Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
She opened the door and stopped because Jax was standing at Tag’s assistant’s desk.
“Can you let Solo know I was looking for her?” Jax asked Tasha.
Tasha simply gestured behind her. “She’s out.”
Jax turned and smiled. “Hey, uhm, I hope you don’t mind but Beck thought you might like some company.”
She turned and tears filled her eyes because Ariel and River were walking down the hallway. River was laughing at something Ariel had said.
The two true friends she’d made in all her life. Her feet felt rooted to the floor. Why were they here?
Ariel’s head turned and she caught sight of Kim and stopped, her hand going over her heart for a second before she jogged down the hall and held her arms out. “Oh, Kim, I missed you. I missed you so much.”
It took a moment for her to bring her arms up and hug Ariel back.
“River’s nervous. She’s worried you won’t want to see her,” Ariel whispered. “She forgave you years ago and we talk about you all the time.”
Kim glanced back at River, who was standing there looking like she wasn’t sure what to do. Now Kim let the tears flow. She held out a hand, offering River a place in their circle.
River ran and joined them, her arms going around them.
“I missed you both so much,” Kim said.
For a moment, she was content.
* * * *
Beck turned down Pearl Street and started making his way to Woodall Rodgers. From there it was five minutes to Sanctum and Kai’s office.
That was the only reason he’d offered to drive his brother back. It was simply easier for him to do it since he had a session with Kai. It had nothing to do with the fact that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what had been said in that conference room.
“Roman seemed to like the kids’ club.” Ezra was lying in the back seat, staring up at the roof of the car. “He didn’t even notice when I left.”
The words were said with a forlorn sigh.
“He didn’t notice me, either. He was having too much fun with the Taggart boys and Jesse’s youngest.” It had been good to see Roman laughing. Jesse and Phoebe’s youngest was Roman’s age, a cute kid with a ready smile named Jeremy. They were fast friends, and Roman seemed to be fitting in.
“It’s nice to see him with other kids. He always seemed lonely back home.” Ezra was the one who sounded lonely.
“When do you think you’ll go back? I mean, you work for the church, right?”
“Unless they figure out I lied about my name and all the other stuff, and then I’ll probably get kicked out.” Ezra sighed. “Obviously there are some people who know, but it’s one of those things that only works if it’s not out in the open. If it gets out, then the press runs with the story and they’ll have to let me go. I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t have the church. Prison at least would give me purpose.”
He wasn’t sure how all of this had worked. “Aren’t you supposed to confess your sins? Did you forget about that part?”
“I confessed. I confessed to a priest in Italy. Every single one of my sins. This was after rehab. I’d decided I wanted to give seminary a try. The father told me that sometimes the path God leads us down is winding, but we get where we need to go. He said a name isn’t as important as what was in my heart if serving God and my fellow man in this way is what I wanted to do.”
Beck was quiet for a moment as he made the turn that led to the freeway. “Is this what you want to do? It’s possible I might be able to get your name back. I think we should talk to a lawyer about the possibility of immunity if you testify about what really happened with your team.”
“To what end? Do you honestly think I would make it to a courtroom? Or that there would even be a trial?”
He’d thought a lot about this since the moment he’d realized his brother was alive. “I think Congress would be interested in what the Agency was doing. They’re likely still doing it, and they got a bunch of Marines killed.”
“Ah, but they picked us carefully, didn’t they?” Ezra pointed out the main problem. “It’s exactly why we were selected for the team. Because once the secrets come out, we wouldn’t be credible witnesses. I gave up on justice long ago, and honestly, some of the men who died had families. Let their children believe they were heroes.”
He made the turn and accelerated to enter the highway. “You think I should let sleeping dogs lie, don’t you?”
He wasn’t sure he could. Levi Green had cost him so much, but it was about more than vengeance. It was about safety. No matter what Levi said, he would come after them again. And who knew how many others Levi had hurt in his never-ending quest to climb to the top of the ladder.