Page 17 of Sebastian
“Interesting. Why would she lie and tell me all her time was with the bureau?”
“I’m not sure, but what I can tell you is this. There was a group of individual contributors, mostly admins, who stuck together. They did lunch, often carpooled together, even took days off together. The Pentagon told them that had to stop because they had six or seven admins out on one day. It put a big stoppage in the work.”
“These are all people who worked for us,” said Em. “Any at the Pentagon?”
“Several transferred shortly after she did. They had access to it all, Em. Our files, our family history, cases that were being worked, all of it. As much as you liked Helen, and I know you did. You talked about her. As much as you liked her, I think she’s a traitor. At the very least, a bank robber.”
“But she was at work when the robberies were taking place,” said Emelia.
“I’m just trusting my gut. All of this is connected to that woman. And the two that drugged you, Myrtle and Ed? They didn’t bother to hide their names. Myrtle was the executive assistant to General Borden at the Pentagon for years. Ed was a file clerk at the bureau.”
For another three hours, they talked about a million possibilities, writing everything on a huge whiteboard in Em’s office. When Maddie started to yawn, Forrest took control.
“I’ll stay with Maddie tonight, and we’ll go home in the morning. If you need me, I’ll come back,” he said to the others.
“No, brother,” smirked Sebastian. “She needs you. Make sure she knows that you fucking love kids, and you’re going to be an amazing father.”
Forrest nodded, hugging all his friends. When Chief hugged him, he was surprised at the loving and compassionate way he held him.
“You’re a fine man, Forrest. I couldn’t have chosen anyone better for Maddie.”
“Thank you, sir. Maybe later you can tell me how to raise four babies at once. I don’t have a fucking clue what I’m doing.” The men all laughed, but it was Hex who slapped his back as he left.
“Guess what? None of us do.”
CHAPTER TEN
There were far too many people in Emelia’s townhome for her and Sebastian to do what they really wanted to do. Instead, he held her close, whispering love and devotion in her ear. He was just grateful that she was alive and well. Although Em felt certain that Helen wouldn’t have killed her, he wasn’t so sure.
For Em, she kept thinking back to Helen’s betrayal and her friends who had been killed.
“I’m just having a hard time imagining this woman as a killer. She was always so sweet to me. I mean, she’s got to be in her late sixties.”
“Clearly, that doesn’t mean a thing. We know a lot of men and women in their sixties who could easily be killers,” said Sebastian. “We’ll have the team back home check on her finances and the other two. I have a feeling that maybe their little group is still together. We just need to figure out who everyone is.”
“If she is a part of this, it’s really a betrayal for me. I saw her every day, and she always asked about the cases. We limited what we told her, but she had access to everything. Especially if Frank was allowing her to do certain things for him. Hell, she could have had the keys to the whole kingdom for all I know.”
“I hate to say this, honey, but Frank’s head will probably roll when all this is done. The bureau will most likely ask him to take early retirement.”
“Maybe that won’t be such a bad thing for him. He’s going to feel guilty about Tara and Cord. He’ll have to face their families, and that won’t be easy.”
Em closed her eyes, hoping for at least a few hours of sleep. Instead, she got a full eight hours filled with dreams of weddings and babies. She could hear people moving around downstairs and got up and dressed. Today, it didn’t matter if she wore her bureau-appropriate suit. Today would be a day she dressed for speed and easy movement.
With a comfortable pair of stretchy jeans, her favorite white tee, and running shoes, she pulled her hair into a ponytail and skipped down the steps.
“There she is,” smiled Sebastian, handing her a cup of coffee.
“You’re going to make a great husband. You already know how to make my day,” she said, kissing him. A few moments later, they received word that Maddie and Forrest were on the jet and headed to Belle Fleur. It was a relief for everyone but also a joyous occasion.
“I can’t believe they almost lost out because of a misunderstanding,” said Em.
“Believe me, honey, that’s how these things happen. We’ve all been there. We’ve all said something stupid, heard something we thought we understood and didn’t hear the whole thing correctly and made assumptions about it. We can all be dumbasses when it comes to love,” said Hex.
“Did you do that with Gwen?” she asked, looking at him.
“I wasn’t exactly charming to her when we first met,” he frowned. “I was afraid for her, and I didn’t feel like she was taking her situation seriously. She set me straight.” The others laughed, and Hex just shook his head at their amusement.
“I don’t want us to misunderstand one another,” she said to Sebastian.