Once inside, I’m about to ask Durango what’s going on when his phone rings. Reed’s voice comes over the speaker.
“What the hell is going on?” he asks.
Durango glances at me. “You’re on speakerphone. I’m with Piper, and we’re driving to the station to find out. But what Ozzie was able to tell me is that they had to take out some men and were arrested for it.”
Take out? I gasp. He means kill. My stomach rolls at the idea, and I break out in a sweat as I realize what this could mean.
“Okay, call me as soon as you know more. My father is contacting an attorney for them now.”
“Will do.”
He ends the call and places his hand on my shoulder. “You all right?”
I shake my head. “They were arrested for murder?”
My cousin puts his hand back on the steering wheel and stares straight ahead. “I don’t know the exact charges, but it’s something like that.”
“I’m going to be sick,” I say.
He pulls over, and I get out of the car and a few feet away before I lose the toast I just ate.
He joins me. “They wouldn’t murder someone in cold blood. You get that, right?”
I nod. “But they killed someone?” I glance up and he cocks his head.
“I’m really confused by your reaction,” he says.
“Confused that the idea of this makes me sick?”
He sighs and stares out at the road. “We never talk about this, and I guess I thought you understood that weare trained to kill if we have to. It has happened, and it will happen again.”
Trained to kill. They were all Navy SEALs, so of course that’s what they would need to do. Logically, I get it. But I guess somewhere in my head, I’d hoped that just because they were trained, it didn’t mean they had to do it or did it. Tears fall and I can’t stop them.
“I thought your assignments were to protect people, not kill them.”
“You know I can’t tell you details about our assignments. But we only kill if we have to, and it’s always the bad guys.”
I swallow. “I guess I hoped it was never necessary.” I glance up at him. “How do you live with that? With knowing you’ve taken someone’s life?”
He takes a deep breath. “As long as it was done because we were protecting innocent citizens, I can live with that. Some of the people we encounter are pure evil. These are not people who can be redeemed.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I just am. Now, we need to get back on the road. Are you going to be all right?”
I nod. “I need some water.”
“We’ll find you something at the station.”
We get into the car, and he returns to the road. Due to my cousin’s fast driving, we arrive at the police station before the hearing. Durango tries to get us in to see Ozzie or Lightning, but we are denied since we aren’t attorneys.
Instead, we walk next door to the courthouse. At leastthey didn’t get arrested in the city. Hopefully, things will move faster this far out.
After going through screening, we take our seats in the courtroom and wait. Ozzie and Lightning are brought in with another two men. All are handcuffed.
Once Ozzie sits down, his eyes meet mine, and he gives me a small smile. In that moment, I wonder how I could ever doubt him. Durango’s right: he would only kill someone if it was absolutely necessary. A man walks up and speaks to them. Then we all rise for the judge.
I watch the proceedings, but my mind is on Ozzie. With Willow’s explanation, I think Durango will finally come around. I imagine us on a real date, then me moving into his apartment. Having him around all the time sounds like heaven. I can’t lose him now that we are so close.
