My Cruel Salvation (Fallen Saint # 3) - J. Kenner Page 0,76
Walt?”
“I’ll agree as to the timing,” Devlin said. “But it seems ballsier than I’d expect from that little bastard.”
“There’s someone else,” Brandy said, her wide eyes darting between Devlin and Ellie. “It could have been Christopher. I know everyone thinks he hated his brother, but what if he didn’t? Or what if it’s just about family?”
Her words were like a punch in the gut, because he knew how much that suggestion was costing Brandy. Ellie released his hand, then went over and sat on the arm of Brandy’s chair.
“She’s right,” Ellie said. “He’s our prime suspect now, isn’t he?” Devlin saw the pain on her face. That horrible feeling of not being able to protect the people you love. A pain he knew only too well, and he wished he could have shielded Ellie and Brandy from it forever.
But he couldn’t. So all he said was, “Yes. He tops the list.”
“Christopher and Walt,” Brandy said. “It’s like I’m cursed.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ellie said. “Why don’t we go? Tamra and Devlin don’t need us. Let’s go home and eat so many chocolate chip muffins we’re too bloated to remember any of this.”
She met Devlin’s eyes, and he saw the grief mixed with loss. The horror of what Brandy was going through. And the loss of their perfect day, which had become tarnished by the intrusion of reality.
“That’s a good idea,” Devlin said. “I’ll be along soon. You’re right that Tamra and I have a few things to go over.”
“It’s okay,” Brandy said. “I’m fine to go by myself.” She glanced up at Ellie. “I do want to talk and then veg, but right now, I just want to be alone in my head. Maybe lock myself in the sewing room and clear my thoughts.” She grimaced. Her nose wrinkling. “Is that okay?”
“I—well, sure. But are you okay to drive?”
“Totally. It’s not far. And I’m upset, but I’m not incapable.”
“Sorry.” Ellie pulled her into a hug. “I just want—I just want to make it better.”
“I know you do. I wish you could.”
“Yeah…”
“See you at home.” She turned to Devlin. “No keeping Ellie at your place tonight. I’m calling best friend privilege and keeping her home.”
“No worries there. In fact, I’ll join you at Big Shot Mansion tonight.”
As he’d hoped, she grinned. “Well, in that case, I really will make muffins.”
As Ellie walked Brandy to her car, he and Tamra went over some thoughts on how to spin the Walt litigation. By the time they finished, Ellie had rejoined them.
“We can go soon, too,” he said as he composed a new text. “I just want to pull Lamar in on the Walt side of things.”
“A detective?” Tamra asked. “It’ll be Lamar’s job to investigate you.”
“I trust Lamar to do the right thing and to investigate the shit out of this case,” Devlin said. “The police deserve to have all the facts as well.”
Tamra frowned, but ultimately nodded.
“Honestly,” Ellie began, “We’re not going to know anything until we find out something about the text or they send another one. There are too many possibilities. The timing may suggest Walt, but it also suggests Christopher or one of Blackstone’s lieutenants.”
“That’s true,” he agreed. “Except for the fact that I wasn’t on that mission. And Blackstone didn’t know about Saint’s Angels. That much seems pretty clear from the documents that the team found in his home. Which means his men wouldn’t have reason to believe that I was behind the assault.”
“Devlin,” Ellie said, “don’t be naive. Of course they would. He’d been harassing you. He’d been pulling your strings with regard to the security breaches for months. Saint’s Angels went in, sure, but nobody there would know their affiliation. Only that someone finally bested Joseph Blackstone. And anybody paying attention would assume—quite rightly—that it was you who pulled the trigger.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Before…
“I understand, General.” Alex stood at attention in front of the gray-haired man. His title was General, but Alex knew that he wasn’t serving. Not anymore. Maybe not ever. He was one of those commanders who looked like he served in the military, but actually served in secret. In the kind of organization that hid in the shadows. The kind that movies made up, thinking they were fiction, but they really weren’t.
“You understand the ramifications?” the general asked. Alex nodded. Right then, the government was offering him the deal of a lifetime. Something he had fantasized about, that he was certain he could never pull off entirely on his own. “Absolutely. I think I’ve made clear