Page 71 of False Flag

Jake’s gut tightened. He met her gaze, silently begging her to stay.

She broke eye contact and turned to Gerard. “No.”

With a nod, Gerard and the expedition crew left the emergency room waiting area.

With the team’s departure, their little corner was suddenly quiet. “I’m going to sit with Lloyd. The nurse said I could have a few minutes before they move him. Join me? I understand if you don’t want⁠—”

“No. I’ll join you.”

“Thank you.”

She took his hand again. His eyes teared. He needed her touch more than he needed words, and somehow, she knew that.

He caught his breath. There were details to settle before he could fall apart again. “I need to book a hotel room. Shall I get two? Or a suite if they have any? You can still go back to the island tonight, but I—I don’t like you being there without me. Not with Beau there.”

She gave a slow nod. He thought she was reeling too, but his brain was too fogged to really guess what she was feeling. “I think I’m safer with you, especially given that we don’t know what happened to Lloyd.”

He felt a small ripple of relief. For now, they were on the same side.

Her hand in his, he entered the medical bay and was led to the room where his brother’s body lay.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The room where Lloyd Burns lay was stark—no medical equipment, just a gurney with a body on it, sheet folded down and tucked under his arms. As if the occupant was resting peacefully.

Was Lloyd peaceful? Was there anything natural about his death? Given the suddenness and circumstances, Staci didn’t think so, but she was clueless as to why.

What did anyone have to gain by killing Lloyd? She wouldn’t describe him as harmless, but he was far from being the most threatening.

He’d been worked over as they tried to revive him, and she wondered if his reddish skin tone and the swelling of his face were due to that or an indication of the cause of death.

Jake released Staci’s hand and took his brother’s in both of his. “Oh. God. Lloyd. What the fuck happened?” His words came out choked, as if hard to force through a tight throat.

Then his tears were falling again. “I’m going to find out. Things haven’t been good between us for a while, but we were brothers. I never lost sight of that. Never gave up on you.” He let out a guttural sob. “I won’t let you down now.”

Staci did the only thing she could: she rubbed his back as her own tears fell. She had mixed feelings when it came to Lloyd, but none of that diminished the grief that swamped her. Her grief. Jake’s grief.

Such a stunning, shocking loss. A life wasted. Ended in a flash.

Had she seen anything, heard anything that could make sense of this?

Tears faded as what she and Jake faced settled in. She would have to return to the island. It was the only way to stop Gerard’s army of domestic terrorists. And now it was the only way to find justice for Lloyd.

Beside her, Jake appeared to be traveling a similar mental road. His tears stopped, and she sensed his anger rising. Easy to understand when looking at the red, puffy face of his brother.

He reiterated his earlier vow. “I will find out what happened.” Then he leaned down and kissed Lloyd’s forehead and spoke in a softer tone. “Love you, Lloyd. I never stopped.”

After taking one more deep, stuttering breath, he turned to Staci. “Let’s find a hotel. I need to make some phone calls.”

Jake got them a two-story, two-bedroom suite in an older hotel close to the ferry dock in the Inner Harbour area of Victoria Harbour. It was just after four p.m. when they stepped inside the room, their luggage consisting of Staci’s purse and computer, Jake’s backpack, and a few items they’d picked up in town.

The first order of business was phone calls. She and Jake slipped into their separate bedrooms to make their calls. She assumed he would call his commanding officer or SEAL team members. From what Lloyd had told her over the last week, they had no other family.

There was an ex-wife in Lloyd’s past, but from what he’d said, the breakup had been bitter. Not someone Jake would feel the need to notify immediately.

Staci debated between calling Morgan or Freya. Much as she wanted the comfort of a friend, in this moment, she needed the calculating operative, so Freya it was.

She answered immediately. “It was such a relief to get your email⁠—”