Page 40 of Winter’s Heart (Three of Hearts #1)
THREE MONTHS LATER
Nikki was lost in thought, kneeling on the ground and staring at the gravestone as if it might somehow give her the answers she needed.
She made sure to come and visit Tammy’s grave every week, sometimes sitting for an hour or more, looking at the marble and wishing things could’ve been different.
Nikki had also been to visit Clark, Tammy’s husband, in the weeks after the funeral, and although that meeting had been heart wrenching, it’d offered Nikki a strange comfort, and perhaps Clark as well.
But, how she missed her friend. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
Gosh darn it, she’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry this time, but she still regretted not being able to attend Tammy or Antoine’s funerals.
Perhaps if she had, then she would’ve felt some kind of closure, but as it was, she’d always mourn her friends taken too soon in such a violent manner.
What was the world coming to if greed was the driving force behind everything humans did?
Perhaps the only silver lining from Tammy’s death was how all the staff at the Institute had come together.
Everyone had been shocked to hear of Tammy and Antoine’s deaths, and at first they had milled around in the corridors, speaking in outraged tones, but unsure what they could do to redress the situation.
Then, Russell Morgan had rallied them all, asking for their support to help free Nikki and Jacob, and every single one of them had answered the call, hoping to right a wrong.
No one wanted this to happen again to another hard-working scientist who was only doing his or her job.
And so they had all come to fight the tyranny of injustice, and it’d touched Nikki’s heart forever.
Around a month after Russell's rent-a-crowd had freed her from the FBI, Nikki held a huge thank you party in her backyard. She went around and expressed her gratitude to every single person who had turned up that night. But she saved her special thanks for the five big men who had put their own safety at risk and tackled an armed FBI agent on her back porch. And Reshma Siram, of course. The conservation analyst seemed to come out of her shell more these days, now talking openly to other staff in the lunchroom, no longer hiding in her office, and she had made quite a few new friends in the past few months, Nikki being one of them. Nikki found Reshma had a wicked sense of humor, to go along with her intelligent mind and demure personality, and she wondered why she’d never noticed it before.
Russell had started a new trend, a monthly morning tea held in the main auditorium so that there was room for everyone to attend.
It wasn’t compulsory, but he asked that they try to find the time to come, so they could gather in memory of Tammy and Antoine.
It was a lovely method of bringing people together, and Nikki had noticed many folks from different sections beginning to talk to others they would never normally have dealings with.
Russell was opening the channels of communication, and Nikki hoped things would stay that way.
Russell had also recently established a scholarship in Tammy’s name at Seattle University, for two students per year to be fully paid to study environmental science with a major in marine science.
It would by no means bring Tammy back, but at least her legacy would continue, hopefully for a long time to come.
“You okay, babe?” A warm hand landed on her shoulder.
Jacob’s touch shook her out of her thoughts, and she welcomed his gentle contact.
He always insisted on coming with her when she visited the cemetery, walking her up to the gravesite, but then leaving her in solitude to contemplate her friend in peace.
He remained unobtrusively by the car, but she knew he watched her like a hawk.
Jacob’s protective instincts remained on high alert, even though the Swedish police had captured the two gunmen who’d tried to kill her.
The FBI were still struggling to figure who was responsible for giving the order to murder two scientists in cold blood and make an attempt on a third—it seemed likely it was some high up official in the Chinese fish company, but Diàoyú was stonewalling them, and the Chinese government were doing nothing to force the issue.
With no authority in China, the FBI could do only continue to appeal to the Chinese government to allow them access to the company.
From the little Studeb?cker would reveal in his two short phone calls to Jacob while he was recovering in hospital, the unnamed state senator had no knowledge of the assassins hired to kill Nikki, his role had been to stop Nikki from testifying, not to kill her.
So, they may never find the culprit. Even though the hitmen would spend the rest of their lives in a Swedish jail, the true killer had got away with murder and would remain free, perhaps forever.
The one consolation to all the death and greed, however, was that two months ago the judge had passed his ruling on the Diàoyú case.
After only half a day of deliberation, the judge had declared that the Chinese company had broken most, if not all the regulations laid down by the Norwegian government to protect the fjords, and ordered them to halt trading immediately and dismantle every single fish farm.
It’d been a huge win for the environment, and Nikki had cried when she’d heard the result.
The lawyers told her that her testimony played a large role in the judge’s decision.
It’d never bring back her friends, but at least Nikki felt some vindication for everything she’d been through.
It’d all been worth it to stop that greedy, callous company from raping and pillaging the pristine marine habitats anymore.
Nikki lifted her chin to look at Jacob and gave him her hand so he could help her up. “Yes, sorry. I’m still so mad, that’s all.” She got to her feet. Winter was fading to spring here in Seattle, but that wind had razor-sharp icicles for teeth.
“I know. So am I.” He pulled her into his embrace, and she drew warmth and strength from within his arms. She didn’t blame Jacob for his overprotectiveness; she continued to jump at every loud noise and constantly checked that her doors and windows were locked.
It was just human nature to remain on edge after the terrifying things they’d seen and done.
Perhaps they should both see a counselor before this skittishness became a habit they couldn’t break.
Nikki pulled back from Jacob’s embrace so she could glance at her phone to check the time. “Oh, gosh, you’re going to be late for your meeting. Quick, let’s go.” She’d been mulling over Tammy’s grave for longer than she realized.
“I’m sure Studeb?cker will wait. He was the one who contacted me, after all,” Jacob replied with a wry smile.
The director of the FBI had called Jacob out of the blue a few days ago, saying that he’d be in town on business and requesting a meeting.
Jacob was pretty sure the man intended to offer him a job.
He had it on good authority—from M?rten, who’d told him Chief Superintendent Rydberg was dropping not-so-subtle hints that the FBI had been in touch and were possibly headhunting Jacob—but she knew he was going to play it cool, nonetheless.
Jacob tucked her under his arm, and they ambled back to her car.
“Will you take the job if he offers it to you?”
“Don’t know yet?” Jacob replied. “Depends on what he proposes. There’d be lots of training involved if I were to become an actual FBI agent. And that might mean time away from you.” He glanced down at her. “I’m not sure I’m up for that.”
She wasn’t sure she was up for it either.
This fledgling romance was stronger than even they’d both dreamed it could be, but it was still in that honeymoon phase where neither could bear to let the other out of their sight for long.
New recruits had to endure a rigorous five-month training regime at the FBI Academy in Quantico before they were allowed into the service, which was too long to be apart.
There was also the problem of Jacob’s bullet wound. His leg was still healing, and while he could walk with almost no trace of a limp now, it’d be a few more months before he would trust it to chase down a fleeing felon, or attempt a high-intensity training course.
“Maybe he’s got something else in mind for you,” Nikki surmised. “You were a cop, after all. You already have plenty of skills.”
Jacob grimaced at her past-tense use of the word, but said nothing.
His trip back to Sweden a few weeks after he was discharged from hospital hadn’t been the most pleasant of experiences.
It was as he feared. He’d more than overstepped the boundaries of protocol by fleeing the country without permission, and he was already on suspension without pay before he even made it home.
If Jacob hadn’t quit, he would’ve most likely faced another inquiry and a possible dishonorable discharge.
It didn’t make one iota of difference that both Jacob and M?rten had been cleared of any misconduct in the first investigation, on their mission to protect Tristan.
The Special Investigations Division would not let Jacob get away with it a second time.
Even Bitr?dande Poliskommissarie Runar Staaf, who’d been the one to set Jacob on this path initially, couldn’t shelter him from this giant fuck-up, not that it seemed he wanted to.
Jacob had talked to the deputy commissioner on the phone after he quit and the man had thanked him for his service and wished him all the best in his new life in a cold, distant voice; the deputy commissioner had never overcome his dislike of Jacob, and didn’t try to hide it.