Page 66 of Blake

It always amazed Blake that Jack seemed to have contacts everywhere willing to help him out or give him information. It made him wonder why Grace, who seemed to have informants coming out of every nook in Europe, had never mentioned any in the US.

“Okay. I’ll call him now while Pax is with her dad.”

He went to walk away but Reid stopped him. “Any idea who the shooter was?”

Blake swung back and shook his head. “No, but I want answers on that too.”

Moving into the relative privacy of the hospital’s spiritual garden, Blake called Jack. “Any news,” he asked when Jack answered. A pause on the line made him tense. “Tell me, Jack.”

“I’m waiting for confirmation, but Clark is saying he was contacted by a British agent offering assistance with taking down Robert Paxton. He also says this man ordered the attack on Pax in the UK.”

“I’m gonna kill him when I find out who it is,” Blake gritted out, feeling fury pump his veins with blood.

“Yeah, well, we might have an answer on that soon. Mitch and Gunner are still MIA, but Will is trying to clean up an image of someone leaving the area shortly after Eddie was killed.”

“You think that our mole killed Eddie? That makes no sense. Why have Pax beaten and betray us, and then save her life?”

“I don’t know yet, but we’re getting closer. I can feel it.”

“Fine, call me when you have news.” Blake rubbed his head and hung up.

The lines were starting to blur between the two cases, and he wondered if the attack on Pax that started his involvement was a ruse to split the Eidolon team. A shadow fell across him and he glanced up seeing Waggs walking towards him.

“Hey, how she doing?” Waggs asked as he sat down with a tired sigh.

Blake looked at his friend and noticed the tiredness he knew was mirrored in him. “Okay, I think. She and her parents have a lot to figure out but now that Clark is in custody she can move forward.”

“She’s a tough cookie.”

Blake smiled. “She sure is but then she works for Roz, so that’s a given. My balls shrivel when I think about working for that woman.”

Waggs chuckled and they sat in comfortable silence for a beat. “You gonna stick around and see your family or fly back with us?”

Waggs hadn’t had time to see his family while he was Stateside, and Blake knew he missed them. “Not sure. Depends on Jack.”

Blake nodded. Eidolon came first with all of them or it had. Now Grace was front and centre in his thoughts nearly all the time. “I better get back in,” he said standing.

“Make sure you rest that knee,” Waggs said when he groaned at the stiff joint.

“Yes, Mother.”

“Fuck off, asshole,” Waggs called making Blake laugh.

When he reached the ICU, he saw Grace and her mum walking out, arms around each other, heads together. He moved to them and Grace released her mum and slid into his embrace, planting her head on his chest.

He stroked her hair as he held her tight. “Tired, beautiful?”

She nodded against his chest. “Yep.”

“Let’s get a hotel close so we can be here for your dad.” He saw Henrietta walk away, head down and alone and called out to her. “Henrietta, would you like to come with us? I can get a room for you as well.”

Pax lifted her head and he caught the soft tender look she gave him in his toes.

Henrietta looked at him hopefully before turning to Grace as if asking for permission.

“Come on, Mom, come with us and then we can visit Dad together tomorrow.” She held her hand out for her mom, who took it, and they walked to the car for some much-needed sleep.

It was cut short when his phone rang, and Jack was displayed on the screen.