Page 34 of Rafe’s Future

The line went dead a beat later.

For the next several minutes, she and Rafe spent time skimming their way through the cache of information. The data was virtually endless, but fortunately, it didn’t take long to confirm at least the bare bones of their theory.

“There it is.” Lena stood tall, pointing to text messages mentioning both her and Rafe.

Not only that, but Caleb’s and Sabrina’s names were also found in a portion of conversation between their killer and the person giving the orders.

“This is it.” She sent Rafe her first full smile in hours. “That’s it. We got him.”

Our names are right there, in black and freaking white.

But rather than celebrate the major step in their case, Rafe pointed to the same closed door as before.

“Correction.” His kissable lips didn’t curl. “We have him.”

Meaning they had the hired gun, but no actual mention of Kozlova or any proof he was involved in the ordered hits.

He’s in this thing up to his scraggly beard.

She could feel it deep within her bones.

Lena thought about their captive, hoping he was awake and at least somewhat alert. He’d begun to regain consciousness shortly after arriving at the hidden site, so Rafe had administered a sedative he just happened to have on hand.

With him out cold, they’d had time to touch base with West. Now that the ball was rolling on that end⁠—

“You still okay with me going first?” She turned her attention back to Rafe.

“You can take the lead on the questions.” He nodded. “But I’ll be in the room with you.”

“Absolutely not.”

“This isn’t up for debate.”

“You’re right.” She took a step toward him. “It’s not.” Ignoring how damn hot the guy looked with his strong arms crossed and stern expression, Lena reminded him, “I’m just as trained for this sort of thing as you are, and I’ve conducted hundreds of interrogations in far more dangerous situations than this.”

The muscles at the back of his bearded jaw twitched, but he didn’t say anything more.

Lena lifted three fingers as a show of her solemn vow. “I won’t kill him,” she promised. “Scout’s honor.”

“Were you even in the Scouts?” His handsome head gave a slight tilt.

It was impossible to keep her lips from twitching as she took another step closer. “Either you trust me or you don’t.”

“This isn’t about my trust in you, Lena. I just don’t like the idea of you being alone in a room with him.”

He’s trying to protect me.

“The guy’s in cuffs, and I have my gun. And let’s face it, if I were Coulter or one of your other male team members, you wouldn’t think twice about me going in there alone.”

With an audible exhale, the well-meaning man finally saw things her way. “Fair enough.” A hint of a nod. “But I’ll be watching everything from the room next door.”

“I’d expect nothing less.” She glanced around. “First, I need something to drink.”

“There’s some water in the fridge.” He motioned toward the white refrigerator positioned against the room’s back wall.

Lena walked that way, and when she opened the door, she welcomed the rush of cool air. As promised, the otherwise empty shelves were filled with bottles of water, along with a handful of beers.

Even better.