“Earning a paycheck,” Grinch mutters.
“Enough,” Kincaid hisses.
Angel must get remarks like that often because the man doesn’t even seem fazed by the snide comment.
“That job took me to Telluride. When I saw your man there and his cut, I figured maybe we were working the same case. I know better than to get in Cerberus’s way, so I stayed back, waiting for the dust to settle, only it didn’t. He left and didn’t take the woman with him.”
My skin grows hot with each word he says.
“What woman?” I snap, hating to think I already know the answer.
He’s not creepy. He’s raising his fucking niece.
Those words infiltrate my mind, and I start to feel nauseated.
“Greta Murphy. She was abducted from Wyoming fourteen months ago. I tracked her to Will Varon’s house in Telluride.”
I don’t realize how much noise Max is making, typing on his keyboard until it stops, and the room falls silent.
I turn to look at Kincaid and find his eyes locked on Max.
The IT guy looks like he’s just been sliced up the center of his chest.
“Your guy won’t find shit on him either,” Angel says, but it doesn’t seem to help Max feel any better.
Kincaid turns his eyes, an apology to me in them.
“Varon is a third-generation trafficker running his family’s business out of Telluride, although they keep their abductions a couple of hours away in neighboring states,” Angel continues.
“I’m glad you were able to solve your case,” Kincaid says as he stands. “Now, you need to leave. I don’t want to see you on Cerberus property ever again. If you need to give us a heads-up, you can call. I vow to keep everyone here safe, and that includes their emotional well-being. There’s no justification in how you handle business, and I just can’t allow you to be here any longer.”
Angel nods as if he fully understands where our president is coming from, but he stops short of leaving the room.
“I’ll go, but what do you want me to do with the girl?”
Everyone freezes.
“The girl?” Kincaid asks.
“Two days ago, Greta took an abducted girl to the hospital. The little girl had been beaten pretty badly.”
He doesn’t have any siblings.
It’s something I told Sylvie to prove a fucking point when she was trying to insist Will was such a great guy. I got so damned wrapped up in arguing with her and fighting an erection, I didn’t even circle back to what she had said.
Failure on my part hits me in the face. I let everything about her cloud my judgment. I let myself believe that the ick-factor I felt around Will Varon was because of jealousy.
“You took her from the hospital?” Grinch snaps, standing as if he’s ready to vault over the table and kill the man with his bare hands.
Angel sighs as if the trained killer being held back by Aro and Shadow is a fly bothering him.
“Greta was found murdered this morning in Varon’s house. He’s in the wind, and there was nothing in the house that I could find that identified the girl. She’s the entire reason I’m here. You fucking do-gooders are more cut out for this shit than I am.”
Several of the men growl, but I can’t manage it myself. That poor child. Sylvie mentioned a fucking niece. She’s hurt because of me. Greta died to protect her while all I could do was argue with a woman I wanted to fuck.
Kincaid storms past Angel, Dominic barely managing to open the door before Prez walks right into it.
“Em, Colton,” Kincaid snaps, his finger pointing toward the front door.