Safe from Harm (Protect & Serve #2)(81)

She hung up before he had a chance to respond. It was probably just as well. All he could do was make empty promises anyway.

Speaking of empty promises…

He checked the call list on his phone, hoping that maybe he’d missed a call from Elle, but no such luck.

He’d been an ass to storm out of her office like he had earlier. All he’d wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold her, tell her how much he loved her over and over again and hope it still meant something to her.

It was killing him that they’d left things the way they had. He’d almost called her a few times since then but had thought better of it, not wanting to make the situation worse. He checked his watch. Several hours had passed. Shit. He probably should’ve at least tried to call sooner… Even if she’d told him to go to hell, she would’ve at least known he wanted to talk.

He hit her number before he could talk himself out of it and listened to the phone ring until it went to her voice mail. Even the sound of her recorded voice made his heart race.

God, he had it bad…

“Hey, it’s me,” he said. “I just… I was just hoping to talk. I’m sorry I stormed out earlier. Just…call me, I guess.”

He returned his phone to his hip, an undercurrent of apprehension creeping beneath his skin. He had the sudden urge to claw at himself to dig out the sensation.

It was ridiculous. Elle was fine. She was probably just busy. Or still pissed. Either one was completely plausible, all things considered.

And yet he couldn’t help feeling that something was off. Something just didn’t feel right. His instincts were telling him he needed to get his ass moving—but where? Why? Was it just the fact that Monroe was sitting just a couple rooms down, spouting lies so ridiculous they’d already starting spreading like wildfire? Or was there something more?

He gave himself a hard mental shake and tried to tamp down the restlessness plaguing him, then charged toward the observation room to try to catch some of the bullshit Monroe was slinging.

He slipped inside, closed the door softly behind him, and jerked his chin at his brothers who’d gathered there as well.

“Hey, Joe, Kyle,” he said. “Come to enjoy the show?”

“Tom called us,” Kyle told him. “Thought we might want to be here. Nobody’s seriously buying this shit, are they?”

“Apparently so,” Gabe replied. “Got a call from Jessica Andrews a few minutes ago—she heard it on the news.”

Joe cursed under his breath. “Media doesn’t miss a beat, do they? Never mind that this son of a bitch is a total whack-job.”

Kyle shook his head as he watched through the observation glass while Sandra Monroe told her story to the deputy Tom had assigned to take her statement. “Look at her body language,” Kyle murmured. “She’s clearly been coerced. I can see that even without knowing the backstory. And you can tell she’s been coached by the way she’s telling the story. Every time Adam asks her a question to clarify a detail, she turns to look to her father for approval.”

“I don’t think Monroe cares that we know she’s lying,” Gabe told them. “Just planting the doubt against Elle and me serves his purpose, even when we’re cleared later. This is just a diversion.”

“From what?” Joe asked.

Gabe shook his head. “Wish I knew.”

Tom jerked his chin toward the glass. “Jeremy’s up.”

Gabe narrowed his eyes as he watched and listened to Jeremy’s account of Gabe’s encounter with Sandra. There was just enough truth in it to be believable.

Joe grunted in disgust. “He’s pretty damned twitchy. Wonder what Monroe threatened to do to them if they didn’t lie for him.”

“Considering what he did to his daughter just for talking to me, God knows,” Gabe murmured, wishing like hell that he’d been able to persuade Sandra to get into his car. Seeing her in person was even worse than what the pictures showed. He fisted his hands at his sides, forcing himself to stay where he was and not charge in there and beat the shit out of Monroe for treating his own daughter with such brutality.

A loud scraping of chairs on the tile floor jolted Gabe from his thoughts. “They’re finished? It’s only been half an hour.”

“Guess that’s all you need when you’re lying out your ass,” Kyle said.

Gabe started for the door, but Tom intercepted him, covering the doorknob with his hand before Gabe could reach for it. “No way. You stay here until they’ve cleared out. The last thing you need is that bastard causing a scene in front of half the department.”

Gabe clenched his jaw, furious at having to hide like a fucking coward, but he raised his arms and took a couple of steps back to let his brothers leave. A few minutes later, Joe opened the door and stuck his head in.

“All clear, but I’d go out the back,” he said. “News cameras are out front. Monroe’s giving them quite the statement.”

“I’ll bet.” Gabe jerked open the door and stormed down the hall toward the back entrance.

“Oh, hey, Gabe!” Joe called after him.

Gabe halted. “Yeah?”

“Abby said to tell you she tried calling Elle a couple of times to let her know Monroe was leaving, but Elle didn’t answer. Went straight to voice mail. You might want to try giving her a call yourself.”