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Victoria pushed away and rocked on her hands and knees. “I don’t understand. It burns everywhere.” After an extended moment, Victoria dropped her head and remained quiet. When she raised her head and focused on Beatrice, Beatrice smiled. She recognized the blazing fire in Victoria’s eyes.
One day, she would share with Victoria how she was brought back from the dead. But it wouldn’t be today.
And she would never let Victoria know that she had brought about her death in the first place.
Chapter Eleven
Blake
Blake pulled up to the guard gate and nudged Lincoln, who was asleep in the passenger seat. After he saw the pictures and heard how upset Angela had been, he became agitated. It didn’t take long for Lincoln and Nikki to grow tired of listening to him rant and rave. So, Lincoln offered to let him drive. Blake jumped at the opportunity to do something. He drove the rest of the way.
The hours of highway hypnosis made it easy to focus his thoughts. He loved Angela. There was no doubt in his mind. She had a beautiful smile that took his breath away. Her beauty ran deep into her soul. She had this way of settling his mind. It was as if he could fully breathe when he was with her. After Lorelei’s death, he assumed there would never be another woman for him to love. Heather had been a distraction. She helped him forget the pain of his father kicking him out of the family and the pain of Lorelei’s death. She was a distraction, a fucking awesome distraction. It gave him an excuse to ignore his shit. But Angela’s love was inspiring. He wanted to be better.
He lowered the window and nodded to the guard.
The guard nodded back. “Identification, please.”
Blake nudged Lincoln again. “He’s talking to you.”
Lincoln sat up and stretched. He opened the glove compartment, took out a badge, and showed it to the guard. “He needs to see yours as well,” he told Blake and Nikki.
The guard scanned a QR code on Lincoln’s badge. “Good morning, Mr. Talbert. Your team got here about an hour ago. We made guest passes for these two.” He pointed to a building on the other side of the gate. “Just step inside the guest center and show them your identification.” He nodded and waved them through.
Blake parked, and they walked to the center.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a base,” Nikki said.
Blake gave her a side glance. “Did you serve in the military?”
Nikki shook her head. “Didn’t you look into my background before keeping me?”
Blake shrugged. “You were already guarding Benji when I took over. He was comfortable with you, and Angela spoke very highly of you. That was enough for me.”
Nikki shook her head and headed into the center.
The two military men sitting behind a counter stood and saluted them as they walked in. Blake was shocked when Nikki stood ramrod and returned the salute. He didn’t know the correct protocol. Tristan had been the one who enjoyed being in the military. Blake knew he had some type of high-level rank, but he never bothered to find out what it was. He copied Lincon’s head nod.
“I understand you have guest passes for my last two team members,” Lincoln said.
Both men released their salutes. One picked up two plastic cards and gestured them through a swinging half-door.
“Yes, Sir, Mr. Talbert. We need their pictures.”
Lincoln held out his arm, waiting for Nikki and Blake to walk through the half-door first.
The guard told Blake, “If you would, stand on the X over there.”
Blake complied and then stepped away.
The guard turned to Nikki. “Ma’am, if you would do the same.”
Nikki stepped on the X.
The guard said to Nikki, “Ma’am, can I just say what an honor it is to meet you? I was stationed in Iraq in August of O-Seven.”
Blake noticed Nikki’s mouth tightened.
“That was a messy day,” Nikki said.
