Blind Fury by Gwen Hernandez Read Free Book Online

over the dead. Dozens of Rob’s friends and acquaintances, dressed in somber colors, were arranged in neat rows facing the gravesite.
    Sitting in a   folding chair that had sunk unevenly into the damp grass, Jenna was trying to control her emotions. As if burying her brother wasn’t enough, she couldn’t stop picturing the destruction in her house or remembering the way she and Mick had been followed that morning. She glanced around the crowd, eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, looking for…what?
    Was someone trying to test her to see how much she could take before she snapped?
    If so, they were pretty close to finding out. She was drained to the core, but she still had to face the service and the receiving line. Thank goodness for Mick. She hadn’t realized he could be such a rock, such a source of strength and calm.
    When the service started, he took her hand and gently squeezed it. Needing all the help she could get, Jenna didn’t pull away. Even though Rob hadn’t been active-duty at the time of his death, she’d been gratified to learn that he still qualified for a military funeral. It was one small thing she could do to honor his sacrifice.
    She somehow managed to keep her tears at bay during the service, right up until a fresh-faced airman knelt before her and placed a folded flag in her trembling hands. “On behalf of the President of the United States, the Department of the Air Force, and a grateful nation, we offer this flag for the faithful and dedicated service of Staff Sergeant Robert James Ryan.”
    That’s when she lost control. Not when the five-man team fired three shots that made Mick flinch next to her every time. Not when the bugler played Taps. The short statement delivered by the earnest young man in uniform was what broke through her defenses, what made her heart finally admit what her brain had known for days.
    Rob was dead.
    He’d never walk through the front door again with his goofy grin and booming voice or stumble through that same door after a late night out picking up girls with Mick. Or get married and have children. Or tease her when she organized the pantry.
    After just thirty years on this earth, his life was over.
    On Jenna’s other side, Tara sniffed and wiped her eyes. Jenna did the same and took a deep breath, blinking back the rest of the flood. No more. No more. Her hands balled into fists with her effort to regain control of herself.
    The airman stood and saluted slowly before walking away, and the rest of the service passed in a blur, thank God. Then, flanked by Tara and Mick, Jenna stood under a massive, gnarled oak to receive the mourners who stopped to offer sympathy. There were even more people in attendance than she’d expected, but she shouldn’t have been surprised. Rob had been well liked. He was so different from her, picking up new friends everywhere he went, while she only had a few close friends and had never been comfortable opening up to others. He had possessed a certain quality, an easy charisma that had drawn in both men and women. There was some comfort in knowing that he would be remembered by so many.
    Jenna hardly knew any of the other mourners, but she recognized several from her brother’s welcome home parties. There were pararescuemen—known as PJs—who had served or trained with Rob in the Air Force, contractors from Claymore Security, which was based in nearby Reston, and local friends from high school.
    A redheaded man with a thick neck and dark sunglasses stepped forward and captured Jenna’s hand between both of his. He was short enough that she could almost look him in the eyes with her heels on. “Ms. Ryan, I’m Troy Griffin, CEO of Claymore.”
    Without thinking, she snatched her hand back, his rough palms chafing her skin like sandpaper. This man was responsible. Because of him and his company, Rob was dead.
    Oh, God. Mortified by her rude, knee-jerk response, she opened her mouth to apologize. “I—”
    “It’s okay.” He