Page 41 of Broken Wheels (CrossBow Protection Book 2)

Josh lookedaround the safe house.

So is this how it’s gonna be from now on? The thought depressed the hell out of him.

Coby took that moment to jump onto his lap, and he picked the fluffy ball up and held her to his chest with a sigh.

“Looks like you and me are going to be doing a lot of this in the future, Cobes.”

The kitten cocked her head, then stood and bumped against Josh’s chin. Not for the first time, he could feel the tears welling up. This was all such crap, and it was his own making. If I’d just gone public all those years ago, we wouldn’t be here now. For one thing, he wouldn’t have been accused of mass murder on national television.

Gary and Michael said they’d have the CrossBow lawyers look into it, remember?While Josh did appreciate the thought, he had his own lawyers who were already working the case, and they’d already confirmed it for him. Yes, he could definitely sue Spencer for defamation, but they all agreed the cat was out of the bag. Even if he won, even if Spencer was proven to be the guilty party, Josh’s life was well and truly over.

Okay, they hadn’t said it was over in so many words, but Josh wasn’t dumb. He gave an internal snort. Well, apparently sometimes. Spencer had screwed him big-time, and not in the fun way. Despite what everyone—his own lawyers included—had told him, Josh knew his life was going to undergo a drastic change, and he’d have to adapt to that, as much as he hated the idea. But there were so many people—CrossBow, government, especially Carson, lawyers—who were out there, trying to give Josh at least a semblance of his life back. His lawyers were contacting the news stations, demanding to know why no one questioned Spencer when he made his bogus pronouncement, why they’d all just let him tell lies and didn’t call him on it. Not to mention they were threatening lawsuits against the stations. In fact, there was so much litigation flying, it made Josh dizzy to think about it. If they won, a lot of animal charities around the country would be receiving hefty anonymous donations.

Coby began to knead Josh’s chest, her nails piercing the shirt a few times. It stung, but the bite of pain helped to keep Josh focused too, not quite as gently as his alarm, but it served a purpose.

“You’re telling me to go back to work, aren’t you?”

Coby bumped his chin again with her head and the kneading continued.

He went back to the files. It wasn’t a surprise to find Spencer was engaged in a lot of dirty dealings—deceptive practices that weren’t much different than a hundred other companies, definitely not enough to topple his empire—but every little bit helped.

He’d found as many online videos of Spencer as he could, and one of them had proved hopeful. It had been an interview, with Spencer appearing confident and relaxed.

The interviewer chuckled. “How do you do it? I mean, you have a multinational company to run, plus you are out here helping to clean up after disasters. When do you find time to be yourself?”

Spencer smirked. “I have a great personal assistant. Without her, everything would fall apart. To that end, I take notes and dictation on my phone, and then she transcribes it so I can look back in our records to see what’s happened.”

So many thoughts tumbled through Josh’s head at that part.

And what do you think of your great personal assistant now? He prayed Spencer’s meticulous habits would prove to be his downfall.

He also prayed Spencer was getting nervous right about then.

“Doc?” Dixon’s voice was a welcome distraction.

He turned to his pad. “Yes?”

“Is Gary nearby?”

“He’s in the bedroom taking a nap. The idiot called Coby, and when she went running for him, he tried to pick her up and hurt himself. Again. I gave him a pain pill, so he’s resting.” Josh frowned. “Do you need him?”

“No, it’s fine. We found Carson.”

His heart pounded. “He’s alive?”

“He was worked over pretty badly, but they think he’ll live. They’re preparing to take him to the hospital. Michael called ahead and was told the CrossBow clinic wouldn’t be ready for another week, but they could still care for a patient. I’ll have the team guard him until we can move him there.” Dixon paused. “I want to ask him questions, but he’s so out of it now, he barely knows his own name.”

Relief swamped him. But he’s alive. “It’s fine. Let him get some rest. Maybe that’s what we all need.”

“You sound bummed.”

It was kinda comforting to know Dixon could read him, even across the miles that separated them.

Josh sighed. “There’s so much here, and I can’t even see the end of it. Spencer didn’t lie in that interview. He’s like a hoarder. He has notes, receipts, scraps of paper. Heck, if I keep digging, I’ll probably find his pocket lint catalogued too.”

Dixon chuckled, which made Josh grin. “You know, you do have a resource you should use. I mean, she’s just sitting in a room at CrossBow, twiddling her thumbs.”

The thought of talking to Kathy left him cold. “She’s involved with the same people who are trying to kill me. I don’t know if I can talk to her.” Not and stay calm while he did it. He sighed again. “I wish you were here.”

“Me too, but you have Coby. Gary, too, at least once he wakes up. Think about talking to her, though. You and Gary together would be a formidable team. She wouldn’t stand a chance. If worse comes to worse, remind her she can be out on the street in a matter of minutes, and in the sights of some sniper seconds after that. Ask if she thinks she’d be as lucky as you.”

Wow, Dixon could be dark. That was hot. “Thanks. I’ll take that to heart.”

“Okay, gotta go. I need to check in with the team, get them something to eat, and order a few gallons of coffee since it’ll be a long night.” Dixon paused. “Look, I know you have a ton going on, but I was hoping you might be able to help me here.”

“What do you need?”

“A list of the employees at the Santa Ana facility. I want to find out if the people we had to kill were employed by Spencer, especially the one who was about to kill Carson. I want thousands of fingers pointing in Spencer’s direction so the fucker can’t squirm away.”

“Sure, I can do that. Shouldn’t take long. I’ll message it to you.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Another pause. “You know I love you, right?”

He did, but hearing the words was still nice. “Love you too. Now, get back to work. I know how Jazz is without caffeine.”

“Okay. Bye.”

Coby came into the room, jumped onto the table, and settled in beside the laptop. Josh reached out absently and rubbed her, delighting in the loud purrs that vibrated through her.

They were also doing a pretty good job of breaking up the chunks of anger and doubt plaguing him.

He scritched under her chin, “You’re a good therapy pet, you know that?”

Mew.

Josh snickered. “Yeah, not surprised. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that Dixon—well, we—adopted you.”

After a few more moments of rubs, Josh dove back into the files. He was right. It didn’t take long to find what he needed from the information Carson provided. He sent the sheets off to Dixon’s pad, then went back to his own work. He continued for another hour, then realized it was hopeless.

It was no good putting off the inevitable. He needed to talk to Kathy. It had been her filing system, after all.

“Why’d you let me sleep?” Gary groused.

Josh looked up and found him leaning heavily against the wall. “If you could see what I do, you’d be asking yourself why you weren’t still sleeping. Are you feeling any better?”

Gary opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. He shook his head. “Not really.”

Josh stood. “Look, I know you don’t want to hear this, and I’m sorry, but you need to listen to me. Your body went through an incredible strain, and it won’t ever be the same as it was before. You need to stop pushing yourself to show others how capable you are, because we know you aren’t.” Gary’s eyes narrowed, and Josh hastened to mollify him a little. “At least not physically. But your mind? That’s as sharp as it always was, and I need it right now.”

“So you’re saying I should curl up in the corner and just come out when people need to ask the Oracle a question?”

Ooh, Gary got snippy when he was hurting.

Josh aimed a hard stare at him. “You know it isn’t like that. Keep working with your physical therapist, but listen to them too. If you said you were bending and stretching your body in ways that would likely hurt you, what do you think they’d say?”

“She’d say stop that shit right fucking now.” He smirked. “Hilda isn’t one to mince words.” He dropped his gaze to the floor. “I know you’re right. Michael says the same thing. It’s just… I don’t feel like I’m part of anything anymore. Michael handles the business, Dixon handles operations, and I sit by the phone doing word search puzzles.”

Josh bit his lip. “Well, they do keep the mind sharp.” He cocked his head to one side. “Do you want me to be sympathetic or honest?”

“Honest, I guess.”

Josh sucked in a breath. “Fine. This is all on you, you know.”

Gary widened his eyes. “Not that fucking honest.”

“If you hadn’t run off like you did, if you’d used your fucking brain and talked to me…. If…. If I hadn’t had to listen to Michael fall apart when your heart stopped. You thought of you, and you didn’t think about any of us.” He swallowed. “Do you know how much that fucking hurts? I know why you did it, of course I do. You were trying to protect everyone. But goddamn it, Gary!” Hot tears flooded Josh’s eyes. He’d kept this buried for so long, not wanting to upset Gary, but it needed to be said. “That was your choice to cut us out.” He gave Gary a glare. “Too stupid to live is a trope for a reason, you know. How many times did you go into cardiac arrest? You’re fucking lucky to be alive. And now you bitch about Michael telling you to take it easy?” Josh squared his shoulders. “You didn’t listen to anyone then. Try doing it now.”

Gary blinked. “I don’t know that I’ve ever heard you swear that much,” he said softly.

“Trust me, I held back. We need you—no, I need you. You were the first real friend I ever made, and I’m not fucking ready to let you go. Do you understand me?”

And then he couldn’t rein it the tumult of emotions anymore. He sobbed, trying to get control of himself, to find that place of calm he did his best to live in. When Gary wrapped his arms around him, that made it even worse.

“I’m sorry, Josh. You’re absolutely right. I handled that whole situation like shit, and I regret it every damn day. Not just because I got hurt, but because I hurt the people I love most. I hope one day you’ll be able to forgive me.”

Josh peered up at Gary, his vision blurred. “You idiot. You need to forgive yourself and stop pushing so hard. Once you do that, everything else will fall into place. Talk to your doctors. And don’t just talk—listen when they tell you something, because it’s for your own good. And for our good too.”

Gary squeezed a bit tighter. “You were worried, huh?”

“I won’t deny it. I was terrified. I’d made a friend, someone I cared about, and it looked as though he was going to be taken from me. What would I do without you?”

“You’d be too busy running CrossBow.”

Whoa.

Josh released him and stepped back. “What do you mean?”

“In my will, if something happens to me, CrossBow goes to you.”

What the hell?

“No. I don’t want it. Give it to Michael.”

Gary shrugged. “I was planning to give him half and you half.”

“No. You give it all to him,” Josh declared vehemently.

“Without you, there wouldn’t even be?—”

“Thank you, but I don’t want it. Any of it. I’m happy to keep coming in and working in my lab. That, Coby, and our apartment are my happy places. I don’t need anything else.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.” Running CrossBow. Just the thought gave Josh hives. “And stop talking stupid. Nothing is going to happen to you. Michael will make sure of that. Me and Dixon will help, too, if it comes to that.”

“I know you would, and I appreciate it more than I can say.” Gary plopped back into a chair and folded his arms. “Okay, let’s change the subject. What do you need me for?”

“I want to talk to Kathy, but I don’t want to do it alone. I need her to point me in a direction to find the information we need. The things she took off the computers are good, but we need ironclad evidence to hang that bastard.”

“Count me in,” Gary growled. “Without Spencer, there wouldn’t have been a Porter. Richie, Benny, and Hank wouldn’t have died. All of this can be laid at his doorstep, and he needs to be taken down.”

Then let’s hope Kathy holds the key.

The one that would jail Spencer’s ass.

Two hours later,they were ready. Josh would have preferred to have this meeting face to face, but he knew staying at the safe house was their best bet. Instead, he had someone from CrossBow set up a monitor and take it to a meeting room, before telling them to take Kathy to the room, dragging her if necessary. Or just if you feel like it, he’d added. That would be good too.

Once she stepped into the room, Josh turned the cameras on, so she could look them in the eyes.

Kathy Robertson might have been staying in a room that provided all manner of amenities, but she was haggard. Her hair was frizzy, her cheeks sunken, and her eyes haunted. Despite her appearance, however, Josh couldn’t work up one bit of sympathy for her, and that bothered him. He’d always believed himself to be an empathetic person, wanting to take someone else’s pain into himself so they wouldn’t have to suffer. Now? He wanted to inflict a thousand hells’ worth of agony on this woman and Spencer. He wasn’t at all religious, but if hell did exist, they’d have to create new levels to send this duo to.

Gary took the lead. “Problems sleeping, Kathy? Is it guilt, or is the bed not comfortable enough for you?”

“I have no problems sleeping,” she assured them, sounding utterly bored. “What do you want?”

“We need information.”

She drummed her fingers on the table. “And I’m still waiting on assurances. You’re going to get nothing more from me until I have something in writing.”

Why did I think she’d help? Josh had too much faith in human nature. He decided to play the card Dixon had given him.

“Help us or we’ll toss you to Spencer.” He leaned back, his arms folded. “How long do you think you’ll last out there?”

Kathy smirked, and despite him wanting to believe the best in people, that right there was the face of evil. “And then what? He kills me, and you have no one to keep you from going to prison for the rest of your natural life, no matter how short that will be.” She mimicked his body language, arms folded, the picture of relaxed. “No, Dr. Malone, you need me, probably more than I need you.”

“What the hell happened to you?” Gary retorted. “Where’s your heart? Do you want more kids to die?”

That seemed to rattle her a bit, but then she shrugged. “People die all the time. Whether I want them to or not, it happens. Maybe this was a blessing. At least they won’t grow up to be shitty adults.”

Josh sucked in a breath. “You know, I had a lot of crappy things happen to me when I was a kid. Still, I try to keep good thoughts about the people I know. There are so many out there that are willing to help and?—”

“Spare me,” she yelled, leaning forward. “Just fucking stop. I went to doctors. I went to teachers. I went to the cops. Not one of them helped me. Why? Because my dear old dad had pull in the town. He told them I was a liar, and they looked the other way while he continued to molest me. I finally found one person who listened, but by then, the damage was done. I hated every fucking person for what they let him do to me, especially when they had a chance to stop it.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Gary croaked. “But you know what you need to do? Grow the fuck up. Get into therapy. Work with the doctors. Hell, if it makes you feel better, go fucking piss on his grave.”

Her face slackened, the anger nearly gone. “You’re not going to say I should forgive him?”

Gary snorted. “No fucking way. What he did was heinous, and forgiveness, whether you choose to give it or not, is up to you. No one has any right to tell you how you should feel. Not ever. And you might not believe me, and that’s fine, but a good therapist is worth their weight in gold, as long as you go into it with an open mind and heart.” He paused. “Trust me, we all have traumas, and we all need help now and then, but that doesn’t make you weak or needy. It makes you human. And that’s what we need now—the human that’s still inside you. The one who was horrified that those kids died.”

Wow. Gary was amazing.

“We’ll get you your assurances,” Josh promised. “I’ll text Grady and get him to bring them here. You have my word.”

Kathy drew in a shallow breath. “I’m going to trust you on this,” she said.

“Please, tell us anything you can about him. We need to get him out of our lives.”

She hesitated, as though mulling over his words, then nodded. “Okay, let’s start with the most obvious thing. Spencer is a psychopath. He always has been, but he hides it well. He knows how to say what people want to hear, but then he uses it against them when they’re no longer of any use to him. He draws you in with his charisma, strings you along with pretty words, and finally, when he has what he wants, he cuts you loose. And I mean that literally.”

Josh rolled his eyes. “How about telling us something we don’t already know?”

She grunted. “Okay, then how about this?” She sat back, her arms folded once more. “They’re planning another attack. This time on Chicago.”

Holy fuck.