I had also been wondering more and more if Carson had anything to do with the case against Josh Garner. They were friends who had a military history and had both moved to Vegas at the same time, for essentially the same reason. That didn't mean Carson knew more than he had told Detective Powers when she interviewed him. But I got the feeling that he did. Add to that the fact that another teammate owned the hotel they both worked for and the large bail that had been posted, and questions kept rolling through my mind. Something nagged at my brain. There was a connection, I just couldn't fathom what it could be.
I sighed loudly and sat back in my chair. Getting away for a week would be good. I'd talk to my sisters–get a better perspective on this whole clusterfuck of a situation. Yes, that would be good for me. Just what I needed.
I worked until nine o'clock that night. Alex had started his vacation a day early as he'd put all his Christmas shopping off until the last minute and needed the day to hit the mall. Just like a man. I wondered where Carson was spending Christmas. I knew about his mom, and if their relationship was still the same as it'd been when I first met him, then surely he wouldn't be going back to L.A. I frowned and shook my head slightly, trying to clear the thoughts of Carson away. Whatever he was doing for Christmas was not my business.
When I got home that night, I immersed myself in laundry and packing and by the time I was done with that, I was exhausted. Alex would be picking me up at five the next morning in order to catch our flight. I put my p.j.'s on and got into bed.
**********
Carson
I sat across from Josh as he leaned back on the couch in the condo I had gotten him to secretly. I was on the phone with Leland. I answered the question he had just asked me.
"Yeah, we made it. No one followed us. Let me call you on my way back."
"Sounds good, thanks, Carson," Leland said and hung up.
I pushed "end" on my phone and looked back at Josh.
"How you doing?" I asked.
He sighed. "Great, Carson. The last couple weeks have been like a dream come true."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "What happened, Josh? We weren't supposed to split up. Number one rule."
"Yeah, no shit. I f**king made up that rule," he said bitterly.
I studied him. The guy was on trial for first-degree murder. I was gonna give him a break. "What happened?" I repeated.
He sighed, scrubbing his hands down his face. "You guys were on your way out with the merchandise. I was clearing the last room of the warehouse when I heard a girl crying. I thought we had missed one. I turned back and went to investigate and lights out, man. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in some abandoned house with a lump on my head the size of a beach ball. I made it home and the police were knocking at the door an hour later. That's all I know."
I took a deep breath. "Just like we thought. An ambush. Fuck. You know we went back in for you, right? We realized you were gone and went back in for you. You had disappeared like a ghost, Josh."
"I know you'd never leave a man behind. I didn't doubt that for a second."
I nodded. "He knew we were coming," I said.
Josh sighed, nodding his head. "Yeah. And he f**king shot a girl in the head, Carson."
"He's a sick f**k. We already knew that."
He frowned and then took a deep breath, lacing his fingers together behind his head and leaning back. "Yeah."
I studied him for a second. "All right. I gotta get out of here. We are going to figure this out. Dylan is working on it, we're all trying to figure this out. We're gonna get a break, okay? We've got your back."
Josh closed his eyes for beat. "Never doubted it for a second." He looked up at me. "Thanks, Carson."
I nodded and stood up. "Stay put. Anything you need will be delivered. The police know where you are, but no one else does and you cannot come near Trilogy. No going out to pick up some woman. No going next door to meet your pretty neighbor. Stay put."
"Sounds like fun," he said. "Merry Fucking Christmas," but when I frowned at him he said, "Yeah, yeah, stay put. I got it."
"Hey, beats MRE's in a cave, right?"
He chuckled softly. "Barely. But yeah."
I smiled and nodded and walked to the door. Twenty minutes later, I was pulling into the garage at Trilogy.
**********
I walked into Leland's office later that night. "You taking off?" he asked.
I sat down in the chair across from him. "I don't know if I should. If there's anything–"
"There's not. If you stay here over the holiday, you'll just end up pacing in your office. It's better if we don't show our faces out very much. Dylan is staying here to work on the computer side, but there's nothing any of us can do to help him with that. Plus, if anything comes up, you're only six hours away. It's probably best that you get out of town."
I nodded. "All right. The girls all taken care of?"
"Yeah. I wish we had gotten them all out before the holiday. I don't like to have to keep the guards posted over Christmas. But that's the way it goes. We just didn't get the paperwork in time. Dylan did everything he could."
"I know. Sucks, but another week and it'll all be worked out."
"Right. Have a Merry Christmas, man." He stood up and walked around his desk to shake my hand and clap me on the back in a bro hug. I smiled. "You too, Leland."