Page 22 of Secrets Beneath the Waves (Beach Read Thrillers #2)

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

When he woke in the hospital, the dark-haired woman in the chair wasn’t the one he was expecting. This woman had a wedding ring on her left hand and the other hand rested on her abdomen, where her baby nestled in safety.

“Kenna.”

She sat forward on the chair. “You’re awake.”

“Where’s Zeyla?”

“They’re doing a consult with a concussion specialist.” She frowned. “Your injuries weren’t quite as straightforward, I’m afraid. They put your arm in a cast, but the soft tissue damage to your leg is going to take longer to heal. And you have twelve stitches in your shoulder.”

Ramon looked at his left arm, wrapped in solid plaster and fiberglass.

“You should have called me.”

He said, “No one wants you anywhere near any of this.”

“I’m still your boss.”

Ramon pressed his lips together.

“I can help. It’s called advice. It’s called calling your friends and filling them in on how it’s going in your life.”

“I was solving the case.” Like you do. He didn’t say it, but it was implied, and she knew it. “Zeyla and I had it handled.”

“Until you didn’t. That’s the thing. You don’t know you need help until it’s too late.”

“So this was all a test, and I failed?”

Kenna shook her head. “I don’t work like that. And you can’t say it was a failure when we have so much more information about Dominatus now than we did before.”

Ramon could only think about those young women, encased behind glass like museum pieces. “I want to kill them all.”

She nodded. “That’s why we have to work together. So we can help each other out or pull each other back from the brink.”

“I’ve done terrible things. Maybe I’m not worth saving.”

“None of us deserve what we have.” She rested her forearms on her elbows. “That’s why the gift is so amazing. All you have to do is claim it.”

Ramon closed his eyes. He’d almost died, determined to go out on his own terms. Willing to fight to the end, he’d finally discovered the ability to live in the moment.

To be fully present and able to face what was happening to him without the guilt and shame of the past holding him back and tying him down.

It was like seeing the sun for the first time. Glimpsing what was possible in the light when all you knew was darkness.

“I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk more about it.” She sat back in her chair and took the steaming cup from the side table. “Tea.” She made a face but drank anyway. “When you and Zeyla are healed up, we’ll pull the team together and make a plan.”

Ramon didn’t want her doing anything other than that. But then, Kenna wasn’t going to put her baby at risk any more than the rest of them would allow her to do that. How were they going to take down an organization like Dominatus without her? It sounded like an impossibility.

“I think I owe Maizie a thank you.” He rubbed his forehead with two fingers.

“She’s just glad you’re alive and this guy is gone.”

“He alerted them that he’d been captured, and they sent a drone strike.” He remembered Zeyla shoving him over and covering him with her body. “All so he couldn’t be forced to tell us anything.”

“They believe they’re expendable, and the organization can go on without them.”

Ramon frowned. “Then we need to find the one who isn’t expendable. The person at the top, the one in charge.”

“The Imperatoris .” She nodded.

“Right,” he said. “So how do we do that?”

“Together.” She stood, came over, and kissed his forehead. “Get some rest, and we’ll figure it out.”

He shut his eyes again, the door closed with a soft click, and Ramon sighed.

They’d gained a victory, but it didn’t seem like much of a win.

Swanson might have information for them, but more likely, he hadn’t even known that he worked for a bigger organization.

He probably thought he worked for one general with a twisted idea of entertainment.

Taking down every part of Dominatus would take years of effort and a whole lot of operations and cases. Picking apart the entire collective could cost them some of the people they loved.

But it was the man he was now, who did the right thing, who wasn’t prepared to let it go and leave evil unchecked. Who wanted to risk his life and work to protect the people he cared about until it was finally over. No matter how long it took.

Every person they had like Schnell and Swanson was going to find themselves shut down and brought to justice. One way or another, Ramon was going to finish this. As part of the team.

The door creaked open, and he heard her come in.

She touched his hand. “You asleep?”

“Yes.” He didn’t open his eyes. “Come back later.”

She chuckled. “Fine. I’ll go…see a movie or something.”

He opened his eyes, smiling up at Zeyla standing beside his bed. Talk about finding peace in the unlikeliest places. He still didn’t understand this woman one bit, more like he’d barely scratched the surface. “How’s your head?”

“Better than your arm. Or your leg.” She wandered over and sat in the chair Kenna had been occupying when he woke up. “Do you need me to get the doctor?”

Ramon shook his head. “Maybe in a minute. Did you see her outside?”

Zeyla nodded. “We’re going to dinner in a while so we can talk.”

“That’s good, right?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have anything to give her.”

Ramon wondered if they’d pulled DNA from the SUV that exploded but didn’t think that was exactly what she meant. “I think you have more than you realize. I also think she doesn’t care. She just wants to be your friend.”

Zeyla bit her lip.

“And then she wants to help you take down the people who hurt you. Because that’s what she does. It’s what we all do.”

“Your brand of justice .”

Ramon nodded. “Exactly.”