Page 10 of Always Been Mine (Always #2)
“I’m sorry, I don’t have more information to help you,” Beatrice said. She wasn’t even going to volunteer information about Eric’s drug use. “Eric and I broke up a few weeks ago.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
Beatrice clenched her jaw.
“I understand he was harassing you two days ago,” Detective Moore pressed immediately after Smithers’s question. “Even after you’d threatened him in a voicemail to leave you alone or else.”
Shit.
“You’ve got connections with private security groups—”
“Gentlemen, either charge me with something or this meeting is over. I will not entertain any more questions without my lawyer. Got it?” Beatrice snapped.
“Very well, Ms. Porter,” Detective Smithers said, still sporting an annoying smirk. “Don’t leave town.”
With that parting shot, the two detectives left.
Beatrice called her father.
It was early evening when Gabe let himself into his house. Poor Rhino must be ready to explode. If he had been thinking straight, Gabe would have thought to bring his dog along. After his stop in Chevy Chase, Maryland, he just drove around until his gas tank was almost empty.
After walking Rhino for half an hour, he returned to the house. Admiral Porter was waiting for him. The admiral was sitting on the top steps with his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees.
“Admiral?”
The older man looked up and rose from the steps. “Where were you, Gabriel?”
“I’m not accountable to you,” Gabe answered coldly as he moved past the admiral to unlock the door. Porter followed him in without waiting for an invitation.
“Is it true you were with Beatrice Saturday morning?”
Gabe stilled, suddenly unsure where this was going. “She told you?”
“Is it true?”
“Yes,” Gabe bit out. “If this is some form of belated fatherly outrage, you can turn around and walk out that door. It’s between me and her, and I don’t know what the fuck she was thinking telling you.” His nostrils flared. “Unless you had one of us followed.”
“Fatherly outrage is the least of your concerns right now,” Porter shot back. “Eric Stone is dead. Beatrice is a person of interest. She left a damning voicemail on that man’s phone, threatening him.”
All the anger leached out of Gabe as concern for Beatrice took over. “They think she killed him?”
“Or hired someone to do the job. Woman scorned and all that,” the admiral said dismissively. “I know Beatrice had nothing to do with it. Besides, autopsy and tox screen show death by natural causes.”
“Which is?”
“He died in his sleep. ”
“Fuck!” Gabe muttered.
“Exactly.”
The degree of separation from Eric Stone to the admiral and even to Gabe was too close, and death by natural causes, too suspicious in the world of covert ops and assassins. “You’re thinking it’s a professional hit?”
“I’m pulling some strings to have our own techs run some tests to check for lesser known toxins.”
“Hybernabis,” Gabe said softly. “It’s untraceable, makes the victim look like he died in his sleep, or if he has an existing heart condition, a heart attack. There’s a chemical you can add to flush it out so it’d show up on the report.”
“Are you breaking the assassin’s code, Gabriel?” Porter asked.
“No. That compound is on the CIA watch list. One of the elements is hard to procure, which is why it’s a very unpopular popular drug if you know what I mean.”
“Did you use it?”
“You know I did, Admiral.”
“Beatrice doesn’t want to use you as an alibi.”
“Why ever not?” Gabe growled.
“She said you had a confrontation with Stone last week and it might shift the investigation to you.”
Gabe inhaled sharply, not sure whether to feel elated that she cared for him enough to protect him, or annoyed that she would think he’d let her go through this alone.
“It’s time for you to get your head out of your ass, Commander.”
His eyes narrowed at the older man, pretty sure he knew what the admiral meant, but he was feeling masochistic right now. He needed a push.
The admiral snorted. “I’ve left you well enough alone these past few months, Gabriel. I know coming back from being Dmitry Yerzov is tough. But, son, you’ve gone all the way to the other end of the spectrum, a level above being a pussy. You should be ashamed to be called a Navy SEAL.”
“Now wait a goddamned minute—”
“From what I’ve gathered from my daughter, you’re nowhere near getting through to her—”
“Yeah? Well, her daddy issues ain’t helping, and I’m really uncomfortable talking to you about your daughter. She’s an adult. Fine time for you to be showing concern—”
“I’m more concerned about you.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you hear a thing I said?” Porter huffed in irritation.
“You’re not the man you used to be, Gabriel.
The man three years ago was the man my daughter fell for.
You’re not even close. You treat her with kid gloves.
Hell, if she takes you back the way you are right now, she’ll eat you alive.
Drag you around and spit you out like a chew toy.
Don’t make me regret helping you with my daughter. ”
“Back the hell up,” Gabe snapped. “I do not treat her with kid gloves. What do you think I should have done to her when she kneed me in the balls?”
Porter froze; then his eyes crinkled at the corners before he burst out laughing.
“Glad you find it amusing,” Gabe grumbled. “I can take it from here, Admiral. I’ve done some soul-searching so to speak. I’d appreciate it if you let me handle Beatrice from here on.”
“Handle?” The admiral quirked a brow.
“The woman needs some wooing and a firm hand. I’m handling her with care this time, Ben.”
The admiral’s brows shot to his hairline. “This should be interesting. You may still be the right man for her after all.”
“What the fuck, Ben? I don’t care what you think, especially since you didn’t give a shit for most of her life.”
“Tread carefully, Gabriel,” Porter warned.
“No. You need to come to terms with a few home truths,” he shot back.
“Your fuck-ups as a father are not helping my cause with your daughter at all. I’d prefer it if you stay away from me while I’m trying to get Beatrice to take me back.
” Gabe felt pain lance through his chest, thinking of the girl she used to be.
“I don’t get it, Admiral. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and larger than life.
How can you not cherish and protect someone as precious as her? ”
The admiral paled, his face was a mask, but the tension rolling off him was palpable. Gabe knew he’d gone too far, but someone had to say it. Someone had to fight for Beatrice, for the girl she had been who needed the love of a father.
“You think I don’t cherish her?” Porter said softly.
“The second biggest mistake of my life was getting in too deep with the CIA and then realizing I’ve made enemies.
Having personal attachments had suddenly become more complicated.
Protect her? Why do you think I’ve hooked her up with so many security firms?
Do you know how many allies she has made, willing to protect her? ”
He regarded the admiral skeptically. “No matter how you emotionally detach yourself from Beatrice, the threat will always be there by association. Are you sure this is not a defense mechanism on your part, so if anything does happen to Beatrice, you would be as you are—apathetic?”
“I’m warning you, Commander.” Porter’s face was etched in tense lines.
“I guess I’ve made my point.”
The admiral sighed in resignation. “It’s too late for me, Gabriel, but not for you. Be the man you used to be. Protect her because I can’t do it forever. One of these days, my enemies are going to catch up with me. She will get caught in the crossfire.”
It chilled Gabe that nothing had happened as yet. He knew several missions the admiral had orchestrated that threatened serious blowback.
“I’m sure Beatrice knows this. She’s not obtuse. ”
Porter nodded and walked to the door. “She’s at the condo right now—”
“I don’t get it, Admiral, why are you helping me so much?”
“I don’t want you to make the same mistake I made.”
“What?”
“The greatest mistake of my life.” An expression of regret flashed across the admiral’s face. “I didn’t fight for the woman I love. I let her go.”
“You divorced her when you had seventeen years to fix your marriage,” Gabe scoffed, angry and confused at the admiral’s words.
“I’m not talking about Beatrice’s mother.”
And with that bombshell, the admiral left. Gabe stared at the door for a while.
“Well, hell,” he muttered.