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Becky looked around, and evidently, Ryker and Finley had already whisked Storm out of the building on their way home. Sharlee had closed her tablet and was headed for the door. Carter still had Becky in tow but was joined by Sharlee. Now they were flanked by Garrett, Monroe, and Jac. Becky was rushed out to the stairs along with Sharlee, as Carter led the way.
The vehicles had been parked close on purpose, and now it played out in their favor. Then Becky slowed and vomited on the ground.
Carter reached for the water bottle in her purse and uncapped it. “Here, take a sip of this.”
“No, it doesn’t taste right.”
“Fuck.” Garrett pulled out a bag he had in his inside pocket for some odd reason and took the bottle from Carter and recapped it. “Need to have this tested and fingerprinted. Let’s hope we have a set after ours are eliminated.” Garret took a fresh bottle from the back of his SUV and tossed it to Carter. “Get in. Let’s get out of here.”
Once everyone reassembled, Jac fielded a message from Ramirez, who had been calling for the last fifteen minutes.
“Reynaud.” He nodded to whatever Ramirez said. “I haven’t had a chance to find out all the details. I assume that Ms. Carrington was the only target.” He listened. “That would be greatly appreciated. Right. I’ll let you know.”
“Cut his off, Jac,” said a furious Carter, who was holding Becky in his arms in the corner of a large sofa in the operations room of Jac’s home.
“It is my first thought, as well, but something doesn’t seem right.” Jac walked over to Sharlee and murmured something to her. She nodded, and he dropped a lingering kiss on the top of her head before continuing. “Charlotte will continue to work on the CCTV. Now, what else?”
“Her water may have been tampered with,” said Garrett.
Becky whimpered, and Carter pulled her tighter to himself and spoke to her quietly.
Sharlee updated everyone. “Kaden will be on his way after he rates the last boat. Should be here in about twenty minutes. Callie said as soon as they hit the dock, she and Mallory will be on their way. Ivy has to finish emptying the boat of passengers before she can get here.”
Monroe spoke up. “Mark is monitoring the situation from there, but if you need him, he says he will be here.”
Carter shook his head. “No, he needs to stay with Jessie when he can.” There were murmurs of agreement. She was too close to delivery to leave alone much.
“Levi says the same. He hasn’t finished his family business, but he will cut it short if needed,” said Finley as she entered the room with the baby monitor. “Storm went right to sleep.” Sharlee tapped into the video feed from his room to a corner of one of her monitors.
Ryker strode in behind Finley, sitting next to her. The fact that Finley, who was a prior Marine, allowed him that luxury, spoke loudly. Carter wondered if Jac was paying attention to those two. Especially since Levi had been sniffing around the same badass nanny.
Attorneys were great for many things, but busting heads wasn’t often one of their talents. Ryker trained with the 82nd Airborne Division and, as a civilian, with Jac’s crew. He could definitely hold his own in hand-to-hand combat or a gunfight. However, in a courtroom, he could annihilate the opposition and walk away without a scratch. He preferred those types of encounters now he was forty.
Becky seemed to be in a better headspace to discuss the incident by the time Kaden and the girls showed up.
Jac turned to Becky. “Okay, we’re all here with Mark on the phone. Levi is in another family meeting and will join if he can. What do you remember about the incident?”
Carter’s arms rested around her for security and support while Becky rearranged herself in his lap. “Baby,” he whispered, “have some mercy.”
Becky grinned. “Sorry, Daddy,” she whispered. “Now,” she said in a louder, firmer voice, “First, the water. It just tasted funny to me. It could be the brand. I’ve never had that kind before. Anyway, the server who brought it simply handed it to me. It wasn’t on a tray with others, just a single bottle.”
“Odd because I was served a bottle from a tray, and I chose the one I drank. Was your bottle already opened?”
“No. He opened it right in front of me though, and I heard the little plastic connectors break, so it must have been closed.”
“Or he did that to take the suspicion away from the bottle,” said Callie, who sat beside Garrett.
“Probably,” agreed Garrett grimly. “Anyway, I’ll get this to the lab and see what we can get from the bottle.”
Jac nodded. “Good. Go on, Rebecca. What else do you remember?”
“Nothing until I saw Ivy’s boat. Callie and Mallory were waving. I yelled and waved back, then got a little dizzy, and nauseous. Then someone was pushing and shoving me up until I was on the railing. I screamed and was pulled down. I was still dizzy, but everything was moving anyway. Carter was pushing me out of the room, and you all know the rest.”
“And when she got outside, she puked,” added Monroe.
“Yeah, sorry about that, guys.”
“I think it was the water,” said Carter.
