“Mostly. I have theories and suspicions. But that is a quick overview of what I know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? Why didn’t you tell me about the file on her computer during our date on Saturday? Or call me Monday after what you found?”
“And tell you what? On Saturday I had no concrete information, and what I found on Monday shook me to the core. I needed to process everything. And, then, Judge O’Connor is murdered and I have no idea who I can trust any longer. So, tell me, Santo… Have I made a mistake? Were you the wrong person for me to trust?”
He took the last two steps to reach her and slid his hand alongside her face, trailing his fingers through her hair. “No. I’m glad you told me everything. I just hate you’ve been burdened with all of this up until now. Are you going to let me help you?”
She couldn’t stop the tear that spilled out of her eye and pressed her lips together when Santo’s thick, calloused finger wiped it off her cheek. “Yes. I don’t know how to feel about everything, but talking to you has made a lot of things better already.”
“Good. Do you think you can handle talking about it further? You mentioned you have a lot of questions for me, and I now have a ton of questions for you.”
“Yes. I need to talk about all of this. I’m losing my mind trying to process everything.”
“What did you discover in the screenshots you found? Is there anything specific she was tied to?”
“It would probably be easier to show you the screenshots for you to get a better idea. Most of it is in Spanish, and fortunately, I can run it through a translation program, but you know how easy it is to lose the tone and infliction for those types of conversations.”
“You have the screenshots here? You brought them with you?”
“I’m not foolish enough to leave something like that unguarded.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out the flash drive. “It hasn’t left me since the day I found it.”
“Perfect. We can pull those up and take a look at them right away.”
“I’ve tried to break into the system to find out what transpired on Monday because she didn’t take any screenshots of that day, which seemed odd. But every time I try to get through the system, the game captures me.”
“Wait, you’ve lost me again. Game?”
“That’s what blew me away. She was communicating with these people in secret rooms in a game on the dark web. A game that I play all the time.”
Chapter 16
Santo didn’t know how to process everything Evie had told him. Francis had been involved in something way over her head, just as he’d feared. More than likely she’d known her house of cards had been about to crumble and had jumped at the opportunity to send Evie to Corpus and keep her out of harm’s way. Still—the question came up of how the opportunity had presented itself in such a timely manner. It didn’t feel like a coincidence.
When they left the barn, darkness had settled around the land and the stars sparkled in the sky. He slid his hand down and caught her petite one in his giant paw and she looked up at him. In the pale moonlight, her blue eyes matched the sparkle of the stars. “You can trust me, Evie. I’m not going to let you down.”
She nodded and squeezed his hand. “I know. I’m just grateful you don’t think I’m crazy about all of this.”
“Not about this, no. In general? Well, that’s up for debate.”
A gave him a faint smile. “I’ve missed your humor.”
“I’ve missed being able to touch you. To talk to you. I’ve missed everything.” He paused at the back door and turned to face her. He smiled at her and ran his knuckles down the side of her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. He hadn’t realized how much he wanted to hold her since they had left the hospital.
He dropped his head and pressed his lips to hers, enjoying her soft gasp of pleasure and the way she stood on tip-toe to press further into their kiss. His hands buried in her tangled hair and he held her close to him, his heart pounding in his ears.
Breathlessly, they pulled apart and she looked up at him with a hunger matching his own. Still, they had work to do, and he couldn’t get distracted. He wanted to know her thoughts and suspicions. His mind whirled with possibilities.
“Let’s remember to do that again soon.” The huskiness of her voice made him want to take her straight to his bedroom and listen to the sounds she made in the throes of pleasure.
“Yeah. Very soon.” Holding her hand he led her into the house and heard Elena and Phantom laughing at a comedy they watched in the living room. He directed her to the kitchen, expecting it to be empty.
He flipped on the light over the table, casting a warm glow through the room. He immediately yanked her behind him when she gasped and jumped back against him, then let out a string of curse words. Buzz stood by the light of the freezer, looking guilty with a half-gallon of vanilla bean ice cream in one hand and a large spoon in the other.
“Damn it, Buzz, are you ever not hungry?”
Buzz gave a half-hearted shrug and dug for another spoonful of the creamy confection. “What are you two still doing up? Evie, no offense, but you practically look dead on your feet as it is. You need to get your rest.” He connected his gaze with Santo’s and grinned lopsidedly. “Oh. I’m interrupting something. Sorry about that. Ice cream froze my brain so I’m a little slow to understand. Don’t mind me.”
“Buzz…” Santo did his best not to growl at his friend, but his tone still came across threatening.
“Just kidding. Evie, will you teach your man to lighten up from time-to-time? I’ve been trying for years, but you’ll probably have more success.” Buzz saluted Santo with the spoon and a serpent’s grin before putting the ice cream up. “You two behave yourselves tonight, okay?”
Santo wished he had something to throw at him. Instead, he guided Evie over to the table and pulled out a chair for her. “You gave me a lot of information, so there’s a lot to unpack from what you told me.”
“I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have.”
“You showed me that flash drive. Do you think that may be the best way to get started?”
“Yes! That will be the perfect way for me to show you what we’re up against. Don’t get confused by the backdrop on everything. It’s a haunted house game I know well.”
“Wait-wait, what? How do you know it really well? You aren’t still playing this game, are you?”
Evie’s shoulders sank and she let out a long sigh. “I have been playing it. I thought it was harmless. But now, after seeing the screenshots, I don’t know what to do.”
Santo stood on the opposite side of the table from her, keeping his expression emotionless. “What is confusing about this situation for you?”
“I play this game frequently. If I just suddenly drop off it, could that put a target on my back?”
Santo’s stomach churned at the thought. He didn’t want Evie to be in any danger and would do anything to stop it from happening. But at the same time, he didn’t want her exposed to the criminal world going around on the dark web. Buzz had taught him a lot over their last couple of missions about the power of the dark web.
“Let me get the flash drive and we can take a look at those screenshots. I want to know what kind of mess Francis got into hidden inside a game.”
“The flash drive is still plugged into my laptop on the nightstand. I was trying to find the secret rooms today, but I had no success.”
Santo nodded calmly but cursed under his breath the whole time he marched to Evie’s room. How could this have been going on under his nose the whole time? How had Frances kept such a huge secret from him? He grabbed Evie’s laptop and pulled in a deep breath before returning to the dining room.
“Don’t worry about getting onto the dark web tonight. All I need to see are the screenshots.”
“Yes, but the game is critical. I know it is. We have to solve it to find out who is behind all of this.”
“Let�
��s take things one step at a time right now, okay? It’s like you said—until we have concrete evidence, we don’t want to drum up trouble after Francis’s good name.”
Evie scratched at her collar bone and Santo could see her skin and turned bright pink. Clearly talking about the subject didn’t sit well with her. “Fine. But I’m not giving up on that angle. I think it is the best chance we have at finding whoever did this.”
Santo began to argue with her but bit back his words. Evie exuded energy and passion for catching the person who had so brutally murdered her mentor. She needed her time to be angry and feel the need for revenge.
Evie moved around the table so she sat next to him and clicked on a couple of folders on her laptop. The smell of her hair seemed intoxicating and he struggled to focus. But when the lines of dialogue showed up on the computer screen, ice coursed through his veins.
He’d seen the same type of coding before in the research Buzz had been doing on the dark web. If Francis had gotten deeply entwined in the dark labyrinth of the underbelly of the internet, she could have easily earned dangerous enemies. And just as easily exposed Evie to the same enemies.
“Okay. Take me through this step-by-step. From the very beginning when you first showed her she could do this.”
* * *
Evie struggled to focus on the screenshot she’d pulled up for Santo. They’d been looking at them for hours, and her mind felt sluggish. She blinked rapidly and squinted at the screen.
Her gaze searched the image, probing every nook, and cranny for the smallest clue. Her eyes slid out of focus again, and the image became a full blurry mess. She sat up straighter in her chair. “Of course!”
Santo looked at her with concern. “Evie, you’re exhausted—”
“No. No, I figured it out! I just had to change my view.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just watch.” She turned the laptop on its side, completely changing the image. “Can you see the room? Do you see all of the details?”
Santo leaned in and, like Evie, squinted at the screen. “Is that a fireplace in the corner?”
“Yes. But not just an average fireplace. Look at how large it is. A person could stand inside it. That has to be the key to getting into this room! If I can find a fireplace like it in the game, it should transport me to this room so I can join the chat.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said you were going to join the chat? Evie, we still need to crack the code of their conversations before we even know if it is safe for you to do anything further with this game.”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me next you have an amazing cryptographer who can figure all of this out in less than five minutes.”
“Look…” He turned to face her and caught her hands in his and goosebumps raised on her skin at the feeling of his warm, calloused hands. She wanted to be so angry with him. She wanted to hate him for implying she had anything to do with the judge’s death. But the rational side of her brain had decided many hours before that she would have acted the same way if she’d been in his position.
“You don’t know much about my life. I have connections that may seem… Odd. But they are good people and they will help us.”
Just when she’d started to feel a drop of hope, unease slithered down her spine. “You make it sound like you’re in the FBI or a spy or something.”
He shook his head. “No. I’m not. I’ve just been fortunate to make friends in some great places. Let me help you with this, Evie. You aren’t going to be able to solve this puzzle on your own.”
“Don’t you think we should tell the sheriff? Or can we trust him? Damn it, this whole thing has me doubting everyone, even myself!”
“We can trust the sheriff. We don’t have anything solid to tell him yet, though. Let’s crack this code and then we’ll bring him in on things.”
Evie nodded slowly. Her gaze slid to his and she managed a half-hearted smile. “Just in case you’re wondering, I’ve decided I can trust you. I understand your reaction. I would have done the same.”
Relief flashed across his features and he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You need to get some sleep, Evie. The next couple of days are going to be hard preparing for the funeral and you need to be strong.”
She didn’t want him to stop with one innocent kiss. She wanted more. Much more. But she couldn’t continue taking advantage of his generosity. “I’ll get some sleep. I’m going home tonight. It doesn’t make sense for me to stay here.”
Santo shook his head and squeezed her hands. “Evie, please stay here. We don’t know what the intentions were of the person who killed Francis, and I’ll feel safer with you here.”
Evie frowned. “I can’t stay here forever. I have to return to my job in Corpus. You can’t put me in a giant bubble because we’re afraid of the boogie-man.”
“I know. I know. Just—stay with us until you have to return to Corpus. Will you do that? Don’t give me any BS about being a burden or anything along those lines. We want you here. All of us do.”
Evie’s mind warred with her heart. The logical side of her said to return to her home and try to think clearly without Santo around. The emotional side of her said the only reason she still had any sanity left had to do with being near her friends… And even Santo.
“Santo, everything feels so foreign. Like I’m observing everything from a distance and not in my own body. It feels like I’m trapped in a never-ending nightmare.”
“It’s going to feel like that for a little while. I’ve lost people I care about way more than I care to remember. But I’ll carry a piece of them in my heart. Always. And you’ll do the same for Francis.”
Evie swallowed hard. “Okay. I’ll stay. But don’t coddle me. I can help with cleaning after we eat and contributing around the house. Let me be productive or I’m going to lose my mind.”
He reached up and tucked one of her long curls behind her ear. “You are an amazing woman, Evie. Don’t ever change. Promise me you’ll never change.”
She choked on a laugh. “You’re delusional.”
“You’re amazing and I’m delusional. Sounds about right.” He flashed a smile at her and her heart leaped. “Will you try to get some sleep? You need your rest.”
“Yes. I’ll try.”
He walked her to her room and paused outside her door and she desperately wanted to ask him inside. She wanted to be held by him and feel his strength wrapped around her. She looked up at him, torn. If she asked him in, she may not be able to stand just being held, and she didn’t know if she wanted to go all the way with him yet. She’d just barely forgiven him!
Santo lowered his head and brushed his lips lightly over hers, his finger under her chin, slowly stroking her neck with his long fingers. She sighed and leaned into him, pressing her lips more firmly against his. The man’s kisses could take her mind off anything.
She nearly protested when he pulled back from her. “Good night, Evie.” His husky, hushed voice caressed her the same as if his fingers stroked her.
Disappointment stung her momentarily, but she knew he could feel her indecision and wanted to save her from the awkward moment. If only she could tell him that made her desire him even more. “Good night, Santo.”
He hesitated for a couple of moments, and she knew he, too, struggled with indecision. He gave her a half-hearted smile and took a few long steps to the other side of the hall to his bedroom. She closed her door slowly, watching him step into his room, and pressed her forehead against the door once it shut. Santo presented a temptation unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.
She had been exhausted, but Santo’s kiss had set every nerve-ending on fire. In the dim light of the room, she dug around in her overnight bag and pulled out a simple silk nightgown that always kept her cool at night and threw herself down on top of the bed.
She cringed when something poked her in the stomach. Fumbling, she pulled out the notebook she had been so carefully co
nstructing with everything she could remember about the judge and her activities.
She clicked on the nightstand lamp as she sat up, staring at all of the colors and lines and other detailed organizational approaches she’d taken. Her eyes skimmed her notes before she froze, staring at one of the colored papers. She’d written it on a whim, thinking it irrelevant to the judge’s murder, but suddenly it held far greater meaning.
She flipped through the pages frantically, trying to find the timeline she’d drawn. When the page opened, she held her breath, searching for the corresponding date. It matched. She swallowed hard. She had to do something. She had to… Go to Santo.
Clutching the notebook to her chest she hurried from her room and tiptoed across the hallway, hoping the creaks of the wooden floorboards wouldn’t wake up the rest of the house. She tapped lightly on Santo’s door. “Santo. I need to talk to you.” She whispered, hoping he could hear her, but doubting it through the thick door.
She raised her hand to knock again when the door flew open and Santo wrapped his arm around her and pulled her inside. “What is it? Is someone in the house? Are you all right?” He fired off his questions as he pulled her away from the door and locked it, then pulled her even further in the room.
“No, it’s nothing… I just… Good grief! What are you doing with a gun?” She recoiled from him in surprise.
Santo looked down at the gun in his hand as if he had forgotten he held it. “Is there someone in the house?” The intense expression on his face made her take a step backward.
“No. No, I just wanted to see you…”
He cursed softly under his breath. “I thought you were…” He shook his head. “I thought someone had come here to hurt you.” He turned and placed the gun back in the bedside drawer.
“Do you have a habit of always pulling a gun when someone knocks at your door? I’m beginning to wonder about the real meaning behind your ‘Saint of Death’ title.”
Protected in His Arms: Elite Texas SEALs Page 16