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How can I argue with that?
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
Emily
“Honey, you here?”
The sound of Hawke’s voice in the apartment interrupts my thoughts.
“In the bedroom,mi oso,” I call, rising from the bed.
I don’t even get to the door when I’m engulfed in an almighty embrace. This is the very reason I call Hawke my bear, and regardless of what he may say, deep down, that man loves it.
His voice reverberates throughout my body, with his chin resting on the top of my head. “Are you feeling alright?”
Breaking away from his embrace, I reassure him I am just a little drained after my teleconference with Gregory earlier. The meeting went longer than any of us anticipated, but the progress made and the information retrieved were astonishing.
“Did you learn anything new?” Hawke probes.
There has been a lot of pressure on me by the CIA, the FBI, and Cole Security to get valuable information out of Gregory, especially from one of Hawke and Antony’s former colleagues, Patrick Miller. I hadn’t expected today’s interview to be any different from the others, but something has changed; Gregory believes his life is in danger.
“Yes,” I confirm. “Come sit at the table, and I’ll share what we discussed.”
I had hoped I could spend some quality time with my man before delving back into the mind of a madman, but from the look on Hawke’s face, I’m guessing he wouldn’t be able to relax anyway.
Opening my notebook, I state that before Gregory would disclose anything, he wanted our reassurance he would be put under protective custody. Antony was also part of the teleconference call and agreed only if the information shared was valuable to what is currently happening in Afghanistan.
“And that valuable information is?”
Hawke isn’t anything, if not direct, and I expected a response like that.
“There were many lines of questioning, and he honestly answered them all,” I start. “And before you ask, yes, I believe him.”
Without a word, Hawke sits and watches as I discuss the first line of questioning, his connection to Vanessa. Originally, Gregory believed their so-called chance meeting in a coffee shop was accidental. He’d been waiting for his order when Vanessa approached him and asked what he was reading. He’d been reading a paper written by a local psychiatrist on a recent PTSD study she’d completed. That paper was mine, and according to him, he’d found it fascinating.
Gregory had told me that he’d been discussing PTSD and mental health with Vanessa when she asked him if he was taking on any new patients. She’d initially conned him into believing she may have had PTSD and was hoping he could help her. During her visits, he learned about the El Mazir case and Vanessa’s connection. He thought he’d found an ally who could help him with his revenge on Hawke but is now realizing that it was he who was manipulated.
It wasn’t until the pair started working together that he discovered there was a romantic connection between Vanessa and Christopher before his incarceration. Vanessa was angry that he’d been taken away from her, and Charlie Dixon was the focal point of that anger. Revenge was first and foremost, but then she admitted she was still involved with Christopher’s allies in Afghanistan.
“Did Mark know Vanessa dated his brother for a couple of months?”
If the look on Hawke’s face is anything to go by, I’m guessing he didn’t.
“If she did, I doubt either Mark or Charlie were aware,” Hawke replies. “Mark says his relationship with his brother hasn’t been the best over the years.”
“According to Gregory, Vanessa discovered Mark’s brother Garrett was a doctor and pursued him,” I continue. “The relationship lasted long enough for her to gather the intel she sought to enact her revenge.”
“Mark’s not going to be happy when he discovers that,” Hawke counters.
Gregory couldn’t tell me exactly what Vanessa discovered, but whatever it was had been enough for her to target Charlie’s children. Her plan had always been to abduct them, but sadistically she’d never intended to return them alive to their mother. She’d wanted to overdose Mackenna and Callum with heroin, leaving them to die, causing as much suffering to Charlie as she’d endured.
“That’s an extreme punishment,” I hear Hawke say. “Christopher is in prison, not dead.”
“Her warped sense of reality wouldn’t have seen the difference,” I tell him. “She was hurt, devastated by the loss of a loved one. Whether he was in prison or dead wasn’t factored in.”
“Thank God we got to her before she could get to the Dixon children,” he whispers.
Grabbing my hand, he urges me to continue.
