BEX
Chapter Nineteen
It was time I got back into a regular work schedule.
I was a Team Leader and couldn’t stay away for too much longer.
Still there was no denying I was in over my head.
Juggling parenthood while still trying to my job was not easy.
Not to mention my job was so similar to what I did in the army.
Salinger Security was easier because there was less misogyny to deal with but outside of the company – law enforcement and especially the general public – didn’t think I could do the job as well as a man.
I needed some perspective. Or a pep talk. Specifically from someone who had been through it all. My fingers scrolled to her number before I even formed the thought fully.
“Hahaha.” My lips kicked up into a smile automatically. Yeah, it had been a hot minute since we got in touch. “We knew this would happen.”
There weren’t many female Rangers. When I started there was less than a handful.
Aspen wasn’t a Ranger but she was a medic attached to a Ranger Unit for a while.
As a result we’d spent a lot of training hours together.
When she met her husband, Brain, and then didn’t re-enlist, I missed her and her advice terribly.
We still met for coffee regularly, but it wasn’t the same as seeing her every day.
Then when I left Texas, we promised to stay in touch. And we did. Just not as often as I would like.
“Yeah.” I heard her take a deep breath as she dropped her voice. “I take it this is not social call.”
“Well. Ugh.” I slumped back in my chair. “Not really. But also, I don’t want to burden you. You probably have enough on your plate.”
Aspen let out a huff. “Please. Give me something to think about other than alphabet soup and CPR. Conversations with adults who make smart choices are few. My husband doesn’t count because his smarts is something different.”
I laughed and told her all about what had been happening lately. Dom and his attitude and the asshole after him. Landon not speaking, but still managing to throw a tantrum when he needed to. What was happening with Logan and my family. All of it.
As I spoke, my shoulder relaxed. My breath evened out. “Wow, I guess I really needed to unload.”
“I bet you feel like you’re fucking it all up.” Aspen was never one to sugar coat things. “Like there are not enough hours in a day.”
Its like she could read my mind. “I thought I had a difficult job before kids. But fuck. Everything is more of a challenge. Its all measured around whether or not I am fucking them up or doing what’s best for them.”
“From everything I heard, that won’t go away.” Aspen’s kids were a little older than Landon. “Emily still stresses about Annie.”
Emily was an army wife with a teen daughter about the same age as Dom. Annie was a really good kid, but her parents still worried.
A knock at my door had me looking up and smiling at Lilly.
“Aspen, I need to go.” I gestured for Lilly to come in. “But I will chat again soon.”
“I look forward to it. And when this all blows over. Maybe you can bring that lovely family of yours for a visit. I know the guys would enjoy seeing you. Maybe even bring your brothers and their families along. It would be good to see them all.”
“Will do.”
We said our goodbyes before hanging up and I turned to Lilly. She handed me a case file and sat in the chair opposite me.
“This one will take some time, so I don’t see a mission happening any time soon.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on my desk.
My office had few personal items. I had a few pictures of my family but not much else.
My white board was empty but that was because I had no open cases.
The only thing with any personality in that room were my hot pink chairs.
Even my reclining office chair was upholstered in pink.
I loved it and wanted to add more bold touches.
Perhaps I could even add photos of the kids.
Lilly leaned forward. “I know Noah and Nick may need you for each of their jobs, but don’t feel obliged to do either.”
My brother, Nick, was a great strategist, probably the best I knew.
Lilly was Ollie’s wife and a profiler. She could tell exactly who the best person for each job was.
Together they made a hell of a team running Salinger Security.
Nick, Noah and myself were Team Leaders.
Ollie was one as well, but he’d stepped into training role recently.
Though, he was the best at undercover work.
Nick’s wife, Anna, was one of our field agents along with Mason, Jake, and Jared. Mason was also an excellent sniper and Jared preferred to be behind a screen. Jared had been mentored by Tex as soon as he left the Navy. To the point where Tex could rely on Jared when he was stretched thin.
I scanned the file Lilly handed to me. “You’re looking into a string of bank robberies? Isn’t that something MDF PD should be investigating.”
“It’s federal, actually. There have been about fifteen up and down the coast, always the same MO, always something left behind.”
I narrowed my eyes at Lilly. “Do we have any idea of what happened at the Bayers’ house?”
“We’re not sure.” She pulled her chair closer. “The Marshals are sending over someone to talk to us about what happened at the safehouse. The FBI and the State’s Attorney will want to speak to Dom again, as well.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Tess confirmed that Adam Walker was the best out there, and Nick made it known that both the lawyer and I will be present when anyone questions him.”
She nodded. “If you want, I can do a cognitive interview with him. It will be hard as hell, but it could end all of this sooner.”
It wasn’t a bad idea, but I needed to talk it over with Logan. “I’ll let you know.”
“I think Drake Wilder is the Marshal assigned to your case.” Lilly raised a brow. “At least for the moment, since the case has now traveled down here.”
Bex smiled. “That should make things easier. Having to deal with a local.”
“Yeah, his last case in San Diego wrapped up and he was reassigned here. I think his boss figured it better to have a local deal with the Salingers. It's not like you lot are easy to handle.”
“Us lot?” Bex laughed. “You married into this. I didn’t have a choice but to put up with the craziness. You chose to be a part of it.”
“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She straightened in the chair. “Anyway, Drake is meant to be here soon. He couldn’t give me a time since he was headed from San Diego and wasn’t sure what traffic would be like.”
“I’ll be waiting for him.”
Once Lilly left, Bex got to work sorting through the case she had.
Basic research taught her more than she expected, but she needed the police reports on each of the robberies.
They were across state lines and the FBI should have collated each report so they could look at the case as a whole.
Still, she wanted to see each case individually.
How were they different? Those differences were likely the mistakes and that was where she would start.
A knock at the door had her looking up. She smiled at the tall man with a US Marshal’s hat in his hand. “Drake. Hi.”
He took her outstretched hand and smiled. “Little Rebecca Salinger. Look at you all grown up.”
“Please. You act like you haven’t seen me in ages. We were both at Jason and Skylar’s last competition.”
Skylar was the daughter of my co-worker, Noah Moore, and Jason was Drake’s son. The two teenagers were dance partners and had entered a local competition a few weeks back. They were also grounded along with Dom over the weekend.
Drake nodded. “Maybe, but that was personal. I can deal with the fact you’re all grown up and even have a teenager of your own, apparently. But I’m here in a professional capacity to assist you. And that takes some getting used to.”
The reminder Drake had a job to do had the moment turning serious. “You’re here about Dom?”
“I have two cases on my docket at the moment.” He took a seat in the chair opposite me. “Dominic Bayers and Julie Dawson. But the Dawson one we’re not stirring too much yet.”
Which meant he was definitely coming to me about Dom. “Do you have any news?”
“Well, the State’s Attorney is Samantha Lang.
She has relented on the kidnapping aspect.
But I think that had more to do with not pissing off your family than anything she thought was fair.
She knew the kid was only trying to keep his family together.
It helped that you let them know within twenty-four hours as well.
You played everything right. Everything went the way it should. ”
I frowned but controlled my annoyance. “She wanted to charge him. What is wrong with her? She is aware she is not allowed to go anywhere near where Dom is if she wants to keep him protected.”
“She has no idea where Dom is actually staying, just that he is in your custody. As far as everyone is concerned, including me, Nick arranged for you all to be in a safe house.” Drake was warning me of what the situation was.
His kid was part of the debacle in the PaintBall course.
He knew where Dom was. But he wouldn’t say anything “She knows what is at stake. She won’t get her conviction if she meddles too much. ”
“So, she and the FBI know who they’re dealing with?”
“They have an idea. I don’t think your son has any idea how much he actually saw.” Drake leaned back. “He could identify the men getting out of the car, but I believe him when he says he can’t remember much. He told us all he knows. Consciously.”
“You also think a cognitive interview is a good idea, don’t you?”
“Not my call.” Drake shook his head and I could tell he had an opinion on the matter. “I’m just the muscle in this operation.”
He went on to explain what had happened at the safe house and how Dom had escaped in the early morning. All things I already knew.
“I don’t want him traumatized any more than what he already is.” That was my big concern. “You’ve got to understand that. What if it were your kid?”
Drake nodded and offered me a weak smile. “You’re preaching to the choir, Bex. I’m still married because I believed I was protecting my kid.”
“What?”
“Jason was so alone and struggling to make friends. I mean, besides Skylar of course.” He let out a long sigh, sadness coating his handsome face. “Sage and I didn’t want him to have to deal with divorced parents on top of all that. I don’t think it helped that I was hardly home.”
I smiled, because I understood what he meant. “But he’s thriving now.”
“And getting into more trouble than I can control.”
“Yeah, they really managed to do a number on the course.”
“I have to admit though, Bex,” Drake's features softened. “It felt good to be grounding my kid for having fun. He’d been so withdrawn he never got into any trouble.”
“Well, they’ll be cleaning up the PaintBall Course they messed up. If nothing else, they will bond over manual labor.”
“What about yours? Did you ground him?”
“When you speak to him, don’t refer to him as my son.
” Bex hated to have that conversation but she needed to make things completely clear.
“His mother just died and he misses her. He is resentful as hell towards me. More so than toward Logan. And I don’t want him to think we’re dismissing his mother. ”
“Noted.”
“As for grounding.” The corners of my mouth lifted. “Dominic has been in the apartment since he arrived. I sent him to PaintBall to make friends. But we made him start at Marina De Ferrier High School this week. He’s not happy. Besides, all his new friends are grounded anyway.”
“True.”
“Now what can you tell me about the case?”
Drake didn’t have too much information about the investigation, since that was not his jurisdiction. And I filled him in where I could. He spoke about the fact there was a leak. He wanted to know about the security protocols of the apartment building and how many people knew Dom was there.
I explained as much as I could.
I handed him the file I had on Dom. “This is all we have so far. Jared is working to get what he can from both the CBI and FBI since they’re arguing over who the case belongs to.”
“And the police believe they’re guarding that apartment because of another case I’ve been assigned to?”
I nodded, it made sense since he was in the area anyway. “You’re the Marshal assigned to Julie Dawson, as well.”
“Well, technically, Julie Dawson shouldn’t need protection, remember.”
That was how Nick had set it up. The police knew where she was and it wasn’t hidden that she was under the protection of the Salingers. Ms. Dawson had killed her husband and his family were after her but she also had information that could put most of that family away for a long time.
I narrowed my eyes at Drake. “But you’re going to insert yourself into that case, aren’t you?”
“The information she has is dangerous, Bex. I think her ex-father-in-law was grateful she put a bullet through his idiot son's head. But she could bury that man. If he can help it, she will never see the inside of a courtroom.”
“And what?” She knew she was testing him but she really wanted to know his answer to the next question. “You don’t think we can protect her?”
“I have no doubt you and your brothers will keep her safe. In fact, I think you will put her safety above all else even if it hinders the case.”
Yeah, he had us there. Julie was family. She was Brie’s sister and our friend. She worked for my mother and was part of the babysitting pool.
“Well, that’s how we differ. Now, about Dom and what he witnessed. When is the attorney and the FBI getting here? I need to make sure both me and our attorney can be there. Where will she meet us?”
“We were thinking of using an interrogation room at the MDF police station.”
“I assume you’ll accompany us there.”
“That is the plan.”
I let out a sigh, worry gripping my body. “And they will likely recommend the cognitive interview at that point.”
Drake winced like he knew what they were asking for. “That’s usually how it works.”
“I’ll think about that. He has seen enough, Drake.”
“It's the best way to get him safe quickly. If those assholes fucked up, Bex, chances are Dom knows what it is. We need him to relive that night.
I knew he was right. But it was ultimately my and Logan’s call. The last thing I needed was for Dom to hate us even more for putting him through the worst night of his life again.
“One more thing.” Drake's face went hard and I braced myself. “Dom’s grandmother was killed. Her place was trashed. I’m not sure of the situation but it looks like they wanted information from her.”
I leaned back in my chair and allowed my heart to break for the kid who had lost yet another family member.