He placed a sparkling solitaire diamond set amid smaller diamonds and light blue sapphires in the band on her ring finger.
She looked from her hand to his face. He looked almost vulnerable, a mix of hoping she liked the ring and fearing she wouldn’t. “It’s beautiful. I love you and you picked this ring out for me. I would never exchange it for another, even if I hated it.” She held up her hand. “But I don’t. I love it, don’t get me wrong. It’s gorgeous.”
His expression relaxed. He took her hand and brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them. “So is all that to say you’ll marry me?”
She laughed. “Yes, Badger, I’ll marry you.”
Chapter 22
Brock stood in Kyle’s office at Watchdog first thing the next morning along with Wolf and Jake, shaking his head in anger and disbelief. “What do you mean Brian is gone? I thought the police took him to rehab. Did he check himself out?”
“There’s no record that he ever checked in,” Kyle said, equally angry. Camo nudged his hand, obviously as upset as his human teammate.
“Why are we only finding out about this now?” Wolf asked.
“Sergeant Williams called me first thing. He couldn’t find any record of the police taking Brian anywhere.” Kyle gritted his teeth. “Tex checked rehab centers all along the Front Range and nada.” Kyle shook his head slowly. “I’ve got him digging into any possible names Brian might have gone under just in case. And he’s looking at traffic footage to see if he can find the cop car that dropped him off. Nothing yet though. In the meantime, Brian’s in the wind. My thought is that they took him to the door and left him there, he changed his mind, and now he’s holed up somewhere getting fucked up.”
“Yeah, that’s more his speed, much to Brianna and her family’s pain. Damn it, why’d he have to turn up and do this to her now?” Brock said.
Kyle scratched Camo’s ears. “That’s just the beginning of the great news today. Gina’s getting stonewalled trying to talk to Jerold Glass.”
Jake’s eyebrows rose nearly to the center of his forehead. “Our Spooky can’t get in to talk to a perp? What, do they have him at Gitmo?”
Kyle smiled. “If they had him there, she could probably waltz right in. She told me she was actually going to offer Glass an all-expenses-paid trip to Cuba’s finest accommodations if he didn’t talk. But she can’t even get in.”
“Who’s blocking her and what’s their excuse?” Wolf asked. “Tex has told me about Gina Smith and from what my brother’s said, she can walk right through walls when she has to.”
That made both Kyle and Jake laugh. “He’s not too far off,” Kyle said. “Spooky is as Spooky does.” He turned serious. “Which just makes me wonder all the more what the hell is going on here.”
“You think the Capitoline Group’s got their fingers in this pie?” Jake asked. Brock’s blood ran cold at that name. Soon after he’d been hired, Kyle had briefed him on the nefarious group of powerful billionaires. Watchdog—and Kyle specifically—had made enemies with them the previous Christmas when he messed up their plans in Colorado.
“I don’t know what to think. Glass seems too small-time for them to protect. She’ll get in there though. She’s Gina.”
“She’s Gina,” Jake agreed.
“In the meantime, I’m tightening security around the talent at the festival. Williams has given me the names of the officers he trusts the most to serve as back-up, but I can tell you, I’m not too happy at the moment.”
“Well, you know who I’ll be watching,” Brock said. “I should get the fuck out of here now and back to Brianna. She’s already at the festival.”
“Rachael’s still up at the ranch sleeping in,” Jake said. “Musicians, man,” he joked, but behind his usual joviality, his eyes looked concerned. “She’s scheduled to sing in the pavilion later today, and then there’s the judging this evening.”
“The other talent we’re watching hasn’t had any problems whatsoever. They aren’t even aware anything’s off this year, so there’s that at least. Wolf, what are your and Caroline’s plans for the day?”
“Wolf shifted his weight. “Ice, Arden, and Harper are hitting it off well. We’d all planned on going back to the festival today, especially to see Rachael perform. It’ll give me a chance to lend an extra hand if you want.”
“Appreciate that, brother,” Kyle said. “I’m not quite all-hands-on-deck yet, but I’m not far from it, either.”
Kyle’s cell buzzed. “It’s Tex,” he said as he set it on the desk and hit the speaker button. “Tex. You’re on speaker in my office with Jake, Brock, and Wolf. Whatcha got?”
“Howdy. Brock, get your woman ready. A John Doe’s just turned up in Longmont who matches Brian Taylor’s description.”
“Oh, fuck,” Brock had no idea how he would break the news to Brianna.
“Not dead, brother, just at the hospital there. He’s in a coma. Prognosis is not good.”
“Fuck. Overdose?”
“That and this fella’s also been roughed up good.”
