Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(94)

AJ ran toward her.

“The threat is neutralized. Fall out,” Neil barked in her ear.

AJ fell on her, arms pulled her close.

“Are you okay?”

There were several parts that hurt but none that would stop her from moving.

Sirens filled the night air.

“We have to go,” she told AJ.

“What about him?” he asked.

“I’ve got him.”

They both turned to see Charlie, his foot resting on the forgotten gun. He reached down and picked up the weapon, aimed it at Pohl.

Sasha stepped out of AJ’s arms. “He’s dangerous, Charlie.”

“I can handle it, young lady. Get out of here. You don’t need a target on you.”

“Thank you.”

“You can thank me by staying alive. Now go.”

Sasha didn’t need to be told again. She grasped AJ’s hand and headed back into the administration building and up the back stairs, where she slid one boot off after the other. In silence, she stepped into the black pants she’d worn earlier and pulled the skintight dress over her head. AJ helped her pull her shirt down and bent to secure the tie on her combat boots.

He shed his jacket and tie and followed her out a window and onto the roof.

Neil’s voice came over her earpiece. “We’ve cleared the building.”

“I’m out,” Claire reported for her team.

Sasha hesitated on the edge of the building, AJ at her side. “Ladies first,” he said with a wink and a grin.

She shimmied down the drainpipe and he followed right behind. They sprinted toward the walls of Richter and didn’t look back.

Back in the van, everyone slowly took off their microphones, their earpieces, and shrugged out of their backpacks.

Claire offered Cooper a fist bump.

Neil looked at the empty expression on Olivia’s face.

“What?”

Olivia scowled.

“I let you shoot him,” Neil told her.

“In the hand. It doesn’t count,” Olivia argued.

AJ pulled Sasha back against his chest, and for the first time in days, she closed her eyes and let her mind rest.





Chapter Thirty-Four



AJ stood outside his parents’ house, his hand in Sasha’s, as soft rain fell over both of them.

“I can go in with you.”

He shook his head. “No. I need to talk to them alone.”

The last few days had been nearly as much of a tornado as the week before.

The team had done the legwork and now the legal wheels were turning. Murder, extortion, missing people, false imprisonment, falsifying records, false accusations . . . the list went on and on. Denenberg confessed to Amelia’s murder and that of her other two roommates. She accused Pohl of blackmailing her into it. Lodovica was fighting child endangerment charges and placed on administrative leave until a full investigation could be made.

An entirely new executive staff swept into the school to keep the doors open, although nearly half the students had been relocated to other schools scattered throughout Germany.

And Olivia had disappeared. At least that’s what Neil had told them once she went into protective custody.

If he knew where she was, he didn’t tell Sasha, AJ, or anyone else on the team.

And when Pohl allegedly committed suicide while in police custody, no one was surprised. It was hard to say if Pohl did take himself out or if one of his disgruntled employees did the deed . . . or, more likely, whomever he actually worked for.

AJ took one last look over his shoulder at Sasha. Wearing her Sasha normal, she huddled under a long black coat covering her shoulders and offered a reassuring smile.

AJ lifted his hand to the door, knocked three times.

His father answered. One look at AJ’s face and his smile faded. “Come in.”

He followed him inside and waited in the hall.

“Let me take your coat.”

“I’m not staying long.”

“Are you sure, I can make—”

“Is Mom here?”

“No, she’s, ah . . . visiting your grandmother.”

AJ looked around the hallway. Saw the pictures of Amelia and him as children. “How long did it take you to get out of Germany?” he asked, hoping the small talk would make the conversation easier.

“Three days and a lot of contacts to clear our names of any wrongdoing.”

AJ shook his head, huffed out a laugh. “When people don’t pay for their crimes, they tend to continue making them.” He thought of his own path to stealing cars. A career he put behind him.

His father blew out a long breath. “AJ, can we please sit down?”

“Did she tell you?”

He made eye contact with his father.

Alex blinked his gaze away.

A knot formed in AJ’s throat. “Did you know?”

“I wondered. I didn’t want to know.”

“Mom had an affair.”

His father didn’t deny him.

“You’re not my father.”

Alex looked at him now. “I will always be your father. I raised you.” His voice cracked.

“What about Amelia?”

He shook his head. “Amelia was mine. Or so your mother said. I suppose we will never really know now.”