Page 32 of Keeping Collette

He ushered her toward his car, and she was, once again, thankful that she wasn’t doing this alone. If she’d had to do this all by herself, she didn’t think she would’ve made it through the door.

He helped her in, even handing her the seatbelt. She murmured her thanks, and once it was clipped in, rested her head against the window, letting out a large sigh.

“You doing okay?” Deal asked as they pulled out of the parking lot. “Wait, don’t answer that. Of course you’re not okay.”

“It’s fine. Truly. As much as I didn’t want this to be the outcome, I have my answer. My only hope is that she didn’t suffer too much.”

Which, considering the marks on her face, and the cut, it was clear that whatever ordeal Courtney had gone through, it hadn’t been a pleasant one.

“I—” Deal paused, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw his fingers flexing around the steering wheel. “If the truth be told, I don’t know what to say to that. I’ve seen a lot of bad shit. I’ve even done some of it. But one thing I could never do, and I can’t get my head around why some people can, is hurt a woman. Wait, that’s a lie, I had a woman point a gun at me once, the venom in her eyes said she had no issues pulling the trigger. I pulled mine quicker than she did. That’s the only time I’ve ever gone against my values.”

“You had justifiable reasons to do that.” The fact Deal had killed a woman didn’t change how she thought of him. He was saving his life, anyone would put their morals aside in a life and death situation. “I don’t get it either.”

“We’ll find out who did this.” The determination in his voice was steely, and deep in her soul she wanted to believe him.

“If whoever murdered your sister, is the same person who’d killed all those other people, then as much as I want to believe you’ll find them, they’ve evaded the authorities for a long time. How will this time make it easier for them to be found?” As much as she tried, she couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Collette wanted nothing more than for those responsible for her sister’s death to pay. She wanted to look them in their eyes as they were sentenced to life in jail without parole. It wouldn’t bring Courtney back. Nor would it bring back any of the other people’s lives they’d taken, but it would be satisfying, nonetheless.

“We’ve got the resources and the time that the police don’t have.”

She turned in her seat. “Why would you bother to do this? It’s not as if I’m important or anything? The only reason you’re helping me, which I’m eternally grateful for, because I may never have got the answers I sought, is because I work with Astrid. If I had no connection to her, you wouldn’t be doing this.”

“I’m not going to lie, you’re right, if you weren’t known to Astrid, and didn’t know about us, you’d still be wondering about your sister. But you are, and now we’re involved. If you think any one of us is going to close the file because Courtney has been found, you’re much mistaken. Whoever they are, they need to pay for what they’ve done.”

The vehemence in his voice brooked no argument. “Thank you,” she said quietly after a few beats of silence passed between them.

“I keep telling you you’re part of our family now. We look after our own.”

“I’m not sure I deserve that, but thank you.”

“You deserve the world, Collette.”

How she wished she could believe those words.

Chapter Sixteen

The tension in the conference room was thicker than anything Deal had ever known, even when shit was hitting the fan prior to him leaving on a mission when he was a SEAL. Only, it wasn’t because of the upcoming meeting, but because of two people in the room.

Fox was drumming his fingers on the table, staring daggers at FBI Agent Rowan Harper. He’d had a few run-ins with her, as her sister—popular actress Zadie Nyx—had requested Fox run her personal security for whenever she was attending any events. Fox did it, but he didn’t enjoy it at all. Zadie was high maintenance, and Fox had no patience for that.

Deal didn’t blame him; he’d been there when Zadie had been in full meltdown mode because the wrong brand of water had been placed in her dressing room. Looking at Rowan it was hard to believe they were sisters, the two were as different as beaches and mountains.

They were waiting for Ox to come in. He caught Hound’s gaze, who rolled his eyes, and Deal coughed to cover his laugh.

They were discussing Courtney’s case, now that she’d been found, and the coroner’s report had arrived. Cass was tapping away on her keyboard.

Julian was sitting in on the meeting because he trusted Cass when she said everything pointed to there being a serial killer on the loose. Rowan was there for reasons unknown to Deal.

Whether they would get involved was another matter, but it couldn’t help to get some more eyes on the files, and opinions as well.

Ox walked in with a large ring binder tucked under his arm. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s get started.”

Guilt that they were having a conversation about Courtney while Collette wasn’t there to hear, sat low in his belly, but he pushed it down. They were going to go over things that would be upsetting to her, and he believed she’d been through enough already.

He would explain it all to her.

The past three days had been hectic, and as much as he’d wanted to spend that time with Collette, he had an obligation to his job. He hadn’t totally ignored her; they’d exchanged some texts and some calls, but that was all.