14. Chapter 14
I wake as the sun is rising the next morning to find Shortie hugging me like a koala. Turning my head, I see E and Seb sleeping. I close my eyes and stay quiet until I feel Shortie stir. “Shortie,” I call her.
“I missed you so much, Nick,” she whispers.
Nodding, I pull her higher to kiss those soft lips. “Gotta go back to the station today.”
“Want me to come with?”
“No.” She doesn’t need to sit through all that boring shit with me.
“Okay. I’ll be with Jake. Call me when you’re done?”
“Jake?” Her best friend from Virginia?
“You’ve missed a lot,” she smiles. “Jake went into an experimental trial after you left that Zander found. He woke up and lives about 10 minutes from here with his dad. He’s still in rehab but is doing good.
I can’t wait for you to meet him. He has some short term memory issues but is otherwise okay. ”
Well, fuck. That’s surprising. “You’re back with him?”
“Not yet. He knows my story, but we haven’t discussed it. I’m with you and Seb. You’re not getting rid of me.”
“Good.” I’d fight to keep her, but I’m happy she has him back. “We should get up before Z and Troy come up.”
“Good idea,” she mumbles.
I kiss her head and then roll out of bed, going into the bathroom. I leave and slip into my room to grab some clothes. Once I’m dressed, Alex hands me a cup of coffee. Even that tastes better here. I’ve become such a spoiled sap.
“Do you need a doctor?” Alex asks.
“No, nothing’s broken.” Alex nods and returns to his own drink. He looks more at ease than I’ve ever seen him. There was always a tension surrounding him, but it’s gone now. “You’ve changed.”
He smiles at me. “Dad is home full time now and only leaves a few days a month. He divorced Alicia, and my engagement is over, all thanks to Summer.”
Wow. I quirk an eyebrow for him to continue.
“She called my father and told him about the engagement, Alicia’s antics, and me trying to take responsibility for everything.
He immediately flew home, and we had a long discussion.
He served Alicia with divorce papers the next day and broke off the engagement with Reesa.
Summer always insisted he would be more concerned about me than our family image, and she was correct. I will forever be grateful to her.”
Go Shortie. Speak of the devil. She walks out of the room and says hi, going straight for a mug of tea as my eyes track her movement.
“What time are you going to visit Jake and Ray?” Alex asks.
“I’m not sure. We still need to fix our house, which will be a lot of work,” she replies.
“What?” I ask. Fix her house?
“The men who came to kidnap me kinda went nuts when they couldn’t find me and tossed the place,” she shrugs.
“Fuckers,” I mutter.
“Everyone is welcome here as long as needed,” Alex adds as Troy and Zander enter the condo, freshly showered. Alex gets up to get coffee for them as they join us.
“Morning darling. Thanks, Alex,” Z says as he’s handed a coffee. “We need a plan for the day. Can we get the others out here?”
Troy and the lawyer are with me today, and Shortie and Seb will be together. I zone out of the rest of the details. My mind seems sluggish after the first sound sleep I’ve had in months.
Mr. MacLeod is waiting for us outside the station when we arrive. We’re escorted to the same room as yesterday, where Kinsley is waiting. I ask about Cash and his sister first. They’re both here in another room already. Cash is going through endless questions and information like I am.
Today comprises identifying more people and more statements.
I’m not a patient person, so going back through all the evidence, including some from yesterday, is boring as fuck.
Other than not telling them I killed Patrick, I’m open about everything else.
Kinsley seems to think I should know more than I do, despite my telling him that the business was very compartmentalized and on a need to know basis.
He still seems suspicious of me not knowing who Fitzgerald was, I think. Mr. MacLeod reminds him that there is a reason the FBI couldn't bring them down and had no concrete evidence before now. Artur and Fitzgerald were smart business people, despite the field they worked in.
The FBI’s own internal investigations are complicating and slowing things down too.
Instead of a large group of agents working on this, there's only a handful that Kinsley trusts. He does reveal that authorities arrested Deke last night along with several others of Patrick’s crew, and only Fitzgerald and one other survived the night of the kidnapping here.
I spend three more full days helping the FBI before I’m let go. Cash made a deal and won’t serve time as long as he testifies and stays away from hacking. He’ll be under FBI surveillance until the trials conclude. After the trial, he’s going to move back to his hometown in Illinois with his sister.