Page 12 of Trista's Truth


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“They are for me,” she said. “I got them when I was younger, although this one is kind of new.” She held out her arm for him to see and he ran his fingers over her brother’s name and the black rose that she had tattooed into the sleeve on her right arm. “I got this one for Pete after Dante had him murdered.”

“It’s beautiful,” Joel said. “You must still really miss him.”

“I do, every day,” Trista admitted. “There isn’t a day that passes that I don’t think about him and what Dante did to him. That’s why this is so important to me. I want to make the Gemini Brothers pay for what they did to Pete.”

“We will find a way to make that happen,” Joel promised. It was nice to have someone on her side. It had felt like a long time since she had that happen. Sure, her team at work seemed to understand her drive to bring Dante Gemini to justice, but they were also getting paid to care about the case. Joel wasn’t even on the case anymore, technically, because of jurisdiction issues.

“Thank you for saying that,” she said. “I appreciate it.”

“I mean it, Trista,” he said. Joel was still holding her arm and ran his hand down to her hand, taking hers into his own. “I know that we got off to a rocky start,” he said.

Trista barked out her laugh, “Yeah, you could say that. I did hold you at gunpoint.”

“Well, there was that,” Joel teased, “but, I really do want to help you. I hate that this has happened to your family because of me,” he said, looking back at Pete’s tattoo tribute on her arm.

“You didn’t know,” she insisted.

“Right, but I moved in too early and got your brother killed and fucked up your investigation. I wish that I could go back in time and change things, but I can’t. All I can do now is promise to help you fix them.”

“That’s enough, Joel,” she assured.

“I hope so,” he said. “You know, I kind of wish now that last night was just a set-up. I think that I would have liked you, under different circumstances, Trista,” he said. As she lay in her bed last night, she had thought the same thing. If last night was truly just a set-up between the two of them, she wouldn’t have minded. Joel was the kind of man she needed in her life—not the countless bad boys she had dated.

“I feel the same way, Joel,” she admitted. “I don’t just think that I would have liked you. I do like you.”

“Oh,” Joel whispered, taking a step closer to her. Trista wasn’t sure what to do next, really, but Joel seemed to have a plan. “So, you like me?” he asked.

“I do,” she admitted, “but, as you said, things are complicated. You really should keep your distance from me, Joel.”

“What if I like you too, and I don’t want to keep my distance?” he asked.

“Joel,” she whispered. He leaned down and sealed his mouth over hers and waited her out to comply. It didn’t take her long to let him in, wrapping her arms around his neck. She knew that kissing Joel wasn’t the best plan, but she didn’t care. Trista lived for her job, and now, it was time to do some living for herself—even if it was just a kiss.

Her phone rang and she quickly ended the kiss, taking a step back from him, putting some much-needed space between the two of them. “I better get that in case it’s work,” she said.

“Of course,” he agreed. “I’ll make us something to eat while you take your call.”

Trista walked into the family room for a bit of privacy and sat down on the sofa with her coffee and cell phone. “Hello,” she answered.

“Hi, Trista,” her boss said. Henry Alexander was one of the best bosses that she ever had. She loved his no-nonsense, get right down to business kind of guy. They had that in common.

“What can I do for you, boss?” she asked.

“You can tell me what happened last night and why I’m hearing about it through rumors at work this morning,” he said. “Why are you still in town?”

“Well, I’m still in town because I made a promise to my friend, Joel, that I’d have his back,” she started.

“Friend?” Henry shouted into the phone, “He was your assignment, Trista. You weren’t supposed to go and make friends with him.”

“Needless to say, the assignment has changed. Joel cooperated with our plan. I didn’t need to hold him at gunpoint, as I was ordered to do. He released Dante Gemini on his own accord. He didn’t get the order to stand down and not move in to arrest Gemini. Joel had no idea what was going on behind the scenes with the CIA. He felt awful that he interfered with our investigation, so he went along with our plan to get Dante out. He said that he wants to help us bring down the Gemini Brother’s whole organization.”

“He's out of his jurisdiction,” Henry said. “This is a CIA matter now. Plus, I’ve heard a rumor that their whole organization has been moved, but we can’t be sure.”

“That would explain why he’s seemed to be able to disappear. As soon as he was released, he went off radar, and I can’t track him,” Trista said.

“Yeah, we’ve lost track of him and his team too,” Henry admitted.

“Well, someone was here last night. When I got to Joel’s place, to check on him, his back door was open. We have grainy video footage of two men entering his house, but that’s about all we have. He had some of his friends come over to help upgrade his security. Joel said that he won’t run, that if Dante wants him, he knows where to find him, and I have to admit, I don’t disagree with his take on this mess. Maybe running isn’t the answer.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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