“Not your fault, Elle,” Gabe assured her.
“Your hubby’s right.” Walker actually took his side on something. “Ellis and I had a nice, long chat in a corner booth of a secluded coffee shop the day before he died. I ‘accidentally’ bumped into him, spilled his coffee. Offered to buy him a new one. Dude was paranoid as shit, but thankfully I knew that ahead of time. Played on conspiracies and managed to talk him into sitting down for a bit. He even told me about the reporter he’d gone to. One who was stupid enough to go to Price himself.”
Shit. Gabe rolled his lips inward. “Price have him killed, too?”
“Would you believe the dumbass got pissed and pushed the guy down the stairs? Called me to help him clean up his mess.” Walker returned his focus to Elle. “Of course, your boy, Ellis suspected something when the reporter suddenly stopped returning his phone calls. I gotta say, you really had your work cut out for you with that one, Doc. Guy was loonier than a crack whore on Christmas.”
“He’d been traumatized from his time in the field,” Ellena quickly defended her deceased patient. “Mark’s altered state of mind wasn’t his fault.”
“Not saying it was. Just stating the facts. Unless he actually showed you the letter and explained what was going on, there’s no doubt in my mind the guy came off to you as simply being paranoid. So again, Gabe is right. None of this is your fault. You just happened to get caught in the middle of the whole mess.”
Ellena huffed a breath. “No shit.”
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Gabe had to work not to grin. Most women he knew—and some men—would’ve fallen apart completely after shooting someone at point blank range. Even ones they thought were out to do them harm.
Ellena may have been a bit shaken up at first, but she was her usual, tough-as-nails self now. Damn, his woman was something else.
“Anyway”—Walker continued—“Daniel Price was with Radcliff the night Mark Ellis approached him, along with Radcliff’s security guys. When they began strong-arming Ellis back to his car, the guy shouted out that he had proof of what Radcliff had done.”
“Wait,” Ellena chimed back in. “If Mark made all these accusations in front of Governor Radcliff’s staff and security team, wouldn’t he be worried about those guys finding out the truth, too?”
“Men like Radcliff deal with nutjobs all the time,” Matt commented. “No offense to your patient, but if the guy didn’t know better than to publicly accuse a presidential candidate of committing mass murder, they’re not going to take anything he says seriously. Neither will local authorities.”
“Agreed.” Ryker looked to Elle. “Especially if that same guy has a medical record like the one Mark Ellis has.”
“How do you know about Mark’s medical record?”
Walker snickered. “You decide to stay with your hubby, Doc, you’ll figure out the answer to that question real quick.” When Gabe shot the man an angry glare, Walker raised a bloody palm. “Sorry, Dawson. Didn’t mean to overstep my bounds.”
The fuck you didn’t.
“Focus, Adrian.” Ellena’s firm voice snapped the asshole’s attention back to her. “How did Mark find out about Radcliff’s past?”
They’d just learned the man was a government assassin, but she’d just spoken to him as if he were a child in need of redirecting.
Jesus, I love this woman.
“Funny story, actually.” Walker’s mouth curved up a bit, clearly as amused by Ellena’s gumption as Gabe was. “Turns out Mark Ellis was the grandson to one of the men in Radcliff’s old unit. Before the elder Ellis was KIA—not that I’m buying that bullshit for a second, mind you—the guy wrote about what happened to his wife.”
Ellena’s brows bunched together. “She never said anything to anyone?”
“She never knew. A few weeks back, Mark inherited the woman’s house after she passed. He was going through her attic and found an old tin filled with letters from his grandfather. One letter in particular was left unopened. It was postmarked the day his grandad died. Apparently, Mark’s grandmother couldn’t bear to read it, so she put it with all the others.”
“And you know about this how?” Gabe asked Walker.
“How do you think? Mark told me about it.”
“Mark Ellis didn’t trust anyone, but he told you?” Ellena clearly thought the story was bullshit. “A stranger he’d just met?”
“I’m good at what I do, sweetheart.” Walker immediately looked at Gabe. “Sorry. Just slipped out.”
“Yeah? I’llslipmy fist down your throat if it happens again.”
“I’m so confused.” Elle stood and walked toward the kitchen. “And I need coffee. Anyone else?”
“I’d love a cup, Doc.” Walker winked as she passed by.
A few of the other men in the room muttered their desire for some of the hot brew.
