Page 50 of Breaking Conviction

“What the... turn it up.”

For once, Phoenix did as he was told and the newswoman’s concerned tone filled the large room.

“This just in. While authorities are still looking for Andrew Wilton Ascot III, Dmitri Rusnak, another man believed to be part of the human trafficking ring in Ashland County, has been found dead. Authorities have been looking for him for two days, only for a jogger to find his body in the river on her morning run—”

“Holy—”

“Hawk! Devil! Come out here!” Phoenix yelled loud enough for his voice to echo across the second-floor residence hall.

After only a second, both men burst from their rooms, half dressed. Ellie followed closely behind Devil while tying her robe.

“What’s going on?” Hawk asked, immediately taking control of an unknown situation.

“Just look at this shit, dude,” Phoenix answered.

Hawk and Devil watched as the reporter kept speaking about Rusnak, one of the partners of the Ascot, Rusnak, and Strickland firm that had a warrant out for his arrest.

“—gunshot wound to the head.”

The women gasped and Naomi turned to her daughter.

“Oh, god, um T? Go to our room, baby—”

“But Mommy I wanna watch—”

Naomi bent and wrapped her hands around Thea’s shoulders. “Listen to me, T. Go watch the TV in our room, okay? Please?”

Thea must’ve understood the urgency in her mother’s voice. She nodded and fixed her crown before she walked to their room on the other end of the hall. Once her little feet were out of earshot and the door closed, Wes spoke.

“You think it was a job?”

“Sure fuckin’ sounds like one.Goddamnit,” Phoenix answered, a look of rage on his face as he kicked the bottom of the black leather L-shaped couch.

“A job? Wh-what’s that mean?” Naomi asked.

Wes blew out a breath. “It means the people we thought—or hoped—might be in charge of the trafficking ring… most definitely are not and this is far from over.”

“Oh god.” Naomi’s eyes widened and Wes couldn’t fight back the strong urge to comfort her. He cradled the back of her head with one hand and wrapped the other arm around her small body, bringing her into his chest. The vanilla and sugar scent from her hair teased his nostrils as he massaged the back of her head, loosening her wild auburn bun even further.

He kept his eyes on the screen as he spoke to Hawk in a low voice. “We need to get ahead of this.”

He knew Naomi could take whatever they were talking about, but her ear was to his chest as she faced away from the TV. If she needed to block everything else out for a moment, he was going to let her do that, too.

“Looks like we’re already behind.” Hawk scrubbed his fade before cursing. “We don’t know who, if anyone, is next.”

“Rusnak was obviously a valuable asset. I wonder if Strickland and Ascot know anything?” Wes asked, mentioning the other partners of the godforsaken firm.

“We gotta find out, dude. This is bullshit. We can’t have gone through all that work for nothing.”

Wes narrowed his eyes at Phoenix. “It’s never for nothing, Phoenix. We saved lives.”

Naomi pulled away from his embrace but stayed close, her shoulder pressed to his. He was grateful for the closeness, that she was considering him safe enough to lean on.

Phoenix rolled his eyes. “Come on, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant, if people who know shit start getting picked off, we’re gonna be up the creek without a goddamn paddle and I, for one, don’t feel like having another mistake like Yemen on my hands. I don’t know about you—”

“Fuck you, Phoenix. Of course I don’t—”

“Enough.” Hawk silenced them. “Okay, they haven’t found Ascot yet, the bastard’s probably in fucking hiding if he knows what’s good for him.”