Saving Serena (Hawk Security #1)

Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

Serena

First thing after arriving at work, I’d made the call and arranged for my house to be cleaned up and put to rights. There were benefits to being a Benson. When I told Dad’s assistant what I needed, he’d gotten on it. With the Benson name and money as a motivator, there wasn’t much that couldn’t be accomplished in record time. Since the house was in Dad’s name, this was one time I’d gladly use family money.

A plan to move back to my house would go part way to mending fences with my parents, but how would Duke take the news?

After that, Constance and I looked high and low, but we didn’t find a USB drive, which was a bummer.

Later, when my man messaged me, I went into the small conference room for privacy and dialed him.

“Hi, gorgeous. Just answer yes or no—are you alone?”

Okay, so we were doing this like a thriller movie. “Yes.”

“We’ve been summoned to Hawk Sunday brunch when my parents come back from their cruise. You can say no, or we can postpone. No pressure. You don’t need to go. It’s not like a super-important thing. My mom will understand if you aren’t up to it. I’ll under?—”

“Stop it.” I interrupted his nervous rambling. “I’ll happily accompany you.” This put us squarely in boyfriend-girlfriend, not-pretending territory. “When?”

“Uh… Okay… I’ll have to check.”

“Is that why you wanted me alone?”

“No. We also have new information. You mentioned earlier that your coworker Katelyn’s fiancé died not too long ago.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Leo passed away about six months ago. Why?”

“Where did he work?”

“Here at the EPA.”

“Tell me he died of a disease.”

“You’re sick. No. He was in a car accident.”

“Shit.”

“What?”

“You were supposed to have a car accident.”

The words knocked the breath out of me. The room suddenly felt chilly. I asked the unthinkable. “Are you telling me you think somebody is bumping off EPA people because we work here?”

“We’re going to find out.”

I decided this wasn’t the best time to broach the subject of moving back to my house. After we hung up, I was still shivering. The idea that I was in danger because of my career? I’d chosen this to save families from the dangers of contaminated water. How could some ogre be against that?

If I quit, would I be safe? It didn’t matter. When I pulled the picture of Carmen from my wallet again, I knew quitting was not an option. People deserved to trust that we kept their water clean.

After a minute, I went back to my desk to work, but fear made the screen go out of focus and swim in front of me.

“Serena?”

I turned to find Katelyn. “Yeah?”

“Oh dear, you look awful. Did something happen?”

I pasted on a smile. “I had a fight with my parents.” It was best to stick to true things.

“I hate when that happens,” she agreed. “I’d hoped we would get a chance to talk at Disneyland…”

“Sorry about that. I was bushed.” From more nonstop hot sex the night before than I’d ever had in my life.

“Maybe tonight we could go out for dinner or drinks—just the two of us.” She wanted girl time, and I couldn’t put her off forever.

“Leo?” I asked softly.

She nodded. “I miss him so much it hurts. His death screwed me up, and now the bills are totally screwing me over.”

I wanted to accept the invitation, but I remembered Duke’s warnings. “Not this week, maybe next.”

Her face dropped. “Yeah, whenever you can fit me into your busy schedule,” she said, walking away.

My stomach twisted. I’d just won the shittiest friend award.

Powell summoned me a little while later.

“Benson, I checked the logs this morning, and I didn’t see any data from your visits last week,” he said when I reached his office. “You had your accident on the way back, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, sir. The people at Excalibur Plating uploaded their data directly. But Knife Creek Chemical didn’t provide any. They were very…” I searched for the polite word. “Difficult.”

He shook his head. “I double-checked and didn’t find anything for either company.”

“No, I saw them upload?—”

He jumped to his feet. “Are you implying I’m a liar? There’s no data in the system.” The vein on his temple throbbed. It was time to get out of this office before he blew.

“No, sir, not at all. They must have made a mistake I didn’t catch.”

He calmed slightly and sat again. “The position of external auditor is not a license to run around town and not get work done. You will not be making any more visits unsupervised. Someone will have to show you how the job is designed to be conducted, including bringing in data. Without data, we can’t begin enforcement. Without enforcement…” He checked his watch. “Get out. I don’t have time to teach you what we do here. I’ll assign you to someone.”

“Yes, sir.” Turning on my heels, I scooted.

This was not my day. Practically none of the days were my day lately. Powell was a manipulative bastard, and I could see him using this to fail my probation and promote Remy.

Just before the end of work, I got the call that my house was all cleaned up, a bunch of replacement clothing had been purchased, the damaged furniture was replaced, and my kitchen was restocked. For once, I was glad the Benson name carried clout.

I hesitated before calling Duke. After almost being fired, I should want him to comfort me the way I knew he would. But I dreaded tonight even more. I’d promised to tell him the truth I never talked about. The nightmare I never wanted to revisit.

I pressed the button to call.

Duke

After work, I started the car.

Serena buckled in. “I’m moving back home tonight.”

I hadn’t expected that. “You can’t. It’s not safe.”

“Yes, I can. The house has been all cleaned up. Terry told me himself that I have the best security system in the city.”

It didn’t make any sense. Her house had been completely trashed just yesterday. “How did you?”

“I’m a Benson. My dad taught me how to get things done.”

If she followed her father’s script, that meant throwing around money and threats. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t like anything,” she shot back. “I can’t stay at your place forever.”

“One night is not forever,” I pointed out.

“Please,” she pleaded. “Having my own place is really an important milestone for me to maintain.”

“Stay tonight, at least until Terry has a chance to check out the system.” Having her in my bed was important to me, but it didn’t seem right to put it that way.

She sighed and offered her hand on the console. “Okay.”

After a few blocks, the fear that she’d pull her hand away eased.

She kept contact with me all the way home, a sign of trust I cherished.

Just in case Zolotarev was even stupider than I thought, I made a circuit of the parking lot, checking for Russians before pulling into a slot.

When we reached the door, Oliver produced a rose from behind his back. “For the lovely lady.”

Serena lit up like a Christmas tree. “Oliver, that’s so thoughtful of you.”

It sucked to be shown up by my own doorman.

When the elevator started its journey, I asked the question I’d waited days to have answered. “What’s the deal with Harvey Fox?”

Pleading eyes looked back at me. “After dinner, please?”

Serena

I’d successfully put off our talk—or rather my confession—until after dinner, but my time had run out. “This is really hard for me.” I sat on the edge of Duke’s bed and took a big breath, not sure how to start.

Duke settled beside me. “Do you remember what I told you about running from your fear?”

I nodded. “If I don’t face my fear, I’ll be a prisoner to it forever.”

He laid his hand on mine, and I grasped it. “You have a choice to make—prisoner or not, trust me or not.”

“That’s not fair,” I complained. “It’s not that I don’t trust you.” Until now, I’d kept everything about those events locked away as if they didn’t exist. Nobody except Lucas—and, of course, Fox—knew what had happened that day.

Duke gave my hand a gentle squeeze, pulling my attention back to him. “Then trust me with the truth.”

“Okay.” I’d placed my life in his hands. What else could I say?

“Start with why Harvey Fox would want to hurt you.”

Images raced through my mind from the courtroom on the day of his sentencing, his vow to seek revenge, and all the blood. There’d been so much blood. I took in a breath. “He might come after me because it was my statement to the police that put him in prison.”

Duke patiently waited for more.

I looked down at the floor, ashamed of what came next. “And because I killed his brother.” I felt Duke jerk when I said that.

“Start with what he was convicted of,” Duke said softly.

“Attempted murder.”

When I didn’t say any more, Duke asked, “Of whom?”

“Your brother, Lucas.”

I felt Duke’s breathing stop for a few seconds, as much as I heard the hitch in his breath.

His hand caressed mine. “And that’s how you know Lucas?”

I nodded. “Yes.” When I looked up, I didn’t see horror in Duke’s eyes, or judgment, even though I’d told him I’d killed another human being. That gave me the strength to go on. “I didn’t tell you because Lucas is the one who found me.”

“I don’t understand.” His words were slow, almost soothing.

“I was kidnapped.” There, I’d exposed the first secret . I sobbed as the memories of that dark room came flooding back.

Duke held me. “I can’t begin to imagine how terrifying that was, but you’re safe here. Nobody’s going to get to you. I won’t let them.”

He rocked me until I stopped sobbing. “Did Fox kidnap you?”

“His twin brother, Oscar, was the one who took me, but Harvey was part of it too. They’re identical twins, and they bragged about how that meant they couldn’t be caught. Harvey went around San Diego, changing outfits, credit cards, driver’s licenses, girlfriends, and cars, half the time pretending to be Oscar, and half the time himself so that they both had alibis.”

Duke nodded. “How long?”

“It was hard to tell time,” I said, stalling and debating what to say. “A day roughly?” It had been ten brutal days, but I couldn’t admit that. He’d ask about that time, about the rapes. I couldn’t have this man look at me like damaged goods, in addition to being a murderer.

He ran fingers over my hand, gentle fingers that said so much. “I’m sorry.”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell Duke the horrid details, the darkness, the things they did to me. I’d never told anybody, not even my family.

“How come I never heard about your case?”

I let out a long breath. “Dad didn’t get the cops or the FBI involved, only Lucas. They demanded three million, and Dad paid it immediately.”

“So, they let you go.”

I gulped down the rock lodged in my throat, thinking about that day. “No.”

“Lucas found you?” he guessed.

“He did.” I steadied myself for the next part. “When Dad paid the ransom, Lucas somehow followed Harvey after he picked it up.” I took another breath. “When Harvey returned, Oscar picked up a knife and was about to…” I sobbed. I’d been so scared, and again, I couldn’t tell Duke the truth. “Cut me loose.”

“Did he?” Duke asked softly.

“Anyway, that’s when Lucas came through the door.” I choked up because the next part was so terrible.

Duke didn’t push me.

“He didn’t see Harvey behind the door, so when he came in and ordered Oscar to put his hands up, thinking he was Harvey, Harvey shot him from behind.” The scene played out in slow motion. “Lucas’s gun dropped to the floor, and I thought he was going to die. But Lucas turned and charged. They fought. That’s when Oscar dropped the knife and went for the gun on the floor. I couldn’t let him shoot Lucas again. So I grabbed the knife and stabbed him.”

Duke squeezed my hand.

“My God, the blood… So much blood.” I sobbed as the images I’d repressed for so long came back. “I got him in the neck.”

“And Harvey vowed revenge?”

“Uh-huh. Harvey wanted a plea deal, and Dad wanted to avoid a kidnapping trial. Dad talked to the DA and got the charges dropped to attempted murder.”

“Instead of kidnapping and everything else?” Duke asked incredulously. “He should have gotten life, or the needle.”

“It was like I was never there. That was the price to avoid a trial, so I didn’t have to testify and nobody would know they could kidnap a Benson for an easy three million.”

“But now he’s out on the street to threaten you again, or somebody else.”

“Dad made the decision to shield me.” At the time, I’d loved him for it. I couldn’t imagine having to recount details I hadn’t even told my mother in open court.

“I can’t imagine how hard that ordeal was for you. Thank you for trusting me with your truth.” Duke gave me the most caring look I’d ever received. He didn’t judge me, and it wasn’t pity I saw, but pride.

As he gently rocked me, I thought just maybe he was right that talking about the events would get me past some of the fear. But I also felt guilty that I was too scared to share everything with him.

“I can see why he’s so protective of you,” Duke added after a moment.

“Hold on. It’s way beyond protective. He wants to lock me in the house and never let me out. That’s why I couldn’t let you guys tell him about being run off the road. You saw how he was. He would have kidnapped me himself to lock me away.”

“He’s not doing that. You’re mine, and trust me, I’ll take care of you.”

We leaned back on the bed, and for the longest time, he held me, stroking my hair. Slowly, my tears dried, and the memories faded. I was in my man’s arms, and that was what mattered.