Chapter 15
Fifteen
“Well? Do you think Destiny is a criminal mastermind?”
Luca didn’t look at her. There was a loaded question if ever he’d heard one.
Luca figured it had a whole lot to do with the story she’d felt the need to share with him. Plus other parts of her background that she hadn’t mentioned. Things he needed to discover as they got closer.
When he added it all up, they hadn’t actually spent that much time together over the past week or so since they’d met again.
There would be more to discover about her.
Good and bad. Same with him. What would tell him their relationship could stand the test of time was how they both dealt with those things they’d rather change about the other person, and the ways they agreed to grow together.
To always keep striving to make the best of themselves and the relationship.
From what he’d been taught since he’d become a believer, the goal of a Christian was to be more like Christ. Doing that meant he couldn’t stay the way he was for the rest of his life. He needed to find ways to allow God to change him and grow him.
Human relationships were the same. Marriages, especially.
No one wanted to wake up forty years later and realize they were married to the exact same person they’d said I do to all those years ago.
Life would change who they were in unexpected ways as they shared the losses and everything gained in living together for years.
Spending those years with each other meant they wouldn’t—or shouldn’t—stay the same person.
“Is this a trick question?” He held open the side door of the hospital and she stepped through.
She glanced at him. “Maybe I’m being defensive, but if I’m wrong about her, then maybe I’m a terrible judge of character about everyone.”
Luca said, “Then I have to argue that you’re actually an excellent judge of character.” Because otherwise, she might be wrong about him.
“And that would mean Destiny isn’t involved in any of this.” Kira seemed satisfied by that logic.
Luca decided then that she didn’t need to know everything he was working on or who he was investigating. This sweet woman with her high-stress job and her quiet personal life didn’t need to know all the dark secrets this city had to offer.
Again, he felt that protectiveness in him surge up.
Not that he wanted to secure her somewhere, wrapped up in layers of protection—or cotton wool—but he did want to keep her safe. To protect her from anything dangerous in the world.
She had faced down some of the worst kinds of people and gone head-to-head with them, even though he got the feeling it wasn’t in her nature.
Whatever had made her agree to pass information back to her government in the first place hadn’t lasted through an entire career.
She’d done what it took to protect her heart from that life and got out.
Walking away from the Army had been one of the best things for his team. They had grown so much closer through the handful of years since, when everyone in their lives thought they were dead.
She had done it while living here all alone.
They stepped off the elevator and turned the corner into the hallway, where Hammer sat outside Francisco’s room.
His friend looked up, unsurprised, as Luca had texted him so he knew to expect them.
As soon as they were done here, they were going to Kira’s home so she could change.
After that, he wanted to show her his cabin in the foothills of the mountains to the west of the city.
Maybe cook her a steak over the grill. Sit on the back deck and watch the sunset, forgetting about all the danger and intrigue in town.
Or this shadow syndicate that was working behind the scenes.
He wanted some time with Kira. No stress, no bad guys. Just the two of them, relaxing and eating dinner together.
He should tell her about his father and his brother. Maybe she would tell him about her family.
“It’s been all quiet here,” Hammer said.
Luca held out his hand and they shook. “I appreciate you doing this.”
“As if you had to ask.”
Kira stayed beside Luca rather than going into the hospital room. “Why do you say that?”
Luca shifted, turning toward her and trying to formulate an answer that wouldn’t sound like tooting his own horn.
Before he could explain, Hammer said, “Because Saxon has saved my life more times than I can count. It was high time I repaid the favor.”
As if it wasn’t a paying gig. “And you’ll get to take your wife and son on vacation.”
Hammer grinned. “That’s a bonus. She’s pretty excited about it, actually.”
Kira smiled at him.
Hammer said, “She asked me to tell the two of you she wants to have you over for dinner. Nothing fancy, probably just a nice home-cooked meal. Whenever the two of you have a break in your schedule and we can get it on the calendar.”
“I would love that.” Kira glanced at Luca. “What do you say?”
The idea of Kira coming over and spending time with him at the Wallace household made the relationship between them sound far more settled than it was. A whole lot more real.
“You look scared.” Kira glanced at Hammer. “I scared him off.”
Hammer said, “He should be scared. It keeps a man honest.”
Kira frowned.
Luca shook his head at this ridiculous conversation. “I’m not scared. I’m just trying to figure out when on earth I’ll have a break in my calendar.”
“You have to do this thing called ‘taking a break.’” Hammer made quote marks with his fingers.
“Maybe you need to explain it to both of us.” She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. “But I’m going to check on the patient first.”
“Sounds good.” Hammer nodded. “It’s been quiet around here since Dr. Torres headed out.”
She flinched. “He’s not supposed to leave.”
Kira whirled to the door and flung it open. She rushed to Francisco’s bedside and started talking to him in a soothing tone. But Luca couldn’t hear what she was saying to the patient. A second later, the door clicked shut.
Luca turned to Hammer. “How long ago did he take off?”
Hammer shrugged. “Maybe half an hour. He told me he’d cleared it with you guys.”
“He didn’t say anything to us.” Luca scratched his jaw. “Did he say where he was going?”
“Nope.” Hammer looked up and down the hallway, assessing for threats. “What do we do?”
“Maybe the Marshals can find his GPS location from his phone. I’ll call Butler, and if they don’t have access, I’ll head over to his home.” Luca needed ideas. And leads.
The doctor may have just rushed out for an appointment.
Or run home to take a shower. There could be any number of explanations, but there could also be one that would prove to be the worst-case scenario.
At least Francisco was alive in that hospital bed, because this was a serious breach of security.
Luca paced down the hall and called Butler, but the guy didn’t pick up. He left a message explaining what’d happened and asking for the guy to run Torres’s location and call Luca back.
As he hung up, Kira emerged from the room.
“Is Francisco okay?”
She nodded. “He’s actually doing remarkably well following the procedure. If he stays like this, there will be no need for him to be here after tomorrow morning. He even said I don’t need to stay, and I’m inclined to agree. But not for long.”
“Okay.” Luca blew out a breath. “Let’s go track down Dr. Torres and find out why he left. I don’t like this at all.”
“Me neither,” Kira said. “But we should swing by my place so I can change first. It’s close by, and I don’t want to be wearing a dress and heels if something happens.”
Luca nodded. “That might give Deputy Marshal Butler time to call me back.”
But he didn’t.
The call came from Renegade Correctional Facility, and Luca had to agree to accept the charges.
He disconnected the Bluetooth from his phone and put the cell to his ear, knowing exactly who was calling. “How do you like your new place?”
“Are you kidding me?” Amir huffed over the phone line. “Care to tell me why I’m suddenly in Colorado?”
“I needed a favor, and I figured you could use some goodwill for the parole board.”
Kira had told him her dark secret—the reason why she’d quit the work she’d been doing overseas. It was past time for him to tell her about his family. The reason he hadn’t settled down before with someone else. And, until he’d met her, hadn’t had any plans to.
“What’s the favor?”
He explained who Jenkins was and the connection to Hammer. “Someone tried to kill him.”
“Does he want protection?”
“No,” Luca said. “But he needs it.”
“Great. So protect him but don’t make it look like I’m looking out for him?”
“The guy who tried to kill him is in solitary. Just keep an eye out for anyone else who might have been persuaded to try and take his life.”
Kira glanced over at him but didn’t say anything.
“And this is going to help me with the parole board how?”
“It’s called a good deed. The police here know what’s going on. I know a detective who can put in a good word for you if you help us with the investigation.”
“I think I just graduated to snitch.”
“That’s not what I’m asking from you. Just try and keep the guy safe.”
“I’m so glad you’re worried about my well-being. Sure, I’ll keep this lowlife who beats on his family safe. No problem.” Amir hung up the phone.
Luca tossed his cell in the cupholder. “My brother. The newest inmate in Renegade Correctional Facility.” He pulled over to the curb outside Dr. Torres’s house and turned to her. “He was in jail the weekend I graduated high school. No one I knew showed up to the ceremony.”
But he wasn’t telling her this sob story to get her sympathy. It was what it was.