Saving Serena (Hawk Security #1)

Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39

Serena

My stomach had tried to turn itself inside out all the way back home from Thousand Oaks. Sure, guys hated using or hearing the L-word, but why hadn’t I told Duke I loved him days ago when I had the chance? He probably hadn’t heard me with the noise of the helicopter.

Terry, Constance, Winston, Lucas, and I were gathered around my kitchen island with FBI Special Agents Newson and Sanchez.

The agents were listening to the recordings again, which had come from the secure locker the USB key opened.

Then the phone on the island began to ring.

Lucas pointed. “That’s Pons’s phone. Winston, your turn.”

Winston answered the call. “Hello?” After ten seconds or so, he checked the screen and put it down. “Unknown number. Didn’t want to talk.”

Jordy picked it up and started typing on his laptop. “It’s a burner.”

The agents went back to the recordings.

I turned to Lucas again. “Are you sure he’ll be okay?” Not being able to talk to Duke was driving me crazy. Every call had gone to voicemail.

“He went into surgery. No news is good news,” Lucas repeated. It was the same thing he’d told me a dozen times. Believing him was harder with every repetition.

“You’re sure that’s Leo Gambino?” Newson asked, pausing the recording.

I nodded. “Positive. I’m friends with his…” I stopped myself before saying fiancée. “Katelyn, the woman he was engaged to, so he was around a lot.”

“Looks like he got too greedy,” Sanchez said.

“And you are certain the other guy is this Aiden Pons from Knife Creek Chemical?” Newson’s pen hovered over his notepad.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “He’s the COO there. He met with me less than two weeks ago. I know the voice, and I saw him there.”

“The icing on the cake,” Lucas said, “is that Serena heard Pons and Yaroslavsky discussing the conspiracy to illegally dump hazardous materials on Knife Creek’s land, and Yaroslavsky said he was running out of room to store the barrels. So if you move soon, you’ll catch him with the goods in one of his warehouses.”

“You can testify to that effect?” Newson asked.

I nodded. “Yes, and these readings…” I tapped the monitoring-well data that had been in the locker. “…confirm that it’s been going on a long time.”

“We suspect,” Constance said, “that Pons decided he could getter a better deal by killing Gambino and working with Rossi.”

“If that’s the case, how did Rossi get her hands on this material?” Sanchez asked.

“Probably found it in Gambino’s things when she inherited the job,” Constance guessed. “Just like Serena inherited the space from Rossi when she left.”

My mind drifted to Duke again. This was the last place I wanted to be, but Lucas, the asshole, wouldn’t let me go to the hospital. Even if Duke was in surgery, I wanted to be there when he got out. I wanted—no, needed—to hold his hand. There was no room for doubt. I’d fallen in love with the man, my protective, bossy Cobra.

“Isn’t that true, Serena?” Constance asked, nudging me.

“What?”

“That the same workspace was passed from Gambino to Rossi, and now to you?”

I nodded. “That’s right. They both worked in the same space I do now. It goes with the position.”

“Maybe she left town because Pons threatened her,” Terry guessed.

“We’ll never know now,” Constance pointed out.

“The Russians are a tough nut to crack,” Newson said. “But this Pons character will roll over on them for a deal.”

Lucas nodded.

“Does that mean it’s over?” I asked. “I don’t have to worry about any more attacks?”

Lucas rested a hand on my forearm. “Johnson Spinelli is the only loose end. Otherwise, that’s what it means. With Pons, Yaroslavsky, and Tony Spinelli arrested and the blackmail material recovered, you are no longer a threat.”

“We’ll have him by this time tomorrow,” Sanchez predicted.

I could breathe freely now. The nightmare was finally over.

“Why would Rossi send you the key to this?” Sanchez asked.

I shook my head. “Not a clue.”

The agents stared at me, waiting for more.

When the doorbell rang, Winston left to check it.

Lucas stepped in. “Maybe she knew Serena would do the right thing and turn it over.”

Behind me, footsteps announced the arrival of more people. Desperate to see Duke again, I spun. I hadn’t thought things could get worse. But for a second, my world stopped as Winston escorted my father in.

I hadn’t wanted Dad to know anything about this.

Duke

I opened my eyes and quickly closed them against the bright overhead lights. The steady beeping of the monitors on the stand next to me sounded soothing. Beeps were a good sign. My leg hurt. Pain was a good sign as well. It smelled like a hospital.

It had almost killed me to see Pons pointing the gun at Serena and hear it go off when she attacked him. The rest had played out in slow motion—her hits to the throat, the eyes, and the knee had been brutally efficient. Then the kick to the balls to finish him off had been one-hundred percent my feisty woman.

I remembered seeing the knife the big Spinelli brute had pulled too late, the pain, being loaded into the helo, and then…

And then Serena had said she couldn’t live without me—that she loved me.

“Hey, man. You gave us quite a scare there.”

I tilted my head and found Jordy next to me.

“How’s my girl?” It was the first thing that came to mind.

“With traffic, she should be at the house about now.”

“I screwed up,” I admitted.

Jordy shrugged. “Shit happens.”

A young doctor walked in. “How are you feeling, Mr. Hawk?” she asked, looking up from the tablet she carried. “I’m Dr. Gupta if you don’t remember.”

I didn’t. “Sorry,” I said hoarsely.

“That’s understandable. You lost a lot of blood, but the surgery went very well.”

“Surgery?” That explained the grogginess and sore throat.

“Yes. You’re a very lucky man. The knife nicked your femoral artery. A fraction of a centimeter over, and it would have transected it.”

I understood how to translate the doctor-speak. I’d seen it on the battlefield. No helicopter would have been fast enough to save me with a severed artery.

“You were also lucky that your brother had the presence of mind to apply a tourniquet.”

“Army training,” Jordy offered.

Gupta nodded. “Your prognosis is excellent for a full recovery. Fortunately for you, the injury was approximately the size of the incision we make for a catheter insertion, and I was able to use our normal closure for that procedure. Your artery will heal quickly and quite well.” She laughed. “Although you won’t feel like running for a while.”

I appreciated the levity. “Thanks, Doc.”

“Take these for the pain.” She held out her hand.

“No thanks.” I hated any pain pills stronger than Advil.

She didn’t pull her hand back. “Either take them or stay overnight for observation.”

I hated hospitals worse than pain pills, so I swallowed them with the water she offered.

“It goes without saying, no driving for you.”

“I’m driving,” Jordy offered. “How long does he need to stay?”

“If things still look good in two hours, I’ll discharge him then.” The doctor patted my shoulder. “You have a dangerous profession, young man. Be more careful in the future.”

After the doctor left, Jordy agreed. “She’s right, you know? You should cut back on risks.”

Jordy meant to cheer me up, but all it did was remind me of the biggest risk of all. Visions of Marilyn’s lifeless body in a pool of blood filled my mind—some risks were too big. I’d almost condemned Serena to the same fate.

What if I wasn’t as lucky the next time? Or I didn’t have one of my brothers with me? I couldn’t put her through that.

I’d disregarded the reason I didn’t allow relationships in my life, and fate had almost taught me the cost of forgetting that lesson.

Serena deserved better. For her sake, I couldn’t repeat the mistake.