by Desiree Holt
“I want to see Zoe.” The voice was slightly slurred from all the meds he’d received but there was no mistaking the words.
They all hurried to the side of Sean’s bed.
“And you will as soon as the doctor okays it,” Hank told him.
“I want a status report.”
Hank knew holding back would only make the matter worse, so he gave him a brief rundown.
“She’s in the best place to get the care she needs,” Hank assured him. “I know both the doctor and surgeon taking care of her, and they’re top notch.”
“They’d better be.” He swallowed. “My life was shit before she came into it. I know it’s only been a couple of days, but I’m pretty sure it will go back to shit without her.”
“I promise you’ll get to see her the minute they okay it,” Hank reassured him. “Now, will you please try to calm down? You’ll be no good to her if you make yourself worse.”
“What about the photos I took? Are they any help?”
“ You bet. I had Hank send them to his war room,” Alex explained. “They can do their searches without using public data bases and tipping someone off.”
“Charlie Zero is heading it, and I asked for regular updates,” Hank confirmed. “We’ll get those fuckers.”
“I’m going to stay here with you, Sean.” Sadie sat in the chair Hank pulled up to the bed for her.
“They said to wake you at regular intervals,” Hank told him. “Sadie’s going to take care of that.”
“And I’ll also get updates on Zoe for you.” Sadie took one of his hands in hers, being careful not to dislodge the IV.
“I love her,” he whispered. “Can you fall in love with someone in just two days?”
She nodded. “I’ve seen it happen. So, if that’s the case, you need to concentrate and do what you’re supposed to for the next twenty-four hours. Okay?”
“Okay. But I want updates,” he repeated, and looked at Hank and Alex. “On everything.”
Hank’s cell phone rang at that moment, and everyone looked at him. He looked at the screen and saw Charlie’s name.
“I’ll take this out in the hall,” he told everyone.
“Hell, no, you won’t,” Alex told him. “Everyone here needs to know what you have to say.”
“Okay.”
Hank let out a breath and put his cell on speaker.
Charlie went on, “The plates on the truck belong to a transport company owned, after shuffling a lot of papers, by a company owned by George Montoya.”
“Yes!” Hank pumped a fist. “I knew we’d nail that fucker. What about the other cars and what happens next?”
“Different corporations and names but they all lead back to the same thing. I’m pretty sure whoever set this up had no idea we had the ability to dig that deep. BP hits a home run again.”
“What do you want us to do next?” Charlie asked.
“Keep putting the paper trail together. Everything you can find, no matter how remote or obscure.”
“I’m going to reach out to the DEA,” Alex told them. “This is their bailiwick, and they’ve got more power and clout than we do. I’m going to ask them to loop me in so we all know what’s going on.”
“You bury those guys,” Sean snarled, but his words were slurred.
“They will,” Sadie assured them.
For the first time since the incidents with Sadie’s car and apartment, Hank felt that they were going to get Montoya and break up his organization.
Alex pushed off the wall where he’d been leaning. “I’m going to excuse myself. I need to call my DEA contact and get things moving. Hank. I’ll keep you posted.”
“And me,” Sean slurred. “And me.”
“Yes, you.” Alex spoke softly.
Hank looked at everyone. “I think he’s finally let himself pass out. Sadie, I’ll send any information to you, and you can pass it on to Sean. And I’ll talk to the doctor so you get regular updates on Zoe. Also find out the earliest Sean can see her. I’m afraid he’ll do bodily damage to himself and maybe me if we keep him away from her too long.”
“Good. Thanks.”
Hank gave his wife a hug and a solid smooch. “We’re off.”
He just hoped the DEA came up with a good game plan and it worked.
Sean blinked his eyes and tried to look around. Slowly, the room came into focus. Room. Yes, He was in a hospital. Hospital? Then it came back. The semi behind him. Following him. Running them off the road into the trees. His truck smashing. Zoe
Zoe! He had to see Zoe.
He struggled to sit up, but every inch of his body was sore, and he was hooked up to an IV and other machines. A soft hand touched his forearm, and he looked beside hm to see Sadie sitting next to him, her brow creased with worry.
“Zoe,” he ground out. “Where is she?”
She smiled at him. “She’s in ICU, but we got permission for you to see her.”
“Fucking damn right.” His voice sounded odd to himself, but at least he could get the words out.
“Let me call the nurse. They have to unhook you so we can get you in a wheelchair.”
“No wheelchair,” he insisted.
She laughed. “Sean, you may think you’re invincible, but you’re not. If you try to walk, you’ll fall on your face and do yourself even more damage. Just go with the game plan. Please.”
“Have you been here all night?”
She nodded. “I drew guard duty.” She held up a hand when he opened his mouth. “It’s fine. I volunteered. Everyone else was off taking care of the bad guys”
“Did they get them?”
“In process as we speak. Now, let me get the nurse.”
Being helped into the wheelchair was more difficult than he’d imagined it could be, but then Sadie was pushing him down the hall. Finally they were in Zoe’s ICU cubicle. Sean’s heart almost stopped beating when he saw her. She was nearly as white as the sheets, one arm was bound to her chest with bandages around her neck, and she was hooked up to a gillion machines.
He looked at Sadie with raised eyebrows.
“Broken collarbone. Internal bruising. Broken fingers. And, um, they had to remove her spleen.”
Sean was afraid for a moment he might throw up. He took her uninjured hand in his.
“My fault,” he said, not for the first time. “I should have protected her better.”
“Sean.” Sadie shook her head. “You were nearly killed yourself. If you hadn’t steered the truck the way you did, you’d both be dead.
He just put his head on the bed next to Zoe, holding back the tears. What if he’d lost her?
“I love you, Zoe.” He kissed her uninjured fingers. “I love you so much. Get better so I can tell you all the time.”
“She’s going to make a full recovery,” Sadie hastened to assure him.
“That she is.” A nurse had entered the cubicle and was changing the IV bag. “She’s got a long haul to travel but, with your help, she can do it.”
“I won’t be leaving her side,” Sean assured the nurse. “For as long as I have to stay in this stupid wheelchair, I’ll be sitting in it right here in this room.”
“Arrangements have been made,” Sadie assured the nurse in a soft voice. “Please check at the nurses’ desk. But Sean, you have to go back to your room when it’s time to rest.”
And that was how it went for the rest of the day. He grudgingly rested in his room when the doctor told him to, but the rest of the time he was with Zoe. As far as he was concerned, he never wanted to leave her ever again.
Chapter 11
“You spoil me.” Zoe grinned at Sean, who had brought her a fresh glass of iced tea,
They were sitting on the back porch of White Oak Ranch. Everyone refused to let Zoe go back to her apartment, even with Sean taking her, because of the steps. And everyone had insisted on coddling her and waiting on her. Sean had had to work very hard to get alone time with her. Except at night, of course. Sean had demand
ed, much to her embarrassment, that they share the large room she was staying in. and Hank and Sadie had smiled and nodded. She got stronger every day, and she loved being with him every minute.
It took a long time before he could accept that the accident was not his fault. Sometimes at night he still woke up sweating and crying, “No, no.”
At last she’d managed to make him believe that the way he’d turned the truck had actually saved both of them.
He finally told her more details of his last mission, which had prompted the return of his nightmares occasionally, but she was there to soothe him. Sometimes he paced the room. Other times he wanted to be next to her. Sex wasn’t on the agenda yet, but they spent a lot of time in bed wrapped in each other’s arms, talking and kissing. The agreed they could wait until she got the doctor’s okay because they would have a lifetime together to enjoy it.
Sean had thought long and hard and discussed it in great detail with her, but ultimately decided to join Alex Rossi as a deputy. He figured assignments with the Brotherhood Protectors would take him away from her too often, and he didn’t want that.
A lot had happened in few short days. Well, weeks. A couple of weeks. Zoe had still been in the hospital, although out of ICU and in a private room when Alex Rossi had arrived with Hank to give a report on what had happened.
“The DEA was only too happy to step in and take this fucker down,” Alex told them. “Because of the license plates on the truck and cars, they were able to get warrants to search all of Montoya’s property and from that to get warrants to examine his businesses, the public one as well as the vast drug business. Piece by piece Montoya’s empire was dismantled by the feds.”
“And what of the others, like Vicks and the public defender?”
Alex shook his head. “Some sad stories there. Randall Vicks, who is a senior attorney at Elliott Craig’s firm, was the front man for all of Montoya’s people when they were in trouble. Cal Woodrow, the public defender who represented all Montoya’s lowlifes when they were arrested, was taking payoffs for years. A lot of people got their hands dirty, and they are now awaiting trial in federal court. Including Montoya, who has been denied bail.”
“They’re sweeping everyone up,” Hank added.
“But the saddest story is the Craigs,” Alex said. Elliott Craig’s life and reputation are destroyed, as is his relationship with his son.”
“Warren suspected the situation all along,” Hank told her, “but he didn’t want to have to face it so he separated himself from it. Now I hear he’s resigning from the prosecutor’s office and even though he professes no knowledge, is still being investigated.”
“Everyone kept secrets,” Sadie said. “They turned out to be fatal secrets that brought a lot of misery and death.”
“And Justine?”
“When she was researching the Rod Winkler case for Warren Craig, being the thorough person she was, she discovered his real connection to Montoya and all the information he could spill. When he had the so-called heart attack, she knew it was murder and set out to prove it. That’s why she was killed.”
“She was a hero,” Alex told her, “ and we’re going to make sure everyone knows it. But you’ll have to wait until after the major trials to write your book, I’m afraid.”
“That’s okay,” she told him. “It will end up being a much better book. I’m going to find another one to write in the meantime.”
“With me watching every move,” Sean insisted.
She had just laughed. “We’ll see. Right now all I’m doing is hanging out. I even quit my job at the newspaper, although my editor said they would hold it for me.”
“We’re rearranging our lives.” Sean grinned.
Today Alex had shown up at the ranch to give her the latest updates and to find out when Sean thought he’d be able to take the course he needed for his license.
“I’m anxious to get you on my team.”
“Soon,” Zoe told the sheriff, smiling. “I told him since I’m not working, he needs to be gainfully employed.”
“Well, there’s a little house for rent in Eagle Rock that you guys might want to take a look at. Let me know when it’s convenient.”
“But first we have something else to do,” Sean told her.
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh? And what could that be?”
“Yes, Sean,” Sadie teased. She and Hank had joined them on the porch.
“It’s this.” He rose from his chair, pulled something from his pocket and got down on one knee in front of Zoe.
Zoe thought her heart would stop. Holy mother!
“Sean?”
“Zoe Ward, you came into my life when I was nearly at my lowest. You brought love and goodness and everything I needed and helped me fight my demons. You are the most precious thing in the world to me, and I would be so humbled if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife.”
Her eyes were so filled with tears she could hardly see, and her breath caught in her throat.
“Zoe? Don’t keep me in suspense. I might die waiting. Will you?”
She nodded her head. ”Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I will. I love you, too. You know that.”
“Whew!” He pretended to wipe sweat from his forehead.
He took Zoe’s hand and slid the most exquisite diamond ring she’d ever seen on her finger, kissing her knuckles as he did.
“I love you,” he repeated.
“I love you, too. Thank you for being in Red’s the night I walked in there.”
“Best night of my life. Or one of them. We’ll have many, many more.”
He pulled her into a deep kiss while the other applauded. She could hardly wait until she got an all clear from the doctor and they could celebrate in style.
If you liked Fatal Secrets, you will also like these other books in the Heroes Rising Series by Desiree Holt.
Guarding Jenna
Unmasking Evil
Desperate Deception
Zero Hour
Guarding Jenna
USA Today Bestselling Author
Desiree Holt
Chapter 1
It was the emails that pushed her.
Jenna Donovan had been keeping track of things online for the past fourteen years. She’d made a list of possibilities and every so often, when it wouldn’t get out of her head, she did a search for anything relating to those names. She had pitiful little to show for it, but her obsession with finding the right person was like an itch she could never scratch enough.
And then the emails arrived.
There is a rapist and killer here where you used to live. He’s killed ten girls in fourteen years. No one can stop him. He rapes them and then kills them if they report it. No one will help us. Please do something.
She could still feel the paralyzing shock that gripped her when she read it. Why had this person reached out to her? Did they know what had happened to her all those years ago? While she was still fighting back the nausea the memory caused, another email dropped.
We read all your stories. Please, if you can, we beg you to come investigate this or he will keep on doing it. Please.
Jesus!
Of course, it was the same man. Had to be. There wouldn’t be two in such a sparsely populated area. How old would he be after all these years? And how powerful was he that he could keep doing this without retribution or discovery? The memory had slammed into her as if it had just happened. Her stomach clenched again as the nightmare she worked so hard to suppress came flooding through her as if a damn had broken.
She had run to the bathroom and vomited until her stomach was empty. Then, after settling her stomach with a cup of peppermint tea, she sat back down at her computer. She’d sworn never to return to that place where her nightmares began, but she could feel the fear rising from the messages. And she could feel the fear and desperation in the emails. Was this a sign from the universe that it was time to deal with the past? That doing one of her investigative pieces was the way to do it? Returning
now was what she’d call an evil necessity. And maybe she could put her demons to rest once and for all.
Could she do it? What would it be like returning there? Who would she talk to? She had absolutely no intention of communicating with Roger Holland, her stepfather. Or former one, since her mother was now dead. It was his house—his ranch—that had been the scene of the event that still haunted her every day and night. He might not have been the actual villain, but he had created an environment that attracted people like the one in her nightmare. She’d never told him what happened, knowing he’d call her a liar. He always defended his friends in any situation, to the exclusion of everyone else, including his family.
Fourteen years ago, she hadn’t been able to get away from Montana fast enough. The day she turned eighteen, she took all the money her father had left her and headed for college on the other side of the country. Despite the pleading and tears from her mother, for her own sanity she’d had to get away.
Since the day she left, she had done her best to avoid coming back here at all, the place where her nightmares began. The death of her mother in the middle of her freshman year left her without a reason to ever come back. She’d put herself through college and built a new life for herself away from any reminders of the nightmare. If she still had nightmares, well, she was dealing with them as best she could.
Putting aside everything else she had going at the moment, she did a deep search for killings in that county, going back fifteen years. And there they were, scattered over time, very brief news articles about girls who were strangled and left in the forested areas of the Crazy Mountains near her former hometown. Maybe if she went back there and helped uncover the perpetrator, her nightmares would stop forever. Maybe she could have a healthy relationship with a man. Maybe a lot of things.
“I have to go back,” she told her friend, Grey Holden. “This is a sign, Grey. If I can find out who this is, maybe I can finally have some peace after all these years.”