Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“Well, I’m glad it did, because calling you saved his life.”
“May I ask how he dialed?”
Bodhi put his arm around me, which helped with the sudden shivering.
“Doyle dialed your number with his nose because that was all he had to use.”
“Jesus.”
“But the phone—like I said, an old push-button kind—was there, and he knocked the receiver off the cradle and punched out your number with his face.”
“And Brodie didn’t hear that?”
“We think he was monitoring the entrance and exit of the building, nothing more. He was confident that Doyle couldn’t make it to the phone with being restrained and because of his injuries. Brodie was far more invested in blowing him up, as well as the SOG team, when they went in to save him.”
“But when you pinged Ian’s phone, it didn’t work,” I prompted him.
“Correct. But we don’t think Brodie knew that. He turned Doyle’s phone off when he kidnapped him and simply forgot to turn it back on. He thought we were tracking Doyle’s phone and would be there shortly. Without Doyle calling you and giving you the cipher about a herald of visions, which hinted at both the identity of the perp as well as the location where he was being held, we would have never found him.”
“Why the cipher?” I asked. “Why didn’t Ian just say it was Brodie?”
“Because, as Ian told Wes, he had no idea if Brodie was monitoring his audio. He knew he didn’t have eyes on him, but wasn’t certain if he could hear him or not.”
“Did Ian know about the C4?”
“Of course not,” Kage rasped. “Think about it. This is Ian Doyle. If he knew, he wouldn’t have called. Ian would have never put the rest of us in danger.”
“That’s true,” Bodhi agreed. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
Kage grunted like the apology wasn’t needed.
“Why just the one sentence though?” I asked Kage. “What happened?”
“From the reports I’ve received, he was duct-taped to a heavy antique chair and had leaned as far forward on the front two legs as possible while he dialed and spoke to you, but they slipped out from under him which put him face-first on the floor.”
“Which had to have scared Ian thinking he made too much noise.”
“I’m sure.”
“What a mess,” Bodhi stated. “If Ian hadn’t gotten that message out to Jed, he would have been there all night, bleeding.”
“And eventually Brodie would have gotten tired of waiting for the cavalry to arrive, and ignited the bomb,” Kage concluded. “We’re fortunate that all the events transpired as they did.”
“Yessir,” we both said.
“Well done for immediately calling Miro,” Kage praised me.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Call me when you land,” he directed, and then the line went dead.
Both Bodhi and I sat there on the bed for a moment.
I said, “I would be a fuckin’ basket case if someone was actively trying to murder me.”
“Same,” Bodhi agreed.
After a moment, I turned to him. “So? You’re mine?”
He smiled. “All yours.”
“Good. Go pack your shit. I’ll meet you at the front door. I’m gonna go downstairs and say goodbye really quick. Grab my duffel on your way out. It’ll be sitting on the bed.”
“And already he starts ordering me around,” he teased, leaning in to kiss my cheek before he got up and went out the door.
I was so happy to start my life, but first, we needed to get home to make sure we helped save our boss’s.
Stella was distraught that I was leaving, but my number was in her phone, and Meredith promised to bring her to Chicago in the fall to see me.
“If that’s all right with you, Jed?” she asked softly.
In response, I hugged her just as hard as I had her daughter, and when I let her go, her smile was luminous.
Angie was next, reminding me that I had her number as well, so the calling had better not be just one way.
“Your brother hates me.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “He doesn’t have to see you. I live in Boston, you live in Chicago. I can’t imagine it will be a problem.”
“He lives in Chicago too,” I pointed out.
“For another minute or two, yes.”
I heard that loud and clear and remembered that I had a lot to tell Bodhi. I hugged Josette, shook hands with Giles, hugged Shae and then the rest of the kids. Stella chased me down for one last hug, and then ran back to her mom, who had wisely followed her, ready to provide much-needed comfort. Upstairs on the main floor, I passed by my room, rechecked it quickly, found nothing I’d left behind, and saw that my duffel was gone. Bodhi was waiting at the front door, a duffel in each hand, and now in jeans and a T-shirt and my zippered cardigan that he’d retaken possession of. His running shoes looked far better than the tassel loafers.