“I’m sorry, Gabe but they want you on lockdown.”
A caustic laugh ripped from my lips, echoing through the basement. “You’re not fucking serious.”
Sam cupped the back of his neck then shook his head. “Either that or they arrest you.”
I frowned. “On what fucking charges?”
“Murder.”
“I’ve killed a lot of people, Sam, lets be more specific,” I snorted my disgust. Once more his government was fucking me in the ass. I could just walk away right now but I needed answers and the only likely people to give me those were these fucking agents planning to make my balls heavy.
“Look, son, just lay low for a couple of days. You can stay here with Declan or come back home with me. As long as they don’t see you, they might leave you alone. I’ll speak to the captain down at the precinct. Tell him, that I got you under house arrest. Shackle you to an ankle bracelet if we must. What do you say?”
Shoving both hands through my hair, I snarled my displeasure. “Seems like I don’t have a fucking choice. Whichever way I look at it, I’m fucked.”
“You can run.” Sam’s matter-of-fact tone had my brow lifting and he shrugged. “Run, carry out your own investigation and maybe you’ll find Ria.”
“Yeah, and what good that’s going to do me. I need answers. I need to know where my fucking wife is. Why the fuck her entire family was killed and who the fuck is this man claiming to be her father.” I shook my head, blowing out a frustrated breath. “What I don’t understand is, if Ria knew something, why didn’t she tell me?”
“I’m sure we’ll find all the answers we need, Gabe, soon.”
“Always the optimist, aren’t you?”
His laugh lacked mirth but his expression was that of the man I’d looked up to as a father. “In this line of work, someone has to be or we’ll be drowning in shit.”
His bullshit logic made so much sense because we both knew survival was key, sanity even more so, and drowning in shit was an everyday occurrence whether you liked it or not. But it was always the tough fucker that came out on top. And that’s where Sam and I excelled.
“Fine. I’ll hang out here with Declan but the first sign of shit and I’m out of here.” I knew I’d regret my decision, for now, I had nothing else. At least with Declan, we could keep checking. What, I had no fucking clue. As I turned to go back to the car, Sam stopped me.
“When was the last time you ate something other than ‘fuck this shit’ and coffee.” His gaze roamed over my exhausted face. I shrugged, not bothering to answer. He knew me well. “Get some sleep, son, you’re starting to look like the apocalypse gone bad and while you’re at it, take a shower, combined they might make you a whole lot more alert and maybe catch something you missed.” He raised a brow, and I knew what he wasn’t telling me.
That I needed my wits about me and that was something I was good at too.
19
Gianna (18 years)
