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“Oh, my God.” She crossed the room quickly, stopping in front of him. “Blake, I—”
“Don’t.”
Blake knew where she was about to go, and he couldn’t let her get there.
Her face crumpled. “I should have stopped them.”
He shook his head. “Gwen.”
“I had her. She was right there, and I let them—”
“You didn’t let them do anything.”
The woman’s brown eyes filled with tears.
Blake had known Gwen long enough to recognize how much effort it took for her to keep those tears from falling.
“She fought so hard.” Gwen’s whisper was broken. “Even after they hurt her, she kept trying to get back to you.”
His chest tightened, but he refused to look away.
“She’s alive,” he reminded his teammate.
Gwen nodded with a lift of her chin. “And we’re going to keep her that way.”
She stepped forward and hugged him carefully. Blake closed his eyes, unable to recall the last time he’d felt this helpless.
Or this angry.
When Gwen released him, he looked around the room. “Okay, tell me what we’ve got.”
Lincoln gestured toward the screen. “We’ve been reviewing everything connected to the farmhouse attack. The vehicles, weapons, the men.”
“Any IDs?”
“One confirmed. The man was previously employed by a private security outfit. South Star Protective Services.” The man’s knowing gaze met Blake’s. “Sound familiar?”
Blake nodded. “Charlie Gallagher’s old company.”
The former soldier who’d posed as a firefighter during the attack on Blake’s apartment building.
Emmett set Blake’s medication on the table. “We’re tracing every connection South Star has to Meridian Administrative Solutions and anyone who might’ve hired Gallagher.”
“What about the two men in custody?” Blake asked next.
Lincoln shook his head. “Lawyered up. Neither one’s talking.”
He moved toward the table and lowered himself into a chair. Pain shot through his side, and he gritted his teeth.
Lucas noticed.
“Take the meds.”
“Later.”
“Now.”
Blake ignored his teammate and opened the laptop Gwen slid toward him. “Where are we with Meridian? Anything new on who’s running the operation?”
