Page 80 of Under Fire

And Nyla bet her mother hadn’t realized how much she loved her father, too, until his life had been threatened. They probably thought it was all about the money. He came from a well-to-do family, and so did she. They had married for money, not love. Nyla knew their love had centered on her. At times, obsessively so. Hopefully now they would center it on each other.

Taking her father’s hand, she walked over to the bed and leaned close and whispered. “Mom, everything is going to be alright. Dad, Karl and I need you to get better. We have a wedding to plan.”

She could see a tiny smile appear on her mother’s lips that let her know she had heard her. Her father saw it as well and tightened his hold on Nyla’s hand. She knew in that instant that her mother would get better, and so would her father.

CHAPTER 32

The next morning, the nationally televised press conference filled the room to capacity. All seven individuals were seated at the table. The Integrity Team. Several questions were asked, but in the end, it became clear that to make the arrests they had made, and to ensure that an innocent man did not go to prison, the prosecution, defense, local police, and the FBI had to join forces, put differences aside while maintaining the integrity of the investigation that spanned across four states. Their goal was to bring everyone involved to justice, even if it meant including one of Tampa’s most respected families.

Hollis wasn’t surprised to see one of the top men from the FBI in Washington. She knew that since the investigation brought down organized crime spanning multiple states, it was customary for a member of leadership to be present.

One of the AP reporters, who recognized her as the Special Agent who had sent four corrupt agents to prison, was surprised she was no longer with the Bureau because of DOGE. He stated on national television that he would have thought the FBI would want to retain its best and brightest agents.

Her response was, “No comment.”

After the conference, the head of the FBI asked to speak with her privately, and when he did, he said he would make sure she got her old job back. She was tempted to tell him where he could take the job and shove it. At one time, being an FBI agent was all she had wanted, but not anymore.

However, recalling one of Derek’s sayings that you should never burn your bridges, she smiled respectfully and said, “I appreciate your offer, sir. However, at the moment, I prefer working independently as a private investigator.”

“If you should change your mind, please contact me directly,” he said, giving her his business card. “We need more agents like you.”

She bit back, saying, Too bad you didn’t appreciate me when you had me. Instead, she took the card and said, “Thank you.”

***

To celebrate the dismissal of Karl’s charges, Nyla decided a special dinner was in order. With Hollis’ help, she prepared a feast. While the two of them were in the kitchen together, Nyla asked, “Hollis, you mentioned yesterday that Aunt Kat had found the son she’d given away.”

“Yes, I think she originally planned to introduce herself and bring him into the business and groom him to take over her empire. However, she dismissed that idea when she saw his chosen profession.”

“Oh? Was he already living a life of crime?” Nyla asked.

“Nope. He’s a minister in Pensacola. That’s one of the first pieces of the puzzle I was able to put together. My investigative records showed she made sure the watch and $10,000 went into the church donation box. The minister discovered it and thought it was a blessing from a Good Samaritan. To this day, he has no idea that, in this case, the Good Samaritan was his birth mother.”

“Do you think he will ever figure it out?”

“I don’t think so. From the report, it seems he doesn’t know he was adopted, so he has no reason to suspect anything.”

“I guess that means I can’t ever claim him as a cousin.”

“Probably not. But then, wasn’t that your father’s intention anyway?”

Nyla was quiet for a moment and then said, “Yes, but he is a Roker by blood, and one day I plan to attend his church and leave a nice donation of my own.”

Hollis smiled. “I think that would be nice. In reading up on his church, I saw that he started it in a non-affluent community, where daycare for working parents seems to be an issue. He’s been working hard to secure funds to build a day care facility next to the church.”

“Hmm, Karl and I could make that one of our “compassion projects.”

“I think that would be a great idea.”

Nyla then said. “It’s sad that all that love Aunt Kat pretended to have for me was hate.”

“You’re right, it is sad.”

“I’m glad I have Karl in my life. Just like you have Locke in yours.”

Hollis shook her head. “I don’t have Locke in my life. At least not the way you think.”

Nyla, taking a pie out of the oven, smiled and said, “If you think that, then I suggest you think again, Hollis Calloway. I don’t know what you assume is going to happen now that Karl’s a free man, but I can tell you what is not going to happen.”