Journey’s body shook uncontrollably as deep, loud sobs racked her to the core. Tears blinded her eyes and choked her voice with every question Laz asked her. She couldn’t stop crying. Each time she tried, a stab of guilt slashed through her, reminding her that she almost lost everything she held dear because of a stupid case.
And for what?
To prove she was the best ADA?
To be the chosen one for the future district attorney position?
None of that was worth almost losing her husband and baby.
Her office door banged open, and she was startled, but Laz tightened his hold around her. She assumed it was Casey, but shame kept her from lifting her head from Laz’s chest. That and she physically ached too much to remove her hands from her face.
She hated herself for not having taken the threats seriously.
“What happened?” Casey asked frantically. “Is she okay?”
“Can you hold her calls for a few minutes?” Laz said, and Journey wondered how he could be so calm at the moment. “Unless it’s extremely important, she’s unavailable. Also, will you grab us a couple of waters?”
“Of course, I’ll be right back.”
“What’s going on?” Angelo’s deep voice boomed into the room. Rarely did Journey hear his Spanish accent, but right now, she did.
“She’s been getting threats, and it just escalated. Reach out to Wiz. I need the last call she received on her office phone traced.”
“Anything else?”
“No, just give us a moment,” Laz said, snuggling her closer and placing a kiss on the side of her head.
That only made Journey cry harder. It was the first real cry she had allowed herself since the shooting. Now she didn’t think she’d ever be able to pull herself together. She would never be able to forgive herself, knowing that she’d almost gotten Laz and Ari killed.
What if Laz hadn’t been as trained and skilled as he was? They could’ve died out on that street, and it would’ve been all her fault.
“This isn’t your fault,” Laz said tenderly, as if reading her mind. “We are going to find this person, and they will regret the day they ever threatened you. I promise you that.”
Journey soaked up his words, knowing that he never broke his promises. If anyone was going to find the person who had wreaked havoc on their lives, it would be him.
Sniffling, she heaved an exhausted sigh. Her body suddenly felt too heavy to stay upright. All she wanted to do was go somewhere, curl up in a small ball, and never face another soul.
That wasn’t realistic.
She needed to pull herself together and help Laz find the bastard who dared to come after them.
Laz eased back and lifted her chin. “I love you,” he said with conviction. “This…the call, doesn’t change that. Do you understand?”
Journey nodded and eased away from him. She snatched several tissues from the box sitting on the sideboard cabinet behind the desk and dabbed at her eyes. She didn’t even want to think about how horrible she probably looked.
“Have a seat,” Laz said, moving her office chair closer and holding her elbow while she sat. He propped himself against the desk in front of her. “We’re going to get through this.”
A soft knock came from the door, and it opened. Journey cringed, not wanting anyone to see her like this. She rested her forehead against Laz. Thankfully, he was blocking her from view.
“Here’s the water,” Casey said.
“Thanks, you can set them on the edge of the desk,” he said while rubbing Journey’s back. A few seconds later, the door closed, and quietness filled the room.
Journey didn’t move. Neither did Laz. They held their positions until Laz’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Even then, he didn’t make a move—so she didn’t either.
She wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way until Laz said, “I need you to tell me exactly what they said on the phone.”
“I know,” she mumbled and eventually lifted her head. Wiping her face was taking energy she didn’t have, but she had to pull herself together.
Laz didn’t move from in front of her while she jerked open one of her desk drawers. She always kept a makeup kit in her office, just in case. Right now, she was glad she did. Pulling out the pack of makeup remover cloths, a small mirror, and her makeup compact, she quickly fixed her face. There wasn’t much she could do about her red eyes, but hopefully, they’d clear up soon.
“Better?” she asked, looking up at Laz.
He smiled, and his gorgeous hazel-green eyes held so much love. What had she ever done to deserve this man?
“You’re beautiful. Now, are you ready to get down to business?”
She nodded and thought back to the telephone call. “They said…they said that what happened to my husband was only a warning. I either drop the case or else.”
“Or else what?” Laz questioned. “What else did they say?”
“That was it. Hell, that was enough!” She stood abruptly, unable to sit still any longer, and her chair rolled back, bumping into the cabinet.
Her mind raced as she paced the length of her office and back.
Why would someone go to such extremes to force her to drop the case? All that did was make her want to dig deeper and put away everyone involved.
“Was it a man or a woman who called?”
She stopped moving. “I don’t know. It was some type of mechanical voice. I couldn’t tell; I could barely understand what they were saying.”
Journey met Laz’s gaze before her eyes went to the black sling holding his arm in place. A cold shiver slid down her spine and seeped into her bones. That shooting could’ve been so much worse. He could’ve been killed.
The thought had run through her mind more than once over the last couple of days, but the full force of knowing that it was because of her made her knees buckle. She grabbed onto the back of the guest chair.
“Come on, sit down,” Laz said, his hand on her hip, forcing her into the seat.
“Oh, dear God,” she murmured more to herself than to him. “You and Ari…could’ve been killed because of some stupid case!” Journey bit out. Anger suddenly replaced the heartache that swirled inside her, and she banged the side of her fist on her desk. “Some bastard almost took out my family over some stupid case.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Let’s calm down,” Laz said, his voice eerily quiet.
“Calm down? Laz, it’s all my fault. Prentice told me I should let you know, but I didn’t listen to him.”
“I don’t always agree with him, but on this, I agree. Don’t ever not tell me when someone threatens you.”
“I won’t, but why aren’t you angrier? It’s all my fault, Laz.”
“No, it’s not. I don’t blame you for this shit. I blame the motherfucker who set this in motion, and I promise you, we’ll get to the bottom of this. At least now we have something we can go on.”
“What do you mean?”
“Now I know this is attached to the case you’re working on. All we have to do is figure out who’s behind this and why.”
A knock sounded on the door.
“Come in,” Journey said, her voice a little hoarse.
Casey walked in. “I’m sorry to bother you, but the jury has a verdict. It’ll be announced in forty-five minutes.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll head out shortly.
Casey nodded and backed out of the office, closing the door behind her.
Journey rubbed her eyes. The lack of sleep from the night before was starting to catch up to her. She was pretty sure they’d won the arson murder case, and she should be excited to get to the courthouse to hear the verdict. Yet, her heart was too heavy to care. Right now, all she could think about was the Stratton and Leverage Construction case.
“Laz, I don’t know what to do. I can’t keep working on this case if it means putting you in danger.”
“Don’t worry about me. We’re going to get this bastard. He should’ve taken my ass out when he had a chance.”
Her head snapped up. “Don’t say that.”
“We’re going to find him or her. The only thing is, you’re going to have to be willing to share some information about this case.” He slipped his arm around her waist, and pulling her against his hard body, he kissed her. “I know it goes against everything you believe in to share confidential shit, but you might have to, Jay. The team at Supreme and I don’t have the same constraints as you, and there’s some information we can get faster than you can.”
Legal or not, she thought.
Journey bit her bottom lip. There were so many ethical things wrong with what he was implying and proposing. Normally she wouldn’t even consider sharing information about the case with an outside source.
But that was before someone tried to take out her family.
“Where do we start?”