Anger rushed through his veins. Griff couldn’t let anybody hurt Ada. Or Bethany.
He would do whatever it took to protect them, even if it meant sacrificing himself.
* * *
Bethany jerked awake, an internal alarm alerting her that something was wrong. Her heart raced and sweat spread across her skin as she glanced around.
“Help!” Ada yelled beside her, thrashing on the bed.
Ada was having a nightmare, she realized.
Just a nightmare.
Across the room, Griff sprang forward, looking instantly on alert.
“It’s okay,” Bethany mouthed, pointing down at Ada.
His shoulders seemed to soften when he saw that Ada was safe. He ran a hand over his face.
“Daddy!” She suddenly sat up in bed, tears running down her cheeks. “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!”
Griff rose to his feet and rushed to her side.
Not wearing a shirt again, Bethany noted.
That was a conversation for later, though.
He knelt by the bed. As he did, Ada threw her arms around him, and he pulled her close.
“What’s wrong with my girl?”
“I had a bad dream, Daddy.” Ada clung to him, tears pouring down her face. “I was so scared.”
“It’s going to be okay,” he murmured. “I’m right here.”
Bethany watched the exchange. Ada had asked for her dad again. That fact wasn’t lost on Bethany. Ada desperately wanted her father in her life, and everything that had happened over the past year hadn’t changed that. She used to wake up asking for Griff at least a few times a week.
But the even bigger issue at hand was the fact that the events of the past couple days were taking a toll on her daughter, weren’t they? Ada was terrified. Bethany could try to protect Ada all she wanted, but the damage had already been done.
Remorse ached in Bethany’s chest with every beat of her heart. She didn’t want Ada to be caught in the crossfire. To be a victim of choices her little girl had never even made. The fact that these Savages were targeting Ada was reprehensible.
Griff cradled Ada to his chest until her eyes started to droop. Ada had found safety in her father’s arms.
A moment later, Griff lifted her and put her back in bed beside Bethany. Just before he removed his arms from around her, Ada’s eyes flung open and she grabbed Griff.
“Don’t leave, Daddy. Please.” Ada sniffled, as if on the verge of tears again.
Griff exchanged a glance with Bethany, silently asking her what to do.
Bethany scooted over until her back hit the wall. When she did, Griff slid into bed beside Ada. The girl cuddled up beside her father and fell back to sleep.
She and Griff exchanged another look.
Bethany’s heart continued to pound in her chest. She was all too aware of how close Griff was. Of how cozy this arrangement was. Of how this felt entirely too normal.
It was like they were all playing family again.
Yet, as she lay there, she knew that oceans separated her and Griff. Not only oceans, but broken dreams that had been crushed by ruthless waves. Good memories that faded faster than the sunset.
Love was supposed to win.
Instead, Bethany felt like a failure. Every time she looked at Griff, she remembered that. Remembered how divorce was never supposed to be in their vocabulary. Yet it was.
Maybe it was Griff’s job that had worn them down. The vast amount of time they’d spent apart. Maybe she hadn’t been the woman Griff had needed her to be. She didn’t know.
For that matter, Griff hadn’t been the man she’d expected him to be. All the naysayers—the people who’d warned Bethany against marrying him—had appeared to be right. She’d been wrong.
As she stared at him now, she realized that this situation was going to end badly. Very, very badly. And she had no idea how to prepare herself or Ada for the aftermath.
Chapter Fifteen
Griff tried to pretend that everything was normal the next morning as he, Bethany, and Ada headed across the lot and into the cottage. Ty had invited them over for breakfast, and Griff was never one to refuse free food. Plus, he thought it was a good idea to put some space between him and Bethany.
She had been casting dirty looks at him all morning. Apparently, she didn’t appreciate what happened last night. But he would have never stayed with Ada if Bethany hadn’t given him permission.
Feeling Ada curl up to him brought back so many memories. Too many memories. It made Griff long for things he couldn’t have. Now he had to figure out what to do about that.
Inside the cottage, the smell of bacon and eggs and crispy hash browns filled the air. It was a breakfast meant for people who did hard labor. Speaking of which, Griff needed to squeeze in some exercise time or eating like this would undo all the effort that he’d put into staying fit. In his line of work, that was a must.
CJ was at the helm in the kitchen, and Benjamin helped her. But Griff could tell that Benjamin was not enjoying himself. It wasn’t even that they bickered, which made it even more funny to Griff.
Benjamin just kept giving her dirty looks, and CJ seemed oblivious to it all. She went about her merry way without giving the man a second thought.
Good. Maybe Benjamin could use a little dose of humility.
The conversation at breakfast felt light and easy. If Griff let himself, he might even be able to imagine that this was just a casual get together among friends. But he knew it was anything but that. There were serious issues at stake here, and he couldn’t forget that. He knew that none of them could or would.
As soon as they finished, Griff asked if Colton, Dez, and Benjamin could meet in the office for a minute. He’d just finished a phone call a few minutes ago, and he wanted to share the information he’d learned. He was anxious to hear if Colton had any updates as well.
Once in the room, no one bothered to sit. Instead, they stood in a circle facing each other, waiting to hear what Griff and Colton had to say.
“I got a call from Anderson this morning,” Griff started. “He told me that another SEAL team was on a mission a few days ago—a mission that involved the Savages.”
“And?” Colton asked.
“The SEAL team captured a man who’d been injured in a blast. He wasn’t quite in his right mind. But apparently, he told them that there was ‘more coming and that the finger was on the trigger.’”
Dez pulled his shoulders up in a stiff shrug. “What does that mean?”
“I can only assume it means that whatever the Savages are planning, it’s imminent,” Griff said.
“Did this terrorist say anything else?” Benjamin asked.
“He also said the word ‘revenge,’” Griff said.
“What does that mean?” Colton asked.
“No idea.” Griff shrugged.
“I don’t like this.” Colton crossed his arms, his entire body appearing tense. “I feel like the tide is rising, and we need answers before we all go under. I have no doubt in my mind that this man would have killed Elise earlier if CJ hadn’t arrived when she did.”
“Speaking of which, who sent that text to her?” Griff asked. The question had haunted him all night.
Colton’s face tightened again. “I have no idea. We can try to trace the number, but I have a feeling it won’t turn up anything. Whoever it was, it looks like we have a guardian watching out for us.”
“If this person is a guardian, why isn’t he or she showing their face?” Griff didn’t like secrets like that. They only led to trouble.
“I have no idea. But we know what we need to do. We continue to look into Sal Philips. We look into Cindi’s husband. We find out as much information as we can on this man who died yesterday. Above all, we keep the people we love safe. Understood?”
“Understood,” they all muttered.
But Griff didn’t feel any better. In fact, if anything, he felt worse.
* * *
Bethany patiently waited
for Griff to finish with his meeting.
They had another emergency to attend to—only this one wasn’t the life or death type. This was a parenting emergency.
Breakfast had already been cleaned up. They had read a story to Ada, and CJ had entertained them by juggling spoons. She’d offered to juggle knives, but nobody thought that that was a good idea. Then Ada had munched on some raisins.
That’s where their emergency had started.
Finally, Bethany heard the office door open, and she waved Griff over. “Ada put a raisin up her nose.”
Ada frowned as she sat in the kitchen chair. Her chin trembled. The poor girl was so upset. Bethany and CJ had tried everything they could to get the raisin out.
Griff knelt in front of Ada. “You know, those taste a lot better if you put them in your mouth instead.”
Ada nodded, her eyes filling with tears.
Griff leaned closer, examining her nose. Finally, he leaned back and shook his head. “I think we’re going to need to take her to the clinic. Maybe Doc Clemson can get that out. I’m afraid I’m going to push it up farther.”
Bethany nodded. “That’s what I figured. Is it safe to leave?”
“It will have to be.”
Bethany stood and reached for Ada’s hand. “Come on, sweet girl. We’ll get this taken care of.”
A few minutes later, they were in Griff’s truck, headed down the road.
Each time she remembered the rush of feeling like she, Griff, and Ada were all a family, the feeling was immediately replaced by regret.
She couldn’t let Griff back into her life. The smartest thing she could do was to be cordial but keep the distance between them.
It only took a few minutes to drive to the clinic, and they were taken back to a room right away. The doc was going to be with them as soon as he finished seeing another patient. In the meantime, a kind nurse brought Griff and Bethany some coffee, and Ada a juice box.
“Mommy, Daddy,” Ada started as she sat on the examination table with a frown on her face.
“What is it, sweetie?” Griff asked.
“I want a baby brother or sister.”
Bethany nearly spit her coffee out. Instead, she swallowed the hot brew—a little too quickly, which led to a coughing fit.
Griff raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
She hit her chest with her fist and nodded. “Just fine. You take that one.”
Griff turned back to Ada. “A little brother or sister would be fun, huh?”
“Griff . . .” That wasn’t what he was supposed to say.
He raised a hand, as if saying to give him a chance. “But I don’t think that’s going to happen, sweetie.”
Ada frowned again. “I miss you, Daddy.”
Griff squeezed her hand, all of his earlier glib gone. “I know, honey. I miss you too.”
Bethany looked away before anyone could see the heartbreak in her eyes.
Ada had just stopped asking about her dad so much.
When this was over, Ada was going to have to adjust to his absence again.
Bethany’s heart ached at the thought of it.
Chapter Sixteen
As they waited for the doctor and Ada entertained herself with some tongue depressors, Bethany glanced at her phone. She frowned at an email that she saw there.
Griff glanced over her shoulder. “What is it?”
She shook her head. “Nothing, probably. It’s just that I got a message from my boss that doesn’t make much sense.”
“What’s it say?”
She blinked to make sure that she was seeing things correctly before reading the email. Bethany, I’m asking all the employees to sign this document below. It’s very important. I know you are taking a leave of absence right now, but if you can get this done ASAP, that would be great. Thank you, John Epstein.
“What’s so strange about that?”
She shrugged. “I know it probably doesn’t make much sense, but my boss has never sent an email like this before. I can’t imagine what this might be, and I’m hesitant to click on the link.”
“Why don’t you call him first and make sure it’s legit? We probably have a few minutes still until Doc Clemson will be here.”
“Good idea.” Bethany dialed his number. John answered on the second ring.
“Bethany! I didn’t expect to hear from you. I hope everything is well.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she pretended like she didn’t hear and jumped to the heart of the matter. “I’m calling about this email that you just sent.”
“Email?”
“The one where you asked me to sign a document. Something about it didn’t sit right with me, so I just wanted to make sure you had really sent it.”
He paused for a beat. “When did you get this email?”
“Just now. It said you sent it two hours ago.”
He let out a grunt. “I can assure you that I have not sent any emails out asking for any signatures. Perhaps it’s a phishing email.”
“Perhaps. But it did come from your address, and it does have my name, and it’s even spelled correctly. Plus, my leave of absence was mentioned.” The message definitely had a personal touch.
“Do me a favor and forward that to me. I’ll have our IT guys check into it, just to make certain there’s not something suspicious going on.”
“Sure thing. I’ll do that as soon as I get off the phone.” Maybe his team could find some answers. If they did, it would make Bethany feel better.
“I’ll be looking for it. Take care of yourself, Bethany.”
She ended the call, and, before she forgot, forwarded the email to her boss. When she was done with that, she glanced back at Griff. He stared at Ada, the look in his eyes full of longing.
Bethany cleared her throat, trying to regain her focus. “John said it’s probably just some phishing email. You know we all get those all the time.”
Griff’s gaze narrowed as he turned back to her. “It wasn’t written in broken English, however. That is suspicious within itself.”
“What are you getting at?” Bethany heard something in his words, something that hinted there could be more to this.
“I’m just saying that, at this point, everything is on the table. Every possibility should be examined.”
“You are more than welcome to investigate this email if you would like.”
As Bethany looked at him, her cheeks burned again. They kept doing that, and that was not a good sign. But when she remembered Griff sleeping beside Ada, it did something funny to her heart.
She had to get Griff out of her system. Because the situation was only going to get harder.
Thankfully, just then, the doctor came into the room.
* * *
Griff waited for Doc Clemson to find a different pair of forceps to remove the raisin from Ada’s nose.
The first one hadn’t worked.
He was feeling restless, though. What he really wanted was to be out there looking for the person behind all of this. His first priority had to be keeping his daughter safe, though.
Bethany alternated between playing with Ada and staring off into space, looking like she didn’t know what to do with herself.
Griff wished he could take some of her anxiety away, but he knew that would be a bad idea. That very anxiety could keep her alive.
Finally, a knock sounded at the door. He turned, expecting Clemson to be there. Instead, it was Cassidy.
“I heard you two were here,” Cassidy said. “How’s that nose, Ada?”
Ada narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “Bad.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Cassidy frowned for Ada before turning back to Griff and Bethany. “I have a little update for you.”
“We’d love an update,” Griff said.
Cassidy closed the door behind her. “First of all, Brian Starks is awake. Colton and Elise are headed to Raleigh so they can talk to him. I told them I’d pass on that message.”
“Good to know,” Griff said.
“I also wanted to let you know,” Cassidy lowered her voice, “that I got a fingerprint match from that knife found in Ada’s bag.”
Bethany jerked to her feet and stepped closer. Griff also closed in, eager to hear what Cassidy had to say. Maybe they’d finally have some answers.
“And?” he asked.
“You’re never going to believe this.” Cassidy’s gaze locked onto his. “The print that we found on the knife matches Jason Perkins.”
“Who is Jason Perkins?” Bethany’s gaze wavered back and forth from Griff to Cassidy.
“Jason is the person I told you about, the one who worked for the commander as a driver,” Griff explained. “He’s the one who came after Elise. He’s in jail now.”
Bethany’s eyes narrowed. “But if he’s in jail . . . how did his knife get in the bag?”
“That’s what we are all wondering.” Cassidy frowned.
“What about the blood?” Griff remembered the gruesome sight of it, dried on the edges of the weapon. A knife by itself he might be able to excuse as an instrument someone kept in their pocket. The blood took it to an entirely new level.
Cassidy shifted and let out a breath. “We had that tested as well. I was thinking that it would probably be fake blood or animal blood. As it turns out, it’s human.”
Bethany gasped and put her hand over her mouth. As she did, Ada wandered over and lifted her arms. Bethany picked her daughter up and held her close.
This wasn’t her world. She lived in books and park dates and sunshine. Griff, on the other hand, lived with danger, injury, and backstabbing. He wished he could protect her from all of that.
But this one did have him puzzled. How had Jason’s prints gotten on that knife? And exactly whose blood was that?
The mystery around all of this continued to deepen.
Griff shifted, more anxious than ever to find some answers. “What’s next?”
Ripple Effect: Lantern Beach Blackout, Book 3 Page 8