“What happened at your office?”Ivy asked, pulling the kitten to her chest.“Did Jon call you because he thought there was going to be trouble?”
“He was letting me know that the police brought in a suspect matching the description you provided to Agent Levine.I was talking to Jon when I heard shots.”
“Oh my God,” she breathed.“I hope he’s all right.Do you think it was related?”
“We deal with a lot of different cases, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to think someone we had previously arrested or we’re close to arresting had it out for us.Seeing they had just brought in a suspect who also started to spill his guts about the estate and what they planned to do with it?I have a feeling it’s related to that.”
“Whatever’s going on must be a big deal for someone to target your office and agents.”She lowered her face, burying it against Milo’s fur.
He nodded, as he had been thinking the same thing.There was big money in human trafficking, especially when it came to children.From pedophiles with depraved interests to couples desperate to grow their family, the sale of the minors would line their captors’ pockets.He exhaled through his nose, his stomach roiling at the thoughts of one of his own taking a bullet and the safety of the children they’d yet to find.If he’d been there, he might have been able to help.
He clenched his teeth together, then felt Ivy’s hand on his arm.
“I can tell there are a lot of thoughts going around in your head, but I have to tell you, there is no room to place blame on yourself in this situation.”
“I should have been there.”Pain lanced the back of his throat.
“That’s bullshit, Jude.You can’t live at your office, and if you were there who’s to say you wouldn’t have been shot as well?”The light from the display screen illuminated the way Ivy’s eyes glittered with frustration.
“I would’ve been one more set of hands to help.”He clenched the wheel, noting the material was starting to wear down because of the frequent action.
“Or casualty.You have no way of knowing.You’re a man, Jude.You’re not this all-powerful being that can stop every single bad guy, every single time.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”His voice was low and measured.He didn’t want to argue.Not with Ivy.“I’ve spent my entire life going through every moment, every breath of my family’s murder.Analyzing.Wondering what I could have done differently to change the outcome, and I still don’t have the fucking answers.”
The breath whooshed out of Ivy’s lungs, and he didn’t dare look over at her.He didn’t want to see the empathy and understanding in her eyes.“Sometimes there are no answers,” she said softly.“Sometimes bad things happen to good people and all we can do is keep them in our hearts and memories.To live in a way that honors them and would make them proud.”
They were silent for the rest of the ride.He knew she was right.That he was being irrational, and he hated the way he was taking this out on Ivy.He’d been ready to open his heart and let her into his life, only to discover the stark realization that no matter what, he lived in a world that was dark and depraved.How he’d thought that darkness wouldn’t touch her, he wasn’t sure.Still, he knew she was right about his inability to stop what had happened.There was nothing he could have done, especially if Jon had been right, and the sniper had been posted on an adjacent building.By the time he could’ve gotten across the street and up onto the rooftop, the perpetrator most likely would have been long gone.
When they arrived at the office building, the sight of blue and white flashing lights greeted them.Several ambulances parked along the street, and police cruisers monitored traffic.He checked in with the officer standing at the parking garage and flashed his badge before being allowed to pass.Jude brought the SUV to a stop in front of one of the entrance doors to the building.Ivy was already out of the passenger seat, Milo still in her hands, when he got around to her side of the vehicle.He and Ivy walked quickly into the building and took the elevator up to his office floor.Another police officer was stationed outside of the elevator.When they stepped out, Ross yelled his name and started jogging down the hall.“Cameron is scouting the nearby rooftops and Jon is en route to the hospital.”
“Status?”Jude asked.
“Two gunshot wounds.One to the chest.One to the abdomen,” Ross answered, glancing behind him at the commotion of the crime scene analysts.
“Fuck,” he ground out and felt Ivy stiffened beside him.“What about the man they were interviewing?”
“Deceased.GSW to the head.”Ross gripped the bridge of his nose, then dropped his hand to his side.“The man we brought in seemed to be the main target, based on the position of the shot.”
“Goddammit!”
“He gave us quite a bit earlier,” Ross said.“And we’ll try to corroborate his story in the coming days.”
Jude spotted Agent Levine coming down the hallway.“Director Hayes, Miss Nelson.I’m glad you’re both here.The coroner is ready to move the body of Leonard Henson to the morgue, but I wanted to see if we could get confirmation from Miss Nelson putting him at the scene of the estate.”
“No,” Jude bit out.“No fucking way is she going to I.D.a dead man.”One with a bullet hole in his head no less.“Get a picture.She can make the identification based on that.”
“The most recent photograph I have is his license photo, which is over a decade old.The man we brought in today looks much different.”
He felt the weight of Ivy’s hand on his shoulder.“I can help, Jude.”He glanced down at her face, so open and giving.He didn’t want his world to touch her, almost as desperately as he’d wanted things to work between them.How could he have been so fucking stupid?There was no peace for a man like him.
“Thank you, Miss Nelson.”Blood roared in his ears as Agent Levine spoke.“As soon as you make the I.D., I’m sure you’ll want to get to the hospital to check on Jon.”
“She’ll come with me regardless.”He glowered at the FBI agent, then turned to Ivy.“You do not need to do this,” he said punctuating each word.
“I know.”She gave him an encouraging look.“Will you hold Milo?”She held the soft bundle out to him, and he cradled the kitten to his chest.It bumped its head against his sternum, nuzzling against him.
Christ, his chest ached.The kitten represented one more thing that would never be his—a normal life.One where he and his girlfriend doted on their pet cat.He watched Ivy walk away with Agent Levine, toward the hallway of the crime scene.
