Page 58 of Her Honorable Hero

Soft, fat tears fell.

He turned off the water, and pulled them both to the floor so they rested against the tub. “Tell me, Baby.”

“I need your help. I thought I could make him go away. I thought I could handle it by myself. He’s my problem.”

“We’re a team. I always have your back. Who’s harassing you.”

Who did he have to kill?

“Roger Heinrich.” She tried to pull out of his arms. “I hate him. He’s a no good bastard. He hit mom. He said I needed to be aborted. He’s the one who sent those goddamn flowers. He’s poison.”

Her words ran together.

Hit her mom?

“Miranda, who is he to you?”

“He’s the one who abandoned mom all those years ago. He found me three years ago after the train wreck, but I kicked him to the curb.” This time when she tried to get up, he released her. Miranda started to walk the length the bathroom.

“I must have been four when he came to our house in Ohio. I watched from the top of the stairs. It’s burned into my memory. He screamed at Mom that she should have aborted the brat. Then he hit her and kicked her. He told her never to contact him again. It was years later that I found out what the word aborted meant.”

Griff zeroed in on the pertinent facts. “What do you mean he contacted you three years ago? Was this after we met?”

“It was when I was staying at your house, I barely remember the confrontation. I got rid of him. I thought it was for good.”

Griff surged up from the floor. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She looked up at him confused. It was clear she’d been lost in her own memories as she’d told her story. “Because this bastard was my problem. I hardly knew you. Why would I tell you?”

“How about because I was the man who loved you?”

He saw the confused look on her face. Shit, the thought really hadn’t been on her radar.

Chill the fuck out, Porter.

She rested her hands on his chest, “Griff, I’m sorry, it just-”

He sighed. “It’s all right. I get it. Now tell me what’s going on.”

* * *

Griff finally gotMiranda to bed. She’d been emotionally wiped out. Part of him had wanted to crawl in with her, hold and comfort her and assure her that everything was good now that she’d told him about Heinrich.

Then there was the part that wanted to punch holes in the walls because she’d been targeted, going through this alone and hadn’t fucking told him!

And finally, there was the part of him that had had his ass up all night at the desk. Miranda had told him about hiring Ellen Fairfax, and that was his first call, even though it was three o’clock in the morning in Denver.

She’d made a little progress since talking to Miranda the previous day, managing to dig up an old teammate of Heinrich’s who had been fired from DHS, who had been willing to dish some dirt on the man. Apparently there were rumors of Heinrich doing favors with one of the cartels down in Mexico, but nothing could be proven. His actual write-up, and what he would likely be fired for, was gross incompetence.

Ellen also had calls out to his last two ex-wives. The first one had gone off the grid, which was not a good sign. Heinrich’s last known address was Phoenix Arizona. Ellen had actually flown out there three days ago and knocked on doors. Nobody had seen him for weeks.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this, Griff.”

He wanted to rail at her, but he’d only met the woman once at a company picnic. She was Miranda’s friend and had no real ties to him. “From now on, I need you to report in to both Miranda and I, do you understand?”

“Miranda’s the one paying for my services.”

“That’s a bunch of horseshit. You’re not cashing her checks. Now, if you want to be blackballed by some of the best cyber-security people in the business, I can arrange that, or if you want to have the backing of these guys, it’s all up to you. But don’t try to play fucking hardball with me when it comes to my wife and kid.”