Resurrection, page 19
part #1 of Redemption Harbor Series
“Ricin poisoning. You know anything about that?” His boss lifted a dark eyebrow.
“Should I?”
Hernandez didn’t respond, just sighed and looked over at his wall of awards. “You’re a good agent, Colt.”
Okay so this wasn’t going as he’d expected. He actually hadn’t expected this meeting at all; he’d thought men in suits would show up at his place and arrest him for murder. You never knew with the Agency.
“But Skye Arévalo will always be a problem for you. She was a good agent too. But she didn’t follow protocol and because of that, things could have gone a lot differently.” He looked at Colt then, his brown eyes hard. “My bosses are letting her actions go because of the part she played in bringing down a dirty agent. And because we don’t need the media attention. All of this will be swept under the rug. But you can’t be with her. You can’t have a relationship with her. It will destroy your career.”
There was no way he was leaving Skye, no matter what happened. “I still have a career?”
Hernandez nodded once. “You’ve done a lot for us over the years.”
“So has Skye.”
He nodded again. “I won’t deny that. Because of her service—and all her parents’ sacrifices—we can’t hang her out to dry. There would be too much of an uproar at the Agency.”
Ah, the real reason they weren’t going after her. Because Skye was a legend and her parents had stars on the wall. That, combined with the fact that they didn’t want to face media scrutiny, not after the shitstorm the last director had faced, made sense.
“But you can’t be with her. I need to know you understand that. If you want a shot at having my seat, at being a director yourself one day, you have to distance yourself from her.”
“I understand.” At his words, Hernandez sighed. But Colt stood. “You’ll have my resignation letter in your inbox by the end of the day.”
“Colt—”
“No. I’m not making this decision lightly. I’ve already got the letter typed up. I’m out.” Unless of course Hernandez decided to arrest him for killing Gianni. Which Colt had. They’d have a tough time proving it, considering how many people had been in contact with Gianni since his arrest. Not to mention the man had shot an FBI agent. That gave Gianni a lot of immediate enemies. All well trained. They’d be hard-pressed to prove Colt had injected him when he’d thrown that punch. No one wanted all the media scrutiny a case like this would bring. It was his only saving grace.
Sighing, Hernandez nodded and stood. “I’ll need your credentials.”
Colt emptied his pockets, handing everything over to his now former boss. In the last couple days he’d been privy to all the details of Mark Gianni’s life over the last year. He’d helped rip apart his former mentor’s life and they’d discovered that thankfully he’d been working alone in his attempt to sell the bioweapon. All for greed. Sure, Gianni could blame it on his deceased partner being left out in the wind, but the truth was, he’d let his own greed and ego blind him.
“What are you going to do now?” Hernandez asked.
“I have no idea.” Not exactly true. He planned to marry the woman he loved as soon as humanly possible. But he didn’t think throwing that in Hernandez’s face was such a good idea.
His boss was letting him walk on Gianni’s murder. Colt was going to take the win and get the hell out of here and back to his woman, his future.
Chapter 22
—Every end is a new beginning.—
“What is this place?” Skye eyed the huge warehouse Colt had parked in front of on one of the harbors in Redemption Harbor. The place was quiet, if a little rundown. The grass surrounding the building hadn’t been cut in ages and she didn’t see a sign signaling what this place was.
“It’s mine. I put in a cash offer and it’s been accepted. Just have to sign the contract after an inspection.” Colt opened his door and got out so she followed suit, beyond intrigued. He’d arrived back from DC yesterday and had been quiet about how the meeting with his boss had gone.
For once she’d decided not to push. The only question she’d had was whether he would be arrested for murdering Gianni. He’d gone behind her back, behind everyone’s backs, and made the decision to take Gianni out no matter what. When Colt punched him, he’d also injected Gianni with ricin. Toxic, deadly, with no known cure. Simple and effective.
She wasn’t angry. Yes, she wished he’d come to her about it, but she understood why he’d done it. To protect them. All of them. Mark Gianni would never be a threat to her, his friends, family or him again.
“Is this your new home? Because honestly, it’s a little better than that sad condo you’ve got back in DC.” She joined him at the front of the truck, leaned against the hood. Once he’d returned to Redemption Harbor last night all they’d done was have sex. She couldn’t imagine when he’d even had time to put in an offer on this place.
When he turned to her, his expression was serious and the bottom of her stomach dropped out. “I quit my job and put the condo on the market.”
She blinked.
“And it appears as if Hernandez is letting everything go with Gianni. They got enough information from him before he died… And they don’t want a media circus. Arresting one of their own for killing one of their own? Yeah, not happening.”
The relief that slid through her was potent. If he’d been arrested, she’d have broken him out of prison and fled the country with him, but to know he was able to walk away… She was damn grateful. “But why’d you quit? You love your job.”
“No. I love helping people. And we’ll never know if they’d have cut a deal with Gianni, but I think they would have. He’d have never seen the inside of a prison cell and none of us would have been safe. Not truly. I have no regrets but I’m done with the Agency.”
She didn’t know whether to be shocked or relieved. Maybe she was a bit of both. “They told you to stay away from me, didn’t they?” Hernandez had agreed to help her “resurrection,” spinning some story about how she’d been deep undercover. It had been a pain in the ass to get all her paperwork filled out but it was a small price to pay. Hernandez had been pissed at her though; had told her in no uncertain terms that she was persona non grata. Which was fine with her. She’d only been concerned about Colt’s career. She couldn’t believe he’d quit.
Colt didn’t respond. But she had her answer. Of course Hernandez had told Colt to stay away from her. She should have seen that coming.
Instead of answering, Colt went down on one knee and pulled out a small box.
Her heart skipped a beat as he opened it to reveal a platinum band with an engraving on it. The infinity symbol. He might have asked her to marry him already, but things had been crazy since the day of Gianni’s arrest and they hadn’t talked about his proposal since.
“I already have your answer. Now I want you to wear my ring.” He pulled it out and slid the simple band onto her left ring finger.
Holding her hand out, she smiled at the sight of it, liked the feeling of being claimed by him. “No diamond?”
“I knew you’d hate it,” he murmured, standing up and pulling her into his arms.
Another smile tugged at her lips and she laughed. He really did know her. A diamond would catch on things and get in the way, but this was perfect. Beyond perfect. “I love you so much, Colt Stuart.”
“And I love you, Skye Arévalo.” He brushed his lips over hers, deepening the kiss until he had her pinned against the truck. Heat flooded her body, pouring out to all her nerve endings.
She didn’t care if they were outside, she was going to feel him inside her in the next sixty seconds. There was no one else around this area and the warehouse blocked any potential boaters on the nearby harbor. She’d hoisted up, wrapping her legs around his waist, when she heard the sound of gravel crunching under tires.
“Hell,” he murmured against her mouth before he pulled back.
Disappointment flooded her system as she dropped her legs from around him. Moving to stand next to him, she slid an arm around his waist. Sex would apparently have to wait.
She turned to see two vehicles arriving. Mercer pulled up in his truck with Mary Grace in the passenger seat waving at them. The SUV that pulled up next to them revealed Gage, Savage, Brooks, and Leighton. She didn’t know Leighton well but he’d welcomed her the same as all the others. With open arms.
Mary Grace jumped out, a bottle of champagne in her hand as Mercer hurried after her, telling her to slow down. Skye snorted as the small woman shooed him off and held out the bottle—which turned out to be sparkling cider, in deference to her pregnancy.
“Did we miss it?” Mary Grace asked.
“I haven’t told her yet,” Colt murmured.
“Told me what?” Skye demanded. Because what could be as important as an engagement?
He squeezed her shoulders and turned her toward the warehouse. “Why I bought this. I…might have commandeered some diamonds that Gianni stole.”
She glanced up at him, eyebrows raised. He really was good at keeping secrets. “From where?”
Colt lifted a shoulder, giving her such a boyish grin that she found herself staring, hopelessly mesmerized by this man who’d stolen her heart. “He had a few safe houses the Feds were checking out.”
“And we got to one of them first.” Savage’s voice was gleeful as he crossed his arms over his chest. “It was a treasure trove of gems and antiquities.”
“Which just makes the fact that he wanted to steal a bioweapon even worse. He had enough money. He was just greedy.” Gage shook his head, disgusted.
“So…you used the money to buy this warehouse?” she asked.
“A very small portion of it. I love working with you. With all of you. And I think we can do something real, something good. Help people.”
“People?”
“Yeah. People who need help. Too poor to hire private security or too scared to leave their abuser. Or whatever. Regular civilians who need help. We could do a lot of good together. And I know ‘help’ covers a lot of ground. I just know I can’t go back to working for the government. But I’ve got a hell of a lot of training and I want to open a consulting firm.”
“We all do,” Savage murmured, motioning to himself, Gage and Leighton.
“And we will be here to provide support and pizza,” Mercer said, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulders, drawing a smile from Skye. She really did love those two. “What you did, rescuing Mary Grace… You’re one woman. Imagine what all of us could do together to help people.”
Skye looked at the building, then at Colt. It sounded so simple, yet she knew it would be anything but that. She also knew she was up to the task. After all, how hard could it be to find people in need of help? Besides, she’d go stir-crazy if she couldn’t use her skill set.
“You think it’s nuts, don’t you?” Colt murmured.
“No, I think it’s insanely and utterly perfect. So…you’re all moving back to Redemption Harbor?” she asked, looking at Gage, Savage and Leighton. That was a huge step. And a heck of a commitment to this thing.
They all nodded.
“We’ll have to come up with a name for our company.”
“Already on it,” Gage said.
“We’re not calling it Gage’s Consulting.” Savage’s tone was exhausted, as if they’d had this conversation before.
“We’ll have to take a vote.”
Skye listened to them chatter as Mary Grace popped the top on the cider. She turned into Colt’s arms and linked her fingers behind his neck. “This is huge.”
“I know.”
“What made you think to do this?”
He leaned down, nibbled on her ear for a moment. “We all need this, need to have a purpose, to give back to those who need it most. Leighton and Savage most of all.”
Yeah, she’d gotten that vibe too. And even if Colt didn’t see it, she thought Brooks might need a little emotional healing as well. “This won’t be easy,” she murmured.
“I know.” He pulled back, looked into her eyes. “Nothing worth having is.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “What are you holding back?”
“I’ve already got a couple really good cases lined up.”
She blinked. “How is that possible?”
“About a week before I left on my ‘vacation,’ one of my assets told me about this guy—a businessman in Georgia—using his shipping company as a cover to bring over women and children as slaves. Mostly from Asia.”
She gritted her teeth. Slavery and the skin trade were alive and well, even today. “You tell Hernandez about it?”
“Yeah. He passed it off to the locals, who haven’t done shit. I think the guy is protected.”
Of course he was. “So…consulting?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Most likely consulting and security.”
“This feels surreal, just starting a business like this.” But she was beyond excited. The possibilities of all the good they could do…they were endless.
He raised an eyebrow. “You have other plans?”
“Only to marry you as soon as humanly possible. But I can help take down a slaver before that.”
Grinning, he pulled her even closer, wrapping his arms around her tight. “This is going to work. I feel it.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant the company or them, but either way, she had no doubt that she and Colt were going to work out. Forever.
Chapter 23
—What a wonderful world.—
Colt hadn’t been kidding about getting married as soon as they could get a marriage license. Not even a week had passed since Colt had bought the warehouse with big plans for their new venture—and they’d already started the wheels turning on bringing down that bastard in Georgia who was selling people. Soon he’d be in jail. Or dead. And his organization would be shut down.
Today she wasn’t going to think about that. Not when she was about to walk down the aisle and embark on the biggest adventure of her life.
“You’re so beautiful.” Mary Grace sniffled into her tissue as she stared at Skye.
Skye shifted in her kitten heels and glanced down at her cobalt blue dress. She’d opted not to do the traditional white dress and had been contemplating no dress at all, but Mary Grace had convinced her otherwise. She’d threatened that Mercer would stop providing pizza to everyone if Skye didn’t wear a dress. Which was a little ridiculous, but a small price to pay. And okay, she couldn’t wait to see Colt’s face when she walked down the aisle.
“I do look pretty awesome,” she agreed, earning a laugh from the other woman.
“I’m sorry your friend couldn’t come,” Mary Grace said, tucking the tissue into her small bouquet of calla lilies.
“It was last minute and I knew she probably couldn’t.” Skye could count on one hand the girlfriends she had, and have fingers left over. There was only one real friend from college she’d wanted to be here, but it wasn’t to be. “Olivia promised to come visit in a month though, so you’ll get to meet her and her daughter.”
“Good. Do you need anything?”
Skye shook her head and glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the small guest room. “Just to get married.”
“Good answer. Sit tight. I’m going to go get Colt’s dad.”
Skye wasn’t nervous about saying her vows, but butterflies danced in her belly all the same as she perched on the little settee next to the window. Glancing out the window, she saw Colt in his tuxedo, looking sexy as always as he stood talking to Savage and Brooks. They’d set up an arbor and seating area next to the pool—which was filled with floating flowers and candles. It wasn’t dark yet so they wouldn’t be lit for a few hours yet. But they’d strung pretty little lights over the pool, the arbor, and all around the patio of Brooks’s estate. Though patio seemed like the wrong word for such an expansive area.
It was a small wedding, with about fifty people, mostly men and women they’d worked with over the years. People they actually liked. And of course some of the people Colt had known in Redemption Harbor growing up.
When the door opened, she stood and smiled at Senior.
“You’re a beautiful bride,” he said, seeming only a little uncomfortable. She knew it had nothing to do with her though, and everything to do with his strained relationship with his son.
“Thank you. You clean up pretty good yourself.”
He gave her a wry smile. “Thanks. Can’t wait to get out of this monkey suit.”
She laughed lightly and covered the distance to him, linking her arm through his. “I’m ready to do this.”
“Good. I know my son is ready to marry you.” His voice was full of pride as they stepped out into the hallway.
She was more than ready to marry Colt. So much that absolutely nothing would stand in her way. They’d come too far.
As she and Senior reached the French doors where she would make her “grand entrance,” according to Mary Grace, she took a deep breath. This was it.
“Thank you for asking me to walk you down the aisle,” Senior said quietly, his voice thick with emotion.
She swallowed hard but didn’t look at him. She was afraid if she did, she might actually cry. She’d never been the type of little girl to envision her dream wedding or future husband or any of that. But when Colt had told her he wanted an actual wedding, not a courthouse one like she’d assumed, she’d been sad her parents couldn’t be here. No matter what, she knew they’d have wanted to see this day. And they would have loved Colt. “Thank you for saying yes.”
He cleared his throat. “I…wasn’t the best father to Colt.”
“You’re not dead yet. There’s still time to get things right.”
“Yeah, I guess there is.”
The French doors opened and the instrumental version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” started playing. She didn’t need the lyrics. She knew every single word and this was the one and only request she’d had for their wedding. That this was their processional music.
