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“Next tiet to hold her, asshole”
“There’s not going to be a next time,” Jessa said, but even as the words breathed from her mouth, she settled her head on Cole’s chest and nuzzled him “This was a one-tiain”
Burke froze After all the inti away again?
Cole huffed, gritting his teeth “We’ll see about that”
A deeply satisfied smile crossed her face “Yes, ill”
Jessa didn’t stand a chance Cole had thron the gauntlet She could play stubborn all she liked, but they wouldn’t let her go If they had to sleep on her doorstep, they would But eventually, they would break down her resistance, and they would win She’d shown them exactly hoin her back Jessa craved their touch, but she couldn’t subave her heart and her soul And when they do for the sunlight She unfurled, took fro back
Burke intended to treat her like the precious gift she was She was the only woman in the world for them, and he and Cole would prove that they orthy of her That they wouldn’t let her down again They couldn’t
Cursing the cold, he padded across the carpeted floor to the s files froht them
He grabbed his phone and laptop, then retreated to the bathroom so Jessa and Cole would have a little peace and quiet while he made the call They had made a tactical error with Jessa severaltheir shock and ood sense They should have left Colombia imht to New York It hat they’d intended to do The one to the office, reeted them with that damn report Jessa Wade had married Jessa was happy with her new husband She had moved froinia She had moved on without them
He and Cole should have camped on her doorstep and demanded an explanation They should have trusted that she’d keep her proht
Too h disinterest, discontent, or death He’d learned to let go, but he hadn’t been able to let go of Jessa eive Jessa the space to be happy with her husband, Burke had carried her in his heart
It had known better than his brain Never again would he let her go
He winced as he tried to spread his equipment across the miniscule counter God, he hoped the place they holed up in next hadtiny, the bathroom was cold
He dialed Dex’s nuht He wanted to do a bit ot to Louisiana, he would have plenty of tiinal reports fro it had taken Marco Delgado to corrupt their investigator
“This is Dex Jaive anything away
“It’s Burke”
There was a long breath frood We’ve been worried We expected you to call hours ago”
Hours ago he’d been buried deep inside Jessa He didn’t feel bad about that in the least “So out in an hour or so How’s ?”
It felt good to ask about Caleb His son When this was over, he would never be apart froain He would make up for all the lost time He would convince Jessa to have another baby A brother or sister for Caleb
“He’s good, Burke He’s a great kid I can tell he’swith our kiddos Hannah’s feeding hiht now”
He reh he felt like an idiot, he asked the question “Uhm, how’s his poop?”
Dex’s laugh made Burke pull the phone from his ear “His bowels are fine, et used to it You’re going to hear yourself saying things you’ve never before iined would come out of your mouth Your kids become your life Don’t worry I’h, that one of the joys inthis family with my brothers Spread the pain, man I don’t kno couples do it Kids are like littleI swear, one of us has to save Eli at least twice a day, and I’m sure the sa”
Burke knew he should be horrified, but all he could think about was how much he wanted to be there for Caleb and any other children he, Cole, and Jessa had in the future
“Don’t worry about us here,” Dex continued “We’ve hired extra security for the place Round the clock These guys are solid, et to them I trust them with my family”
Burke breathed a sigh of relief Marco had already proven he could get inside law enforceator Burke was sure Marco knew about their ties to the James family He had to trust Dex Thetheir own kids in the line of fire to help Burke and Cole
“Has anyone talked to the DA?” Burke asked He didn’t hold out ado, it ht slow the fucker down
“Slade has been on the phone with him for hours God, Burke, next time this shit happens can you keep it in Texas? We would have this shut down here We don’t have the sa to offer you witness protection”
Fuck, no “I’ll pass”
“I wouldn’t let you go,” Dex adado has feds on the payroll The DA see to turn you over to hi into witness protection Off the record, of course He’s lost a witness in the last six ado’s distributors Look, I think he’s on the up and up, but he’s only one h what’s left of Jessa’s house It’s ato take time”
That hat Marco was counting on “Did they identify the body?”
Maybe the identity of the man Marco had sent to set those bombs would help
“Not so easy in the charred re to need dental records He couldn’t have been a higher-up in the organization I don’t think Marco intended for hiet out of that house alive He knehen your plane was co there The cops found what appears to be the trigger device about a quarter of afrom the woods With binoculars, he would have been able to see you co”
“Yeah, we got that when hethe scene” Burke tried to juggle the phone and his laptop “Did you ht them to me?”