Page 51 of Fatal Conspiracy

“As I said, he’s still sleeping off the anesthesia and may not know you’re there.”

“As I said, I want to see him,” Zac repeated, his teeth clenched as Cal gripped his shoulder to hold him back.

“Zac—”

“I’m the reason he’s in that bed,” Zac said, cutting himoff. “I failed him last night. He will not go through this alone.”

The doctor, obviously confused and uncomfortable, opened the door. “I’ll let the nurse know you’d like to see him. She’ll notify you when he’s settled.”

“Thank you, Doctor Jokela,” Selina said with a nod. “And thanks for taking good care of our friend.”

“From what I’m told, you’re the reason he made it to the hospital without bleeding out, so I can say the same to you. I’ll be checking on him over the course of his stay here, but I trust that you’ll take the lead on his outpatient requirements?”

“Absolutely,” she assured him. With a nod and a wave, he disappeared down the hallway.

Everyone in the room turned to Cal and Zac, still locked together in the center of the room. Cal had both of Zac’s shoulders now as Roman walked over and put his hands over Cal’s from behind Zac. Efren stood on his left side and Selina on his right. Alayah had seen them do it multiple times while working at Secure Inc. Selina had explained that it was their “no one left behind” box. It was meant to remind the person struggling that they had their back and every side.

“The only person responsible for Declan being in that bed is sitting in a jail cell,” Cal said, his voice stern but kind at the same time.

“It was my job to watch his six, but I failed, Cal. You should fire me on the spot. What good am I if I can’t keep my brothers safe?”

“Zac, we all understand what you’re feeling right now. We’ve all been in your position where we felt our failures were the reason for someone’s injury or death. It will take time for you to see what happened in that hall with emotionaldetachment, but it will come. When it does, you’ll see that you didn’t fail Declan. You read the situation and followed your instincts when you pulled him down. Had you not done that, he’d be dead. That bullet would have hit center mass and we’d be in a morgue instead of a hospital. Everyone in this room knows that. I promise that when the drugs wear off, Declan will say the same thing. Your feelings are valid, and we’re here to support you as you work through this. Every person in this room loves you, and we all know you’d step in front of a bullet for any of us. That’s the reason you’re on and will remain on my team. Hooah?”

“Hooah,” Zac whispered, his face crumbling as he dropped his forehead to Cal’s shoulder while the rest closed rank around him.

“Hooah,” Alayah whispered, suddenly knowing what she had to do.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

When Alayah reached Derek’s room, she heard talking, so she paused outside the door. She’d wait there for them to finish and use the time to take some deep breaths and remind herself of what Selina had said. Derek had the right to make his own decisions, and she had to respect that. The conversation inside the room reached her ears and she paused.

“What happens to Black Marlin Technologies now?” Derek asked someone.

“It’s a real mess,” the man answered, and she recognized Anthony’s voice. “I’ll straighten it out while you recover, so don’t fret about it. Salma sang like a jailbird once they offered her a reduced sentence to come clean.”

“She told me most of what she’d done while we were in the hall.”

“Did she tell you that she was having an affair with Josh Hunt?” Anthony asked.

“What? No, she said he wasn’t blackmailing her, but he was too up in her business about the app, so she got rid of him.”

“As the lawyer for the business, I’ll get to read her statement, but from what I understand, she claims they werepartners in their endeavor to take control of Black Marlin Technologies.”

“Considering how hard he was working to get the app from Hugo, I would buy that. Why’d she kill him?”

“Salma claims it was an accident.”

“Blunt force trauma to the head is always an accident, right?” Derek asked sarcastically.

“It’s not my monkey, but I would guess it will take many months of tracing their movements to find the real truth.”

“I’m worried the rest of the board knew about her plan,” Derek said, but that was one thing Alayah was certain wasn’t true. The odds that four people would all agree to this plan didn’t work for her.

“From what I could ascertain, they didn’t, but Minneapolis PD is questioning them as we speak. I’m confident they’ll seize computers and records until they’re happy Salma was the only culprit here.”

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a struggle to wrap my head around it. Both what she’s done, and that the company is now mine,” Derek said weakly. Her heart clenched. Alayah wanted to run to him but didn’t want to interrupt his visit. She’d wait for an opening. “The saddest part is that two men are dead because of her greed. Hugo was a good man, and while Josh had his issues, he didn’t deserve to die.”

“Agreed on all accounts,” Anthony said. “The only immediate suggestion I would make on the company’s behalf is to offer the other three board members a severance package and cut ties with them.”