Walker (In the Company of Snipers #21) - Irish Winters Page 0,93
about or what’s he’s been through? Were you there when he allegedly murdered his CO? Do you know for certain he did it?”
“Crap, Persia, are you sure he’s innocent?”
Easing Walker to the floor, Persia stepped into Izza’s line of fire. “Yes,” she said, pressing her hand to her heart. “I. Know. The same way I knew Zapata would believe me when I faced him down in his hellhole. The same way I was able to nail his ugly ass to the wall. Trust me. I know damned well that Walker Judge is innocent.”
At last, Izza wavered. Her glance zipped to where Walker lay unconscious, then back to Persia. It took a couple more seconds before she lowered her piece. But her chest still heaved with every hard breath. Her chin was still up, and the weapon remained in her hand, challenging Persia to give her more proof than just her heart.
“Read the transcripts over again if you don’t believe me,” Persia begged. “Let me show you what I found. What I saw. I’ve marked several sections. It’s almost as if Ember laid out a defense case for Hotrod. It’s all there.”
“You mean Walker Judge, damn it. Stop calling him Hotrod,” Izza hissed. “Crap, yeah, I read his file. It’s all there, and it’s clear as day, Coltrane. Judge did it. Christ, there were witnesses who saw him go into Goff’s home. Morgue shots of the dead body that he admitted, in court, were Goff’s.”
“But he wasn’t even in the country when Goff was murdered.”
“Is that what he said? How gullible are you?”
“But witnesses can be bought. Morgue shots can be photoshopped.”
“The Navy doesn’t want him back!”
Persia cocked her head. “Wait a minute,” she murmured, her heart breaking all over for this unwanted, yet most-wanted man. “They disavowed him?”
Izza’s lips thinned. “That’s what I said. Nobody wants him. Shit, I’ll bet his folks don’t even want him back.”
A wave of empathy welled in Persia’s heart, crushing her. “They’re both dead, Izza,” she said quietly. “They died within months of each other a couple years ago. Soon after, his only brother was killed in action. He has no family.”
Izza’s olive complexion paled. “I… I didn’t know that.”
“It’s in Ember’s file, honey. Could it be you missed other things, too?” Which made Persia’s case feel even more solid. “Think, Izza. If he were Connor, would you go along with whatever the Navy said, or would you know, deep in your gut, that they lied? That something was wrong if they’d accused a man like your husband of cold-blooded murder? Wouldn’t you do everything you could to help him? Wouldn’t you fight for him?”
Izza rolled one shoulder. “Connor’d never kill a man in cold blood.”
“Not even when the woman he loved was being tortured by—”
“Yeah, yeah, stop it, all right. Just stop!” Izza bellowed, even as she waved Persia off. “Walker Judge isn’t your husband!”
Izza might turn belligerent even when faced with reasonable explanations, but she couldn’t deny the fact that Connor had run to rescue her from the Mexican drug cartel that had gone ape-shit crazy in Utah. How he’d been injured when he’d gotten there, yet had walked straight into the airplane hangar where she’d been held, bleeding and all, with a dozen murderers firing at him. With shotguns and rifles pointed at his head. But he hadn’t gotten shot. Hadn’t hesitated. Not even once.
Persia knew for a fact that Connor had mowed those bastards down, then cried like a baby when he’d finally had Izza’s battered body back in his arms. When he’d been convinced they’d beaten her so hard that she and his unborn baby were dead… That they’d killed everything he’d marched into Hell to save.
One didn’t have to work for Alex very long before hearing all The TEAM’s legends. How tall, handsome Mark Houston had rescued Libby from yet another cartel, this one from Russia, who’d buried her alive. How affable, gentle Harley had interrupted a deranged FBI agent inside his apartment. The guy had been prepared to slice Judy into bite-sized pieces, then wash the remnants of her body down the drain. But Harley had busted his door down, then busted that murderer. Shot him dead, then broke down because he’d almost lost the woman he adored.
Then there was the story of stalwart Gabe Cartwright, who’d been so certain that he’d gotten Alex killed, that he’d sworn his soul to protect Kelsey. In the course of that warrior’s vow, he’d met Shelby, the woman who’d challenged his