Emmett’s gaze fell back to the woman in his arms. He closed his eyes, leaned forward, and pressed his lips to her forehead before resting his head against hers.
They didn’t say anything more the rest of the drive. He didn’t ask for details about her time in captivity or try to get intel to pass along to the authorities.
One of the guys may have gotten away, but now thatthe main players had been caught, it was only a matter of time. He thought about the men they’d left cuffed, confident those two would sing like canaries the first chance they got.
Janie would share what she knew when she’d been cleared by a doctor, and not a minute before. She was the priority now and always.
Forever.
Emmett couldn’t believe he’d been blessed, not only with the love he felt for her, but by the love she carried for him.
Thank you.
He lifted his head and watched her closely, never taking his eyes off her for the remainder of the drive.
“Knock, knock.” Janie smiled at Devon as she and Emmett walked into the recovering woman’s room.
“Hey.” There was no light in Devon’s smile, her hazel eyes haunted by the horrors of recent memories.
Janie took the chair at the head of her friend’s bed while Emmett hovered closely behind her. He hadn’t left her side for a second, save for a quick trip to the bathroom. Even then, he insisted on standing guard outside her door.
He still blames himself.
It would take time for the deepest wounds to heel, she knew. For him. Her. Devon. So many people’s lives had been changed forever.
“How are you feeling?”
“Sore.” Devon shrugged. “You?”
“I’m okay.” Janie took her friend’s hand in her good one.
Her left arm was in a sling to help protect the newly stitched wound from being bumped or jostled around too much.
“Did you catch them?”
“We did.” She smiled. “Well most of them. Authorities are still looking for the man who hurt us, but they’ll find him,” Janie assured her friend, who’d recognized Billy as the man who’d beat her, as well. “They’ve got their best people looking for him, Dev.”
She prayed she hadn’t just lied to her best friend.
From what Emmett’s Homeland handler had told him over the phone, Billy Crawford was a ghost. A hitman for hire, willing to do just about anything for the highest bidder.
“Turn that up, would you?” Devon asked of the TV’s volume.
Emmett grabbed the remote, which had fallen between the mattress and the bed’s adjustable frame.
“Again, this is a developing story, but we’ve just learned that Press Secretary Howard Daley, along with several Secret Service members have been shot and killed in the act of committing a felony. That’s right, you’re hearing it here, first. Howard Daley is dead. Unfortunately we have no further details at this time, but we will be back on the air as soon as more information becomes available.”
“They’ll probably spin it as some act of heroism,” Devon scoffed.
“No, they won’t.” Emmett gave a shake of his head. “Trust me. My team and I will make sure of it.”
“He’s right.” Janie squeezed her friend’s hand. “Dead or not, they aren’t going to get away with what they did.”
For the next several minutes, she shared with her friend all that they’d discovered. The part about the VP’s Chief of Staff devising a plan to sell the names and locations of every clandestine CIA operative to the enemy with the biggest wallet. And how Daley, Campbell, and the others had been roped into helping by the blinding lights of greed.
From what Emmett said, his Homeland handler was doing all he could to make sure Janie was the one to break the story. Not because she wanted money or fame. But because no one else out there had cared enough to look for Amy when she’d gone missing.
After that, the two women shared a good cry over Janie’s heartfelt apologies for what her friend had been through, and Devon’s insistence that it wasn’t Janie’s fault. When they’d finally agreed to disagree, Devon was yawning and her eyelids were heavy.
