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Therin smirked. “Only a few?”
Morgan grinned in spite of himself. “All right already, so it was five. I only got around to watching two of them, though…one of the ones I grabbed was Spanish Heat.” He bit his lip on a curse. “Maybe if I’d gotten around to watching that one, we could have avoided all this crap. Vaughn had to know who she was when you hired her. He had those movies months before she even started.”
Therin cursed, his eyes narrowing sharply when he moved and dull pain stabbed his side. “What brought you out here, Morg?”
“The two dudes who arrested Marley Terrio at the party? I was there, by the way. Excellent playing,” he told Kianti, who beamed at the compliment. “Once Terrio was in police custody, they dipped and I followed them while they followed you.” He looked around at the cozy paneled bedroom. “’Course I didn’t know where here was until…”
“Thanks, man.” Therin extended his hand to Morgan who held on to it for a time. “But we both know Vaughn and those fellas who arrested Terrio are small potatoes. There are way bigger fish behind this.”
“Well, your boy Vaughn apparently knows that. I talked to Gary and Peter while we were waiting on you to wake up.”
“What happened?” Therin watched as Morgan settled back in the chair.
“He tried playing the big dog ’til he saw U.S. Feds along with Vancouver’s Finest. I never knew the man had such a lovely singing voice. Seems our high-powered elusive enemies were really a rather small faction of troublemakers with allegiance to politics as usual and obscene amounts of money being funneled into what benefits them most.” He shrugged. “Sad to say education wasn’t on their list.” Morgan laced his fingers and studied them for a time. “Seems everybody on the other side isn’t as loyal to education taking a backseat, as it would seem. More folks are realizing the importance of contributing to instead of castrating education budgets.” He smirked on the words. “Rest of Vaughn’s friends are either running for cover or trying to make deals. Some already spilled the beans about Marley Terrio being set up.”
Therin winced while trying to move from where he rested against Kianti. “But they’re out of jail, right?” He referred to the senior EYES member.
“Released on bail a few days ago,” Morgan confirmed. “Media’s already been alerted. I’d say we’re in for one helluva press conference in a few weeks.”
“You think it’ll all pan out?”
“I’m not naive but in this case I’d say more than a little luck’s comin’ our way. The two fools who came after you are dead—there won’t be any questions,” Morgan said to Kianti when she gasped. “The group I brought along with me helped to clean up the mess. New snow fallin’ helped out, too. As for all the rest, folks are definitely listening—maybe what Vaughn spilled will lead us to the real idiots behind this.”
“You two were such good friends. Why would Vaughn do something like this?” Kianti asked Therin.
“Money,” Morgan said.
Therin shook his head. “Power. Vaughn always liked handling the press. Being the front man when I didn’t feel up to the aggravation, which was usually most of the time. Guess he wanted a bigger piece of the pie—or the chance to make his own pie.”
Kianti smoothed her hair behind her ear and frowned. “But to ruin your friendship…”
Therin mimicked her frown. “In politics, people do a lot worse for a whole lot less.”
Vernon peeked into the room then. “Sorry, Mr. Felts—patient needs his rest.”
“Right, doc.” Morgan sent Vern a mock salute and pushed out of the armchair. “I’m here for the duration. We’ve got men posted all around the Shays and some back at Kianti’s.” He slapped hands with Therin and then took one of Kianti’s hands in both of his.
“I didn’t have the chance to fully enjoy that piano performance of yours. I’d love to request another.”
She placed her hand on top of his. “Anytime, Morgan. Anytime.”
“Thank you for saving my life, Ms. Lawrence,” Therin was saying once the doors closed behind Morgan. “Slap some sense into me the next time I try to question your strength, all right?”
She laughed. “Remember you said that.”
“I love you.” He spoke in the midst of the tender kiss they shared.
She smoothed her hand along his sideburns. “You know I love you—very much.”
“That’s good.” He tugged at a lock of her hair. “I really can’t have you hating me if we’re going to be married.” He grinned, kissing her suddenly to take advantage of her lips, which were parted in surprise.
