Chapter 10
Ten
Luca took the stairs two at a time, pounding up the concrete stairwell. Burning off some of the adrenaline from what had happened last night. Thinking about Kira and the way she’d looked at him. The last thing she’d said before she left. Bring it on.
Right now he had to focus on work.
On the fourteenth floor of the office building across from the hospital, he pushed out of the stairwell onto the open rooftop in the daylight.
From the west corner, anyone up here would have a view of the window of Francisco’s room, with line of sight to use a rifle.
Someone with a heat-sensing scope could shoot the patient before anyone even realized they were here.
Luca scanned the rooftop and figured out the best angle, shifting his backpack off his shoulders.
He pulled out one of the cameras he’d packed, and wedged it beside the air-conditioning vent, using a piece of duct tape to secure it.
The trail cameras he had were high-end, wirelessly connected to the computer in his office that linked to an app on his phone, and only turned on when they sensed motion.
If anyone came up here intending to use the spot to take out Francisco, Luca would know about it.
Same with the two other building roofs he’d installed cameras on after Kira left.
As he headed back down the stairwell to the ground floor, he called the detective.
“Martinelli.” Mike’s voice was clipped, as if he was in the middle of something.
“Did they get him booked?”
“All tucked into a cell,” Mike said. “I’ll go chat with him in a bit. Make sure we have it straight what happened.”
Luca figured he and Kira already knew enough about the man’s intentions and why he’d followed her all the way out to her car, looking for “his woman.” But the cops had to ask the questions themselves.
Luca rounded the eighth floor. “I want to know the minute that guy hits the streets again.”
“He’ll probably go before the judge today and get bonded out.”
“On a Sunday?”
“Right.” Mike blew out a breath across the phone line. “And Monday’s a holiday, so it’ll be Tuesday then, which means he spends an extra few days in the county jail.”
“Maybe he can say hi to Jenkins for us.”
Mike chuckled. “Alden really told you that Ralph Rousseau is the one behind the Shadow Syndicate?”
“You don’t believe it?”
“Right now, I wouldn’t put it past anyone, except you and me and our nearest and dearest.”
Luca smiled to himself. “Everyone is a suspect?”
“Within reason, yes,” Mike said. “Outside of the land grab he and Jenkins were doing on the ranchers, Rousseau’s legitimate businesses in Renegade have been making real-estate deals for years with a bunch of his buddies.
Mostly business and commercial properties, and it wouldn’t surprise me if any of them were dirty.
Taking bribes or going around city ordinances just to make money.
He’s either dirty or he’s planning to run for governor. ”
“Maybe both.” With a side of stopping a doctor who was new to town from opening up her own practice.
“I’ll dig up everything I can get my hands on, and maybe we could meet up tomorrow. Go over everything we know about Rousseau.”
Luca couldn’t do that in the evening on Monday, as he’d be attending Mrs. Rousseau’s fancy foundation gala. “I have some time early.”
“It’ll be good to find out who he’s connected to outside of hearsay.”
“Catch you later.” Luca hung up the phone and pushed out the exit door into the afternoon sun.
The temperature was just about perfect for a run, but that was the last thing he had time for right now.
A nap might be a better idea, considering his sleep schedule was all messed up.
If he wanted to line up his schedule with Kira’s, he should probably switch to working nights on a regular basis the way she did.
He headed back across the street to the hospital, thinking about the way it felt so natural to have her in his arms. This woman who had seemed to be working to undermine his mission the day they met. Talk about a turnaround.
But what was it that she’d said? Giving intel to people who made the world a better place?
She must have worked for a government that was an ally of the US. Probably the British, considering her nationality. He doubted she was the kind of person who was still loyal to the place where she’d been born.
He’d grown up a refugee in the US with his brother Amir, making sure no one ever believed they were part of the regime they’d escaped.
Despite the accusations that had been leveled against his father, none of them were connected to terrorism.
But his father’s name hadn’t been cleared before he took his own life.
Luca used his key card to enter a secure door around the back of the hospital and rode the elevator up. Hammer stood at attention beside the door, hands clasped behind his back. His mind miles away while all of his physical awareness constantly scanned for threats.
“Hey.” Luca opened the door and checked on Francisco. The patient lay in the hospital bed, tucked in with blankets, his eyes closed. His doctor sat on a chair beside the bed, looking at the screen of a tablet, reading and scrolling slowly.
Luca closed the door.
“Hey.” Hammer cleared his throat. “What happened?”
“What are you talking about?”
His buddy shot him a look. “You think I can’t tell when you have something on your mind? You’re tense. More than your usual stoic demeanor.”
“Whatever that means.” Luca blew out a breath and rolled his shoulders. The hallway was empty, and the normal hustle and bustle of the busy hospital seemed far away.
He told Hammer about what had happened in the parking lot and how he had taken care of Stuart Parker when the guy was intent on getting answers from Kira by whatever threats were necessary.
Hammer shook his head. “No, that isn’t it.”
Luca sat in the chair next to the door and leaned his head back against the wall. “It’s fine. We took care of it. She helped someone, and he wanted to know where they were. The cops took the guy into custody. The woman he was looking for is safe.”
Hammer scanned the hall, then looked back at Luca. “But you got a taste of what it’s like when she’s in danger. How it feels to know the threat is coming for her, and you realized that stopping the threat is up to you.”
“I told her I need to see what she can do. That way I know in what situations she’ll be able to take care of herself.”
That should be somewhat reassuring, right? He would be able to breathe a little easier if he knew what she could handle.
“Maybe.” Hammer shrugged. “But if something kicks off and you’re not there, it’s going to drive you crazy.”
Luca shook his head. “There’s no reason to believe that guy will come after her again.”
Hammer leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway, facing him.
“Something will. Eventually. Maybe there isn’t a real huge threat in your lives, not like what we’ve faced the past few years.
But eventually she’ll be in danger, or some other situation will arise, and you’ll be too far away to help. ”
Luca didn’t like the sound of that.
“She could get sick, and there might be nothing you can do about it.” Hammer shrugged. “Or a thousand different things you won’t be expecting. Ways she could have her heart broken or get injured. Or ways she might have to face death. And the fact is that you’ll be facing it along with her.”
Luca pressed his lips together and shook his head.
“It’s a part of life, bro. Things happen that you can’t control. The people you love are threatened and nearly burned to death in a house, but thankfully, you’re there and able to help them.”
Luca shot him a look.
“You know what I mean. As much as you want to wrap her up and keep her safe, she won’t be able to live her life if you do that. This is the kind of woman who needs to feel like she’s free. Not like you’re dragging her down.”
“I’m not trying to trap her. Just trying to get a handle on the way I feel.”
Hammer said, “Literally the only thing I can guarantee you is that this won’t go the way you think it will. And it’s never going to be the best-case scenario. Life just isn’t like that.”
“You give such good pep talks.”
“The point is that you have to trust. God has all of it under His control. That doesn’t mean she’s not at risk or that nothing will happen to her—or you.
It means that both of you have to trust that He’s got this in His hands, so you can rest because He’ll put you where you need to be at the right time.
And all of it is just another way you can learn to trust Him more. ”
Luca sat forward, running his hands down his face. Closing his eyes meant he saw Kira again in his mind, the way she looked—and felt—in his arms. The way she looked at him. Something he hadn’t ever had before.
“It isn’t like I’ve never dated before,” Luca said.
“But it’s different with her, isn’t it?”
“You’re annoying.”
“Once a team leader, always a team leader.”
Luca shook his head. “You’re not my boss here. It’s my contract.”
Hammer grinned. “Just as long as I get paid. I’m gonna have four mouths to feed pretty soon, and who knows how many more babies Sierra wants to have?”
Yeah, the guy looked real disappointed about the prospect of making a big family with his wife.
The difference between the man Saxon had known for years and the married guy with kids wasn’t something Saxon could completely fathom.
The difference between Hammer and Rowan.
It really was almost like he was a different man entirely.
Which was true, wasn’t it?
Not only had Hammer become a believer the way Saxon had while fighting wildfires. He’d come home and literally become Rowan once again. Hammer was the past; Rowan Wallace was the man who had married and settled down—the guy looking to the future.