it toward the back of the plane. “I hate this shit.”

Justin’s casket was wheeled slowly toward it, everyone standing in reverence. Jade remained hysterical while Jasmine had barely reacted, keeping her head face forward instead of her eyes following the casket’s movement. I suspected much of the guilt she was feeling had to do with her telling her father she’d hated him.

Did any child truly ever hate their parents? Some should but the bond was usually tight, the need to please there from the beginning. Hell, I’d even felt the same way. Still, seeing her face in so much pain was terrible. Not being able to provide the comfort she needed was worse.

I couldn’t take it any longer, turning around to face the others. “We need to get to the bottom of this.”

“For your sake or for hers?” Jack asked.

“Both. I think you were right in saying this still isn’t over yet, even if we don’t know what the hell is going on.” I was doing my best not to raise my voice.

“One way or the other, we’ll figure it out.” My brother seemed so sure. He’d clapped me on the shoulder, even squeezing as he used to do when we were younger. “I know how much you care about her.”

“I do, more than I believed possible.” We were all facing the other way now, Jack and his team using the excuse of keeping a close eye on the perimeter. “She’s very special, a light to my darkness.”

“Yet you wanted to hunt down and kill her father yourself,” he said, almost in jest but I knew he was doing nothing more than reminding me of what I’d said.

“Yeah, I’d wanted Justin dead. I’d planned it in my head but for an entirely different reason. I would have killed him given the opportunity.” There was another moment where the electricity that shot through me wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Valerio caught my stiffness and glanced over his shoulder. “Shit.” Almost immediately, he backed away, causing the others to do so.

I turned around, uncertain what to expect.

Although I should have.

She cracked her palm across my face, her look of hatred matching her expression of indignation. “You fucking asshole. You acted as if you cared about me, treating me like a princess after luring me to your island. All the while, you were planning my father’s murder?”

“That’s not it, Jasmine.” I cupped the side of my face, feeling the burn as I deserved.

“Then what is it? I mean come on. You get me to sleep with you, to trust you telling you private things. Did you use those against me because you were planning all along to kill him?” She took a long stride backward.

When I took one closer, she threw out her hand. “Jasmine. We should talk.”

“You know, I don’t think we have a single thing to talk about and if you come closer, I’ll make certain you’re arrested.”

“He hurt you.” What the hell was I trying to accomplish by reminding her of that? I was a calculating man. Shit didn’t just flow from my mouth.

She laughed bitterly. “Yeah, he did, but not nearly as much as you have. My father wasn’t the best of men but he was still my father, my blood. You’re not.” She shook her head and once again, I gave her some space. “I need space. Time.”

“You’re still in danger and you know that.”

“Maybe so but I can’t stand the sight of you right now. In fact, I don’t think I can any longer.”

“What are you saying, Jasmine?”

There was a new hardness about her, a sense that I’d betrayed her. “What am I saying? I think it’s perfectly obvious. I never want to see you again.”