Page 54 of Protecting Salvation

“What does that mean?”

“Not sure but it’s good news.”

He was sitting on her couch in her office and she moved around her desk and fell beside him, letting out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

He stroked her knee with his thumb as he grinned at her and she returned it, her eyes full of hope and love. “Maybe Marni can finally have that sleepover with us now the threat is almost over.”

Peyton smiled. “God, I love that kid. She’s welcome at our place any time she likes.”

He loved that she referred to her home as theirs. Even if it wasn’t true in a financial sense, it felt like home to him. More and more of his trainer collection filled the spare room and he even had some of his fitness stuff in a spare corner of her home office.

“Don’t tell her that, we’ll never get a minute’s peace and I quite like my lazy weekends in bed with my girl.”

Peyton pretended to zip her lips. “My lips are sealed.”

Her fingers linked with his and she laid her head on his shoulder as he kissed her head.

“Thank you for being here for me. I’m not sure I would’ve got through this without you.”

He gripped her chin between his thumb and finger and lifted her head, forcing her to look at him. “Yes, you would. You’re the strongest woman I know.”

“Only because you’re here.”

“Not true. You’ve survived more than most and you did it with a smile as you helped others heal. I’m in awe of you, sugar.”

“Ah, ain’t this sweet.” Lotus stood there, hands on her hips, rolling her eyes.

He motioned at Lotus and grinned. “Can you not fix her?”

“Hah, I’m beyond even Peyton’s considerable abilities, buddy.”

“Pfft, you don’t need as much fixing as you think. You just need some self-love.”

Lotus widened her eyes comically. “Peyton, can we not talk about masturbation in front of the boys please?”

“Okay, enough. Start talking about Trevor.”

Titan pushed Lotus through the door and balanced his ass on the desk, crossing his arms.

“Watchdog couldn’t find the ex, so he did some more digging. On the night he disappeared, they were all at Parks, which is an old rave venue that would hold illegal parties. Footage shows him talking with Martin and Trevor and it was heated. So we looked into it more, and Parks is a mile across the fields from your old home.”

“And?” Hurricane rolled his hand not in the mood for theatrics.

“We have to confirm it but we’re pretty sure the ex-boyfriend, Craig Lewis, was murdered by Trevor, and Martin helped him cover it up and bury the body.”

“That’s a stretch.”

“Not really, because we uncovered Trevor’s real identity and he’s child killer Vincent Makin. He was released after serving his sentence and was given a new identity to protect his privacy.”

“He killed that little girl at the Quarry when he was eleven years old?”

Hurricane squeezed Peyton’s hand as she shivered. He remembered that case. There had been a huge hunt for the little girl, ending with them finding her body beaten to death. She was only six years old and it later came out her brother’s friend had gotten jealous of her hanging around and led her there where he’d killed her. He was evil in the extreme and killing Craig would fit.

“We have a body yet?”

“Aubrey has a team ready to go when they arrest him.”

Lotus sounded pissed and he didn’t blame her. Anyone who could do what he’d done should never have been released and sure as not had their identity changed to protect them.