Page 15 of The Allure of Ruins

“What did you do?” she barely got out, her breath catching as she searched his face, trying to uncover the man she knew.

I understood. It was the same experience I had the first time Gen hit me.

The hard slap was one thing, the shock as I hit the ground another, but all of it paled in comparison to the absolute betrayal of all I’d felt for him.

How could a man I’d given my heart to, put me on the ground?

It shifted my whole world around me. Things I had missed finally coming into sharp focus.

I suspected Agent Walker was having a similar experience.

Hall stared back, holding her gaze, the two of them locked in a battle of wills, her wanting him to speak, him resisting.

“We already know, Hall,” Calhoun said gravely, lifting his hand, gesturing for someone to come in.

“As soon as I was notified that the van was driving away from the pub, I knew you were all running for your life. Or more precisely, that one of the two visiting agents was in danger along with the lawyer and his assistant. The other agent knew that once their partner and the lawyer were dead, they would deliver the assistant to Genrikh Antonov.”

Hall’s face crumpled as he regarded his partner. “I would have never hurt you.”

Which didn’t matter, because now, as that moment was in the past, he would not have the opportunity to hurt her.

And in his heart, because they were friends, and more, partners , and had history I wasn’t privy to, he must’ve hoped that when push came to shove, he would have remained steadfast. But the facts were, when faced with the choice, with Gen demanding her life, there was no telling what he was capable of.

I was certain that once, long ago, he would have never thought he’d betray his oath either.

Walker seemed devastated, her eyes swimming with unshed tears, and I knew she was sad, but I was betting she was mad too. I always cried when I was furious.

He bent his head forward, closed his eyes, and put his hand on his forehead.

The door opened then, and Calhoun nodded at the two men who walked in, followed closely by a third, all coming around the table.

“What would you have done if Colton hadn’t taken over the driving?” I asked him. “It all happened so fast. Would you have killed him?”

He took a shuddering breath, lifted his head, and looked at me. “Antonov and I got our wires crossed—that’s why his men were outside. I thought it would be fine, though. I thought… I was certain you’d think they were the agents.”

“No. Colton knew better.”

His eyes flicked to him and then returned to me.

“When the two of you started running, I was scared, but by the time we got you both in the van and I started driving, I was sure I could salvage the situation when Antonov’s men caught up to us.

They were in a newer SUV, twice the horsepower, there was no way we could outrun them in that ancient fucking van. ”

Calhoun turned to Colton. “How did you do that, and why did I lose both Walker’s and Hall’s GPS signals at—oh. You took them underground to Wacker.”

“I did.”

“Smart.”

Colton shrugged. “I try.”

“What were you going to do when we got away clean?” Walker whispered to Hall.

“I don’t know, but then we were on our way here, to the office, making better time than I thought we would, and then I got a text from you, sir, saying you were sending reinforcements and that you were tracking our phones… I knew it was done.”

“Well, even though you were still a few minutes out, I wanted you to think you were closer than you were so you wouldn’t hurt your partner or Mr. Gates here.”

“What happened?” Walker barked at him. “You were so good for so long. You went through rehab and kicked?—”

“It was the money, Veda,” he rasped. “This has nothing to do with drugs. I couldn’t get out from under it. Every time I was sure I could clear the debt on a sure thing?—”

“Oh my God,” she groaned, turning away from him. “You were gambling again?”

“Antonov said he had the money to give me, and more, if I would bring him his favorite piece of ass.”

Without warning, Colton was up and around the table, ready, I was sure, to pulverize Hall. But two of the agents stopped him as the third put handcuffs on the disgraced agent.

“Get the fuck off me,” Colton warned them, yanking free, shaking off the hand that again tried to grab him.

“Leave him alone,” Calhoun ordered, and I gestured for him to come to me.

Moving quickly, Colton was in front of me in moments, slipping his hand around the side of my neck, yanking me forward to him, pressing my forehead to his chest.

I was trembling hard.

“I’m not gonna stand here and tell you that everything is gonna be great—this whole thing might get kinda sticky—but…I’m here. We’re together, so we’ll figure this out.”

“Hall texted Gen about me,” I said, like saying it out loud was going to mean something.

The feeling of abandonment, of being alone, all of it whirled through my head.

And it was ridiculous. I shouldn’t have been so hurt.

I barely knew the man. But it was his job to protect me, and he had instead made the decision to simply hand me over to a man who wanted what I’d stolen and would then leave me for dead.

He didn’t care about me, never had. To both men, I was merely a means to an end.

I gasped, and Colton’s hands were on my face, tipping my head up so he could see my eyes, staring down into them.

“I figured out it’s not Hall who hurt my feelings.”

“I’m sorry, did he say something about his feelings?” I heard Walker ask.

Colton shushed her and then smiled. “How could it have been Hall who hurt your feelings? You don’t even know him.”

“Yeah, but he’s supposed to be the good guy,” I said, watching as two of the three agents walked the cuffed, dejected Hall out of the room. The third one was standing there, looking at Walker, as though waiting.

“I’m the only good guy you should worry about,” Colton said, and the tenderness in his voice brought my attention back to him.

“You’re right,” I said, smiling.

“And there’s no way you could have ever loved Antonov. You know better, and I’m certain you and Dr. Butler have covered this.”

“Yes, but it’s one thing to know and another to feel, and of course, the allure of ruins, as you pointed out.”

“How old were you the last time you saw him?”

“I was nineteen.”

“You were just a baby.”

“That’s true.”

He shrugged. “It’s time to cut it all loose, don’t you think?”

“Easy to say, harder to do.”

“No. You’re giving him power he doesn’t deserve.”

And that was very true too.

“You’re smarter than you were nine years ago. You’re a grown-up and can see things for what they were.”

I sighed deeply. “You always know.”

“It’s a gift,” he deadpanned, kissing my forehead and then letting me go before turning to Calhoun. “Okay, so are we good to go?”

“I’m sorry?” Walker nearly shouted at him.

It made sense. She was reeling from the loss of her partner.

“You have Csokas to make your case with. Rokov is in custody, and he’s probably the top stop here in the US, but you have the information now to take down a large criminal organization, so there can’t possibly be anything more you need from us.”

“We need to discuss the diamonds,” Walker rasped.

“No,” Calhoun advised her. “Because of Mr. Walsh, on both the day he left and the part he unwittingly played in drawing everyone out with these supposed diamonds, we have the case Mr. Gates outlined. And because Mr. Gates is good under pressure?—”

“It was the Army, sir. They teach you not to panic.”

“They do, it’s true,” Calhoun agreed. “But because Mr. Gates here knows the streets of Chicago so well, he saved you and Mr. Walsh, and also allowed us to bring your wayward partner to justice.”

“I—”

“You have to give a statement now about Hall, while everything is clear in your head, and then you need to get on a plane home, Agent, to be debriefed by your SAC.”

She took a shaky breath. “How do we know Mr. Walsh is giving us the truth?”

“We don’t, but thus far, he’s the only one who has,” Calhoun told her flatly.

The fact of the matter was, no one but Antonov, Csokas, and Rokov had ever seen the diamonds.

No one except for Gen could say with any certainty that they had ever been in his safe at all.

I didn’t really mind that he was on the hook for them, nor did I care that him not having them meant he couldn’t go live the rest of his life on some tropical beach somewhere.

If I had derailed his plans, I was glad. He had certainly done a number on mine.

“If there were ever diamonds in that safe,” Calhoun said, “they weren’t there the day of Mr. Walsh and the others’ exodus.”

“Yes, but?—”

“Lattimer said Mr. Walsh denied finding diamonds the day he gave him everything at the airport. Of everyone who ran that day, Mr. Walsh is the one who retained his name. All the rest vanished. Perhaps the diamonds went with one of them, but the bottom line is, they’re gone.

My money’s on Erast Antonov, the cousin.

I suspect he took them, and Rokov made the mistake of blowing up the one person who could have returned them to him. ”

“Sir, I?—”

He held up his hand. “You’re keeping this agent waiting. He needs to take your statement and put you on a plane home. Your ex-partner will be traveling shortly as well.”

She stood up and was almost to the door when she turned and looked at me. “I’m sorry we didn’t end up protecting you, Walsh.”

“That’s okay. I really only expect one person to never disappoint me.”

“Yeah,” she said. “You should think about marrying him.”

I was smiling as she left.

Special Agent in Charge Zane Calhoun—Zane, how cowboy was that?—had some pictures to show me and Colton.

In his office, we sat at the table where he held meetings with his staff, Colton and me flanking him, and on his tablet, he pulled up pictures of Gen’s house after I left it on that fateful Tuesday morning.