Two days later, Logan and Sam were still arguing over whether she could ever leave the house again, but she’d called in reserves. Jack and Kelly arrived and Logan was surprised to find Monique Cain, his lawyer, with them.
Kelly kissed Sam on the cheek and hugged her loosely, careful of her chest. The stitches had torn open when Logan tackled her to the ground, and she was more sore than ever.
They all traipsed upstairs to where Chad and Zach were waiting. Sam had tried to send Chad and Zach home to their wives, but neither would budge.
Their wives had called and told Sam they’d never forgive her if she sent them away while she was still in danger. Logan had been tight with all the men he’d served with, and this group of friends reminded him of that feeling of being more than friends, of being family without the blood relation.
They were all there for Sam, and he had no doubt they would continue to be for as long as she needed them. They sat in the living room while Logan carried the drinks Sam had offered everyone. He wasn’t letting her lift a finger at the moment.
When they finished, she settled in next to Logan on the couch, but he tugged her in more tightly to him. Since the minute he’d seen that laser on her temple in the office, he hadn’t been able to be far from her for long. The closer the better.
When the police searched the building across the street from Sutton Capital’s offices, a newly leased office revealed an abandoned sniper rifle. It was a model that was poorly chosen for the job at hand, and Chad suspected the person who had tried to shoot Samantha was not a trained sniper, but an amateur, at best.
The police found a number of prints in the room, but running them would take time.
“Monique,” Sam said, “It’s not that I’m not happy to see you, but…” Sam began, but Monique laughed and waved her words away.
“Yeah, yeah. No one ever wants to see the lawyer,” Monique said with a wink at Kelly.
Kelly was in her third year of law school, but she was also pregnant. She was trying to decide if she wanted to practice law when the baby got a little older, stay home with her kids, or possibly look for a part time associate spot somewhere.
“Logan,” Jack said, “it looks like Westbrook is going to push the issue and question whether you acted reasonably in defending Sam. Monique has a couple of friends on the force—”
Logan raised an eyebrow, prompting yet more hand waving from Monique. “Yeah, yeah, funny man. Not every cop hates every defense lawyer. Get over it. The point is, Westbrook has two of New Haven’s finest coming over here today to take you in for questioning. From what I understand, even the detectives he’s assigned to the case are pretty unenthusiastic about questioning a veteran for defending a woman from a brutal attack, but Westbrook has latched onto the idea that deadly force wasn’t necessary. He has a pro-states’ rights election agenda and he’s going to push it.”
“That’s crazy!” Sam cried out. “Logan was only saving me when he acted. How can they possibly think he did anything wrong?”
Monique wiggled her head back and forth as though weighing the debate. “Well, technically, he can bring it to trial over the issue of whether deadly force was necessary.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Sam said, and crossed to pick up her phone. The group watched as she furiously texted someone with one hand while she brought her laptop to life with the other and began pulling up screens and typing furiously.
“Uh,” Jack said, “do we want Sam bringing this out to the media, because I have a feeling that’s what she’s doing.”
Monique nodded. “I’m okay fighting this on all fronts. I’ll take care of the legal side of things. If Sam wants to play this out in the public eye, I’m all right with that if Logan is.”
They all looked to Logan who had to fight not to squirm. The idea of even the people in this room debating the merits of what he’d done or talking about his service record made him uneasy. Having everyone in the tri-state area do the same? Hell.
Before he could answer, a photo on Sam’s computer screen snagged his focus. “Is that me?”
Of course it was. There he stood in full tactical gear beside two of his teammates. He recognized the photo. It was actually one released by a SEALS Facebook page awhile back. They hadn’t identified him and his team in the photo so he had no clue how Sam knew it was him, but he wasn’t surprised. Sam blacked out the faces of the men standing next to him and now inserted the photo into a page with a few highlights of his career.
“Don’t worry. I’m not releasing anything that’s not already a matter of public record.”
“Sam,” he warned her.
“I know, it’s rude,” she said with the same wave of the hand Monique had been giving him. “I shouldn’t hack into your personnel record. Sorry, babe. Desperate times and all that.”
She hit a few keys and turned to him. “Sorry, honey. I’m not letting you go to prison. If that means I have to make a big deal out of the fact that you’re a veteran and a hero, I’ll do it. I know you hate that. I get it. You don’t think you deserve the Medal of Honor. You only did what you had to do when you served your country, but they don’t give those things out like peanuts, my friend. They only give you that if you deserve it. And, the fact of the matter is, we need to play up that part of the equation. We need to make a big deal out of the fact that Westbrook is going after a war hero.”
Hell. He sensed Sam needed this. He’d suck it up for her, because something told him she needed to do this for him so that she could heal. So that she could feel like she wasn’t powerless against what was happening to her or to him.
“You’re okay with this?” Jack asked Logan. Jack caught Logan’s eye behind Sam and Logan could see the concern in his face. He didn’t know if it was for Sam or for him, but he nodded.
“Yeah, I’m okay with this.” Logan wasn’t anywhere near okay with this, but he’d do it.
Monique had moved to the window, but now turned back to the group. “Sam, did you do this?”
Logan had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as Monique jerked her head toward the windows and Sam grinned.
“Yup. Fast, aren’t they?”
Logan just didn’t want to know. But, damn, he could hear people. A lot of people.
Kelly and Jack joined Sam and Monique by the window and peered down. The look Jack gave Logan wasn’t good. It left no doubt in Logan’s mind that whatever he was about to go through wouldn’t be good.
But his eyes fell to Sam and all he could think about was what she’d been through in the last few days. There she was, standing up for him. Baring her soul to the public and the media to defend him after she’d been through hell. After she’d been attacked, sliced open, and scared spitless.
Logan inched forward and looked out the window and down to the parking lot below.
“Who are they?” The sight stunned him. There were some media trucks, but people filled the majority of the parking lot. Citizens with signs, chanting “Support Our Vets, Defend Logan Stone.”
“Friends,” said Sam with a smile as she slipped her hand into his. “I had them on standby in case we needed them. I personally think Westbrook’s state’s rights stance is actually going to lose the election for him, but I’m still not going to stand by and let him do this to you. If Westbrook thinks he’s going to railroad you or make some kind of example out of you, he’s not going to do it without people speaking out and telling him how wrong he is. He’s been playing this out in the media, grandstanding left and right. Well, two can play that game.”