Page 48 of Shadow Secrets
He pulled her from the chair and turned her toward the door. “Good thing I’m properly trained in that, too.”
Her laughter made him smile as they walked back to their shared room.
Claire arrived at thirteen hundred, interrupting the afternoon.
He’d been reviewing Jasper’s latest analysis of the FBI’s data while Sutton sketched beside him. They’d spent most of the day like that—side by side at the conference room table, working in parallel, the kind of comfortable silence he’d never shared with anyone.
She drew. He read. Occasionally, she’d hold up a design for his opinion. In return, he’d slide the laptop toward her to show her a connection he’d found. The rhythm of it felt domestic in a way that made his chest ache.
When Claire walked in with Garrett, her face carried a different energy than on previous visits. Less tension. More resolution. The look of a woman who’d been pushing a boulder uphill for days and had finally gotten it to the summit.
The team assembled, including Vivi, her cardigan wrapped around her like armor. Sutton sat at the table with her notebook closed, her hands flat on the cover, her posture braced for impact.
Sebastian stayed beside her, close enough to touch, but not hovering. Okay, maybe a little.
Claire set her phone on the table and leaned forward with both palms flat. “Booker talked.”
Sutton glanced between her and him. “What does that mean?”
“It took three days, two attorneys, and a plea negotiation that went through three levels of DOJ approval, but he’s cooperating. Limited cooperation—he’s protecting himself above all—but enough to move forward.”
“What did he give you?” Garrett asked.
“The organization calls itself The Network. No elaborate codename, no mythological reference. Just The Network. Cell-based structure, compartmentalized communication, members identified by the tattoo Penn Crenshaw designed. Everything Sutton decoded from the sketchbooks tracks with Booker’s account.”
Sutton clapped her hands together. “Yes.”
Claire’s gaze focused on her. “He claims the only reason he came after you was that you witnessed Ginger’s murder. He believed you saw his face through the parlor window. In his account, if he didn’t eliminate the witness, The Network would eliminate him. No loose ends—that’s the operating principle. He acted to protect himself as much as to serve the organization.”
Sebastian processed that. “Was he after the sketchbooks, too?”
Claire shook her head. “He claims he didn’t know anything about them.”
“The plea?” Garrett asked.
“Reduced charges in exchange for full cooperation with the FBI’s investigation into The Network. He’s providing names, operational methods, and communication protocols. He’ll testify—if we make sure The Network doesn’t find a way to get to him. Sounds like they can get to almost anyone, even in a high-security prison. We’re working on protective custody. At this point, we have enough to open a formal investigation—not just an Inkwell file, but a full-scale federal case.”
“That’s great,” Vivi said. “Incredible work, Agent.”
Claire smiled and nodded. “Which brings me to the most relevant piece for you, Sutton.” Her voice shifted—still professional, but warmer. The Claire who was Garrett’s wife surfaced beneath the agent. “With Booker in custody and cooperating, the direct threat against you is resolved. He was The Network’s operator in this region. He was the one who killed Ginger. He was the one who attacked Dom. And he had only come after you because he thought you were a witness.”
She paused. Let it settle. “The FBI is officially closing the protective mandate. You can go home, Sutton.”
Sebastian watched the emotions move across Sutton’s face—disbelief, then a slow, cautious hope. Her lips parted. Her eyes filled but didn’t spill over. Her fingers curled around the notebook’s edge, gripping hard, as if the table might shift under her if she let go.
“Home,” she repeated.
Claire nodded. “We’ll maintain light surveillance for a few weeks as a precaution, and I’m sure SPS will also keep an eye on you for now, but the danger is over. We’ll need you to be accessible for testimony as the case develops, so stay in town.”
Sutton exhaled a long, shuddering breath, the sound of a woman releasing pressure she’d been holding for days. She turned in her chair and looked at Sebastian.
He saw it all in her face—the relief, the gratitude, and the fragile, tentative joy.
He smiled. “You heard her, Ink. You’re safe.”
Her hand found his beneath the table. Squeezed. He squeezed back.
The room exhaled with her. CB, who’d been patched in by phone, let out a whoop that was audible through the speaker. Mack nodded once—his version of a standing ovation. Jasper typed something rapidly, probably updating every file simultaneously. Garrett caught Sebastian’s eye across the table and winked.
