Maybe Always (Maybe Series Book 3) by Ella Miles Read Free Book Online

at me as I enter. His eyes are red and puffy, like he’s been crying. His body looks worn down, almost broken. He’s wearing his typical suit that all FBI agents wear when not undercover. If I didn’t know any better, I would think he just came from a funeral instead of the office.  
    “Who died?” I ask sarcastically as I sit down at the table.  
    Hayes doesn’t sit down opposite me. Instead, he looks out the small window for a second. “You can leave,” he says to the guard.  
    “I have to stay, sir. It’s protocol,” the guard says.  
    Hayes pulls out his FBI badge. “I have classified FBI business that I need to discuss. Leave,” he says.  
    The guard frowns at Hayes. “At least let me handcuff him to the table.”  
    “That won’t be necessary. He will be leaving the jail in an hour or two anyway.”  
    The guard hesitates for a second longer and then leaves.  
    “I’m leaving, huh? Found me innocent or taking me to a high-security prison? Or maybe you think you can get me to talk about Kinsley in exchange for my freedom?”  
    “Shut up, Byrne.”  
    “Why am I here, Hayes?”  
    Hayes runs his hand through his hair and then takes a seat across from me. “Because you are right.”  
    My eyes widen. “What do you mean, I’m right? You’ve found Kinsley? Her grandfather? What else do you know?”  
    “Yes, we’ve found them. And we probably know about as much as you do now.”  
    “Where are they? Is she safe? Do you have her in custody?”  
    Hayes looks down at his hands. He won’t meet my eyes. And I know it’s bad. They have her—the drug lords, the smugglers. The monsters have her. And the FBI are breaking me out, so we can go after them.  
    He finally glances back up at me, somberly, and I swear, I see a tear in his eye.  
    “She’s dead, Byrne. They both are.”  
    I fall back in my seat. My hands go to my hair, grabbing my head that is pounding. I can’t process what he just said because she can’t be dead. She can’t be.  
    “She’s not dead,” I say.  
    “Killian…” Hayes never calls me by my first name, making me wince. “She’s gone. We found her body this morning along with her grandfather’s and mother’s. Well, what’s left of their bodies.”  
    “Show me.”  
    Hayes shakes his head. “I can’t do that. You wouldn’t be able to get that image out of your head if I showed you.”  
    “Show me,” I demand. “I need to see what they did to her. I need to see that she is actually gone to believe it.”  
    Hayes reluctantly reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone. He scrolls until he finds the picture and then slides the phone across the table to me. I pick it up.  
    I thought I could handle it. I’ve seen enough crime scene pictures of bodies that are more horrifying than this. This though rips me apart—seeing Kinsley, her grandfather, and her mother burned to pieces. They almost look unrecognizable, but I know it’s Kinsley. In my heart, I knew that they would kill them once they knew the FBI was investigating them. It gets too messy for them to keep Kinsley and her family alive. I just don’t know who them is yet. But I plan to.  
    I can’t hold it together any longer as tears streak down my face while I look at what is left of my beautiful princess.  
    “How did she…”  
    “Gunshot wound. She must have died instantly. They burned her body after she was already dead.”  
    I know his words are supposed to comfort me. That she died instantly. That she wasn’t in any pain. It doesn’t comfort me. Nothing ever will again.  
    Nothing.  
    Tears fall faster now, and I wish Hayes weren’t here. I hate feeling weak in front of someone else, especially him, but as I glance up through my tears, I see that he is almost just as torn apart by her death as I am. So, we both just cry across from each other. Not really connecting or trying to comfort the other. But still sharing her death all the same.  
    Hayes