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The next day, the debriefing came to them. Brax, Esme, Aaron, Mason, Gabe, Faine, and Delia crowded into the small cabin. Toby Evans had disappeared when Mason’s people had secured the boat, but not before giving a contact number to Olivia. Jack and the women were sitting on the restored couch, the others on kitchen stools they’d pulled closer.
“So do we know who he was?” she asked.
Brax sighed, looking every inch the weary leader. “David Fitzgerald. He was Elect and known to us, though not an active member of the group. He disappeared about twenty years ago, presumed killed in a plane crash in the Gulf. Zach said he was probably a prisoner a lot of that time.”
“And Stine killed him?”
“It looks like,” Aaron took over. “He had cuts on his hands and arms, superficial, and some of his blood was on the knife. We don’t have any idea who killed him though.”
“Nothing distinctive about his death?”
Aaron snorted. “Other than it looks like he knew his killer and it was professional? No. The shooter was about three feet away and shot once. We found a .38 on the boat. It matched but it’s clean and unregistered. We’re checking every inch of the boat, then we’ll take it apart and check what we can’t see.”
“What about the businesses that were getting checked out?” Jack asked.
“Legit or closed. No signs of other captives, and that includes Evans’s wife.”
Damn. She’d hoped they would be able to give Toby Evans some hope.
“The people that came after us? Anything on them?” she asked.
He shook his head. “They scattered before we could get to them. You two were very lucky. If you hadn’t been able to get away, you would have been killed or worse.”
She didn’t need the reminder, and she definitely didn’t want Jack reminded. He squeezed the nape of her neck and she arched her eyebrows.
“Yes?”
One thing she’d discovered in the last day was she really liked being able to talk to him telepathically. First, no one could overhear, and second, every time he answered, she felt his love wrap around her. Why had she resisted so long?
“Don’t. We’re together now.”
“So what now?” she asked.
Shrugging, Brax got to his feet. The others followed suit and Esme went to his side.
“For you two, nothing. Take a few days to celebrate your mating. Right now, it’s all digging into the computer files Evans gave us and going over that boat with a fine-toothed comb. We can spare you,” he said with a smile.
Everyone proceeded Brax out the of door but he paused. “Welcome to the family, Jack.”
When they were alone, she turned to her mate, her heart racing and body heating with the smile he gave her.
“A whole week off. How on Earth will we fill the time?” she joked.
He growled. “Come here, woman. I’ll show you.”
Laughing, she walked into his arms. “Promises, promises,” she said into his kiss.
He turned serious. “Oh yeah, I promise, darlin’. Forever.”
How could she argue with that?
“Yes. Forever,” she promised, and sealed it with a kiss.
