Guarding Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 7)

by Kate Allenton

  “Honey, I know you can cause trouble. That’s what I love about you, but no, I was wondering if you were staying out of trouble?”

  “Is there a difference?” I asked.

  “One you cause, one you don’t. It’s the times you don’t that concern me.”

  “You’ll be happy to hear that three FBI agents showed up at my house and started asking questions.”

  “That sounds like trouble to me. Did Noah know them?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him yet. But I did come straight to Grant, and I got Sam to pull the video of the agents to show it to Noah. I think there’s a lot more going on here than what we even know.”

  “But, you’re safe?” His voice was smooth, but insistent.

  I rested my hand on my stomach and smiled. Regardless of whether or not I was carrying his child, Ford would always worry about me, just like I worry about him. “I’m at the Watermill if that tells you anything.”

  “That’s very adult-ish of you.” The relief in his tone was hard to miss.

  “I know, right? It must be the hormones or the meds.” I shrugged.

  “Well, whatever it is, keep doing it until I get back there. They’re going to release my mom to home care in a couple of days, and then I’m on a plane straight back.”

  I grabbed a pair of nitrile gloves from the small box and slid them on before pulling the lid off the first evidence box. “There’s no need to hurry. I think there are enough files and paperwork for us to dig through that it will take us a month.”

  “No evidence with blood, right?”

  “Not sure, I haven’t looked through all the boxes yet, but I will say that even if there is blood, I won’t be touching it. I’m wearing gloves just in case.”

  “Smart and sexy.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “I have my moments and I’m going to remember you said that when I’m as big as a house.” I chuckled. “Besides, I think I may try and use my brain to solve this case.”

  “We both know you’re smart enough to do it.”

  Grant walked by the bank of windows before turning into the room.

  “We’re about to dig into the paperwork. I’ll call you later, okay?”

  He said he loved me like he normally did, and we said our goodbyes.

  Grant and I were an hour into digging into the boxes when Noah came walking in along with Sam and Carson.

  All the players of my little team were here, all except for my baby daddy.

  I stood from my seat and raised my arms over my head, stretching my back.

  Sam came to me first and hugged me tightly before releasing me. “I missed you.”

  I smiled at him as he moved around the table and dropped his computer bag on the surface before pulling out a chair.

  “I missed you too.”

  Carson was next. His hug consisted of a kiss to my forehead like I was the little sister he actually liked. He took a seat on the other side of the table next to Sam.

  Noah stared at me with a mixture of unspoken words. Words that one day would cross his lips and that might turn into a loud verbal fight, but today wasn’t that day.

  “She good?” That was the only question I had, the only one that mattered most to both of us.

  “Yeah. Mom is all over it.”

  I grinned. If there was one thing that I knew about Mrs. Roth, it was that she took to caring for the people in her life as seriously as I did. Whereas I had my pen and guns, she had an arsenal of ranch hands, shotguns, and a cowboy son with enough anger and attitude that nothing would get by him.

  Justice May was safe for the time being.

  “Pete sends his regards and wanted me to tell you that you’re an idiot for continuing to play my game,” Noah added.

  “Yes, well. I hear that he has reasons to be pretty pissed. He lost the love of his life,” I retorted.

  Noah glared at Grant. “I see my secret is out.”

  I smiled, not admitting or denying anything.

  “Okay, so here’s what we know,” Carson said while gesturing to Sam. With a few clicks, the pictures that were on his screen were cast onto the monitors around the room.

  “The feds are legit. Sort of,” Sam said. “Well, their names are. I’m having trouble getting pictures to go with the names.”

  “Noah, can you help with that?” I asked.

  “I’ve made a few calls; I’m just waiting for answers.”

  I rubbed my palms over my face. With several more hours of this, I was going to need coffee, and not the decaf kind. “If those three agents suspect that something is going on with our team, do you honestly think they’ll give you the answers?”

  “There are still people I trust,” Noah reassured me.

  “Okay, now moving on. This was the scene at Greta’s house,” Carson said.

  The picture that showed up on the monitor had me covering my mouth with my hand. My stomach grumbled, and I knew what I was in for.

  I ran from the room straight to the bathroom and shoved open one of the stalls before I expelled the meager contents of my stomach.

  I never had a problem with blood before. That was kind of my thing. Maybe it was from a disassociation knowing the aftermath or maybe now, I was just screwed up in the head. I recognized it for what it was. It was a means to an end for me—a potential fight and scene in my future. I would have produced the same death had those assholes came after my kid. I think that was the catalyst that had me puking up my guts.

  Tears gathered in my eyes. The thought of Justice probably seeing that carnage and then escaping. The girl had to be traumatized. That could explain why she couldn’t remember how she arrived at my house.

  The squeaky bathroom door opened. The sound of heels clicking on the tile grew louder as they approached.

  “Dr. Bray?” the female called from the other side of the closed door.

  I grabbed some toilet paper and wiped my mouth and flushed it, taking a second to catch my breath before I pulled the door open and walked to the sink to turn on the water. I splashed water on my face twice before even answering her. “Did the guys send you in here to check on me?”

  “Seeing how I was the closest female, I guess you could say that. So, are you okay?”

  “First trimester morning sickness. It happens.”

  Her gaze dropped to my stomach, and she clasped her hands in front of her. “Congratulations, I’ll get you some crackers and water. That might help.”

  “Thanks,” I said, cupping the water in my hands once more. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

  “I’ll just put the crackers and water in the conference room for you, so you can come out whenever you’re ready.”

  I watched the stranger leave. She was one of those unfamiliar faces in the building. The polite thing would’ve been for me to ask her name, but nobody ever accused me of being polite. It was only a matter of time before this place became too crowded and we all started stepping on each other’s toes.

  I rested my palms on the countertop and lowered my head, taking in several deep breaths, trying as I might to relax and categorize the picture I’d seen as if it were any other crime scene and those victims’ lives were tragic but unrelated to mine.

  I tried to lie to myself. I tried to forget that the monster who’d done all that might one day do that to people I loved when trying to find my kid. Anger stirred in my veins and traveled through my limbs. The need to exact revenge for Justice and Greta mattered because no way was I going down without a fight.

  I stepped out of the bathroom and walked with purposeful strides to the conference room. All eyes turned to me, and I held up my hand. “Just a little bout of morning sickness. It’s going to happen.”

  Sam surged upward, out of his chair which sent it careening into the wall behind him. A surprised smile lit his face. Carson lifted his gaze to mine and grinned as if I’d just told him the secret hiding place of the last roll of toilet paper on the planet. A round of congratulations and hugs wer
e exchanged. Noah just watched from the other side of the table as if he’d been the first person I’d told.

  The woman from the bathroom walked in with crackers and water and handed them to me.

  “Thank you.”

  “Anytime. Us girls have to stick together,” the woman said.

  “Thanks for your help, Mona,” Noah called out.

  Carson opened my pack of crackers and handed me one as Sam took the lid off the bottle of water and held it out to me. A girl could get used to being waited on hand and foot.

  I took both items, nodded my thanks, and tried to calm my unsettled stomach by nibbling on the cracker. “Okay, so has forensics pulled any unusual DNA from the site?”

  “Forensics is still working on all the evidence. There isn’t much to go on.”

  “Has Justice told you everything she knows?”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Just that three men broke into the house and had slashed at Justice when Greta attacked and tried to stop them. Greta told her to run, and she did.”

  “That’s all she remembers?” I asked.

  “I’m afraid so,” Noah answered.

  “All the feds, both dead and the three that showed up at Lucy’s have deeply buried files.” Carson said.

  “Undercover?” I asked.

  “Possible,” Noah answered.

  “Okay, then the best thing we can do is figure out who is still after Justice since Claudia’s murder has been solved. We do that and eliminate the threat and nip this poo in the bud,” I said.

  “Look at her already adjusting her curse words,” Carson said with a laugh. “I can’t wait to see how else she navigates motherhood.”

  I cocked my head toward him. “I’m hormonal, Carson, and the doctor changed my meds. It’s not wise of you to poke me. I might poke back, and mine will be harder.”

  He held up his hands even though there was still a smile on his face. “I’ll try my best, but no promises.”

  I shrugged and winked. “I’m okay with that, for now.”

  An hour later, my stomach started to grumble as we were going through the boxes. Files and pictures littered the conference room table and my eyes were starting to blur.

  “Time for a break. I’ll order pizza…” Grant said.

  “Ooooh and ice cream. Strawberry,” I called out interrupting whatever Grant was going to suggest next. “Oh, and something chocolate. I don’t care what it is,” I amended.

  “You can’t be that far along,” Grant said, leaning back in his chair and resting his locked fingers behind his head.

  “I’m about seven weeks,” I said. “I think.”

  Dr. Cline hadn’t done a sonogram yet, but I expected that time might be coming soon.

  Twenty minutes later, the smell of pizza permeated the room. Melted cheese and Italian sauce mixed with the hint of garlic in the dough and I was in heaven. I didn’t need anything more.

  I was two slices in when the talking and banter around me grew. As I reached for a napkin and another slice, I accidentally knocked pictures on the ground.

  I dropped the pizza on my plate and wiped my hands before sliding out of my chair to pick up the mess.

  “Pregnancy has made you a klutz,” Grant teased.

  “Hunger did that,” I replied as I stacked the papers and pictures back up on the table and retook my seat. My gaze landed on a different pile of pictures in front of Sam. One that I hadn’t had the opportunity to look through yet.

  “Sam, pass me those.”

  He glanced down at the clump in front of him and pushed them across the table. “I already looked at those and didn’t find anything useful.”

  I couldn’t be seeing this right. I slid the picture out that caught my eye. Claudia looked as though she were about six months pregnant. She was resting her hand beneath her belly. She looked like an identical version of Justice, only more mature with a beautiful glow about her.

  I’d seen plenty of pregnancy pictures of Claudia going through the files, so that wasn’t what caught my eye. She was standing next to a man who had his arm around her shoulders. His white lab coat fit him a lot better years ago. There were no fine lines yet on that familiar face. A younger Dr. Cline was standing next to her.

  “That man lied to me,” I said, and as if my words had the power to stop the talking in the room, it worked.

  “Who did?” Noah asked.

  I turned the picture for the group to see. “Dr. Cline said there were no other program participants that were ever pregnant.”

  Grant dropped his pizza on his plate and wiped his hands. “He damn sure did lie.”

  He searched through the pictures until he found a one in the pile he’d already been through. He tossed it into the middle of the table for everyone to see.

  “There were at least two more.”

  Claudia was standing next to two other pregnant women. I picked up the picture and turned it over. “None of the initials are Claudia’s. A. Priestley, M. Taylor, and D. Hubbard.”

  “M. Taylor, that’s Claudia,” Grant announced. “Her name was May Claudia Taylor. She handed down the name May to her daughter.”

  I rolled this new information over in my head and glanced at the pictures again. Only this time, I had to blink. These pictures were connected. The lines forming from one to another in mid-air had me blinking as if I were losing my mind. I reached for the lines, only to find they weren’t real.

  “Lucy, are you all right?” Sam asked.

  Was this the way Claudia and Justice made the connections?

  The lines connected from one pregnant woman to another and then to a file on the table. All the evidence, paperwork, and pictures were like a murder board, and only I could see the strings connecting them. I shoved everything out of the way, grabbed the connections, and laid them out next to each other.

  My breath caught in my throat, and I swallowed hard, trying to follow the clues.

  “Lucy.” Grant said my name as his hand landed on my arm.

  Shaking him off, I was afraid to lift my gaze. Afraid I’d lose whatever connection was forming.

  “Lucy.” Grant’s voice was deeper as he turned me to face him.

  I blinked up at his face before glancing down at the table again. The lines were gone. Whatever connections they’d been trying to tell me were gone.

  “You broke the connection. It’s gone,” I growled and returned my gaze back to the table.

  “What connection?” he asked.

  Grant, Sam, and Noah were all silently staring at me. I pointed at the images. “The connections.”

  “Lucy, you aren’t acting normal,” Grant said.

  “He’s right. You’re acting weirder than normal,” Sam announced.

  “Weird? Weird how? I was just standing here looking at the pictures,” I said.

  “You were doing this thing with your hands,” Carson said. “Like drawing figures or something.”

  I looked down at my hands and blinked. Crimson blood covered them. With another blink, it vanished.

  “Justice’s blood,” I said, meeting Noah’s gaze. “I saw the connections, but they disappeared when Grant interrupted.”

  Noah nodded. “It sounds like you’re tapping into Justice’s ability.” He rubbed at the five o’clock shadow forming on his chin. “She can turn it off and on like a switch, but it looks like you’re not there yet.”

  “It might be the other blood, like mine and the donors, that’s in Lucy’s system. It might be blocking her from full control,” Sam said as if attempting to explain my lack of expertise.

  “She’s like a mixed breed,” Carson said nonchalantly.

  “Really? You’re comparing me to a mutt?” I gawked.

  “Your DNA is like gumbo. There are a ton of ingredients, and it’s getting all swirled around in a big pot. The flavors are starting to merge. They aren’t separate anymore,” he clarified.

  He was right. My DNA was starting to change. Dr. Cline’s test had confirmed that. My ability
to tune into blood was one thing, but with so many different people residing in my head from the blood, picking and choosing wasn’t something I could control. Would my baby get all of these too?

  There was only one man who had the answers I needed. I picked up the picture of Dr. Cline again and studied it narrowing my eyes.

  “Sam, the doctor's office has security cameras on the outside of the building.” I lifted my gaze to his. “Can you hack the security system and outside cameras?”

  “Of course,” he said, almost hurt that I had to ask.

  “Lucy, whatever you’re planning, just stop,” Grant said.

  “What? This is me being safe. Sam can be my lookout.” I offered.

  There was no argument from Noah, the leader of our little group. No argument because he already knew what I was going to do, and he approved.

  “Dr. Cline lied to me,” I said, handing him the picture. “Even if we were to question him, he might not tell us the truth, but he keeps meticulous records in his office, and that’s where I need to start.”

  “It’s dangerous,” Carson said from across the room.

  “It’s an empty building. How dangerous can it be, not to mention it’s our only shot for the truth,” I answered. “I can be in and out without being detected. It’s less dangerous than it sounds. We need to know about the other pregnant women in the program, and Dr. Cline’s records might be our only link.”

  “Say something,” Grant growled at Noah.

  “Lucy’s right,” he said. “We need answers, and they may very well be in that building.”

  Grant tossed his hands up. “You’re not thinking about this clearly. You’re sending a pregnant woman to break into a building. Think about that, Noah.”

  Noah’s eyes remained devoid of emotion as if there’d be no changing his mind. His concern was Justice, and he made that loud and clear without saying a word.

  “I’m the only one that knows the layout and have been inside. I’ll be quicker than any of you and we both know that I’m going regardless. Dr. Cline is getting ready to move offices, sending his patients to other doctors. We need to do this now before the files get scattered to the wind,” I said, walking around the table to stand behind Sam to watch what he was doing on the computer. “Show me the building security.”