All Raphael knew was he’d been right. Chris had this under control.
As Chris led them into the office, Saint knew the plan. When he’d gotten the text, he’d warned Chris, and he’d instructed them as to what needed to be done.
So, they got their asses moving as quickly, and quietly as possible.
Together, they pulled the body bag from the one drawer, placed Rayna on the table, and rolled her into the body elevator.
Then, he sent her down where Caspian wouldn’t look for her if he came out of that room like a bat out of Hell. He’d assume the elevator was just in place in case any other bodies came into FBI West.
If he went around to look, they would have time to bring it up and stash Rayna again.
“We good?” Tony whispered.
Saint nodded.
“Fingers crossed that he’s not thinking straight. It’s all in Chris’ hands now.”
That it was.
Inside the office, Chris sat him down, and got him a cup of tea. Then, he sat beside the man so they could have a very uncomfortable and painful conversation.
“You have questions?” he asked.
Raphael could hear movement outside the door, and he could hear the flurry of activity. As he guarded the door, he had a pretty good idea as to why Chris wanted him in there.
They had to be moving Rayna.
“Yes,” Caspian said. “I’m sorry I just made it seem like I was going to hurt you. I am fighting hard to control this, but I’ve never lost anything I loved,” he said, softly. “I don’t know how to be the Caspian I was.”
Oh, Chris understood, and he wouldn’t use what had happened to hurt the man further. Instead, he’d do all he could to help him.
So, he kissed the man on the cheek, reassuring him that all was good between them.
He’d said what needed to be said, and Chris was the king of letting shit go.
They all knew Caspian was just hurting.
They couldn’t hold that against him.
“Don’t worry about that,” Chris offered. “You’ve had a brutal day, and you’re upset. I’m sorry that I had to raise my voice, but you were dangerously close to losing everything. I don’t want to see that happen, Son.”
He stared into the cup of tea.
In that moment, he was ashamed.
“I’m sorry that I shoved Elizabeth,” he stated. “I just...I just had to hurt someone, and it wasn’t fair. I know this isn’t her fault. I just couldn’t think.”
He let him talk.
Sometimes, the best way to battle grief was to be heard. They really believed that all of the Marines who worked for them were family. Why wouldn’t he try to help them through this?
“I need to apologize to her, but I need to know what he did to Rayna. I need to have that closure, because it will decide if I go out there and destroy him, or I let Elizabeth handle this. Please just tell me.”
Oh, well, that was exactly why they were doing what they did. It was to save Caspian. Rage made monsters, and he knew the man wouldn’t be able to live with that. Caspian was a gentle soul, and they wanted him to retain that.
Not lose it to Devon Slater.
So, here became the dance of deceit. Hopefully, Caspian would buy it.
