Page 45 of Lethal Justice

Chapter Twenty-Three

Having updated Shane and Emme,it was decided they would still bring Ward in. His reaction to JaKheel and vice versa would give them added weight when they questioned them, which they’d have to do, despite what he’d found on Rina.

More worrying was the fact that Alex hadn’t checked in after driving Rina home. Malco was now in the conference room as Shane called Alex for the fourth time.

Shane’s face turned thunderous as he hung up, not bothering to leave a message.

“It could be he got lucky,” Malco said with hope more than anything else.

“Or it could be Rina has been tipped off, and one of our own is in danger because of it.” Shane crossed his arms as he glared at the phone.

“I can go over and see? Pretend I forgot to give her something and check?” Before Frida could finish the sentence, Malco reacted.

“No fucking way.” Malco frowned as she glared daggers at him. Since she’d come back from her call with the Chief, she hadn’t been in a good mood. He suspected she’d gotten her ass chewed for not seeing it. But the truth was, the closer you were, the harder it was to see the snake in your garden until it struck.

“Why not? It makes perfect sense?”

Malco folded his arms and glared back, not willing to back down. He leaned in close to her face as he spoke. “Because it’s fucking dangerous, and I’m not prepared to take any risks that might mean I lose you when I just fucking found you.”

Malco watched her face go from furious to soft in an instant. Her hand moved to his cheek, and she cupped it gently, suddenly understanding his deep-rooted fear.

“Okay, honey.”

Shane looked at them and shook his head. “You need to teach me your skills, man. Emme never backs down.”

“Hey.” Emme poked her fiancé in the belly, and he hooked his arm around her, pulling her close.

“Malco is right, though, we need another plan.”

“What about tracking his phone?” Emme looked up at Shane.

“That will tell us where he is, but if he’s with her, it won’t tell us if he’s there by choice or not.”

“It’s a start.” Malco moved toward the laptop on the desk. His fingers flew over the keys as he accessed the program that tracked the team during work hours, which was basically all the time.

The screen came to life, showing the team members in various colors. Alex was indeed at Rina’s house, which told them nothing.

“He’s with Rina.”

“Damn.”

Frida placed a hand on his shoulder as he typed, and her touch soothed the burn that had begun to pain him as the painkillers from earlier wore off completely, and the wound in his side began to hurt like fuck. His face must have shown the pain because Frida moved to her bag and came back with Tylenol and Ibuprofen tablets. He took them with a smile and chucked them back dry.

“Thank you.”

Her smile lit the sky when she replied. “My pleasure.”

The alarm on the outside gate sounded, and Shane pulled up the camera. “Ward is here.” He released the button and called him in.

They watched as Ward walked to the entrance and stopped at the locked door. Shane lifted the phone and asked King and Caitlin to be ready to bring JaKheel through as Ward entered.

Malco walked to the front door and unlocked the door letting Ward in.

“Thanks for coming, Ward.” Malco watched his reaction as the door opened, and King led JaKheel and Danie through. Ward tensed, and Malco watched, waiting for JaKheel to notice him. When he did, the reaction was not what he expected. JaKheel moved fast, and Malco and the others tensed ready to move, but Ward moved first, and then JaKheel was throwing his hand up to Ward.

Ward grasped his hand and held tight as the two-faced each other. “Thank you for looking after her while I couldn’t.”

Ward’s face was solemn when he nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t do a better job, brother.”