I felt like I had been hit. I actually stumbled back a step in shock because what she was saying was really fucking bad. A dishonorable discharge was only handed out for really bad shit like murder and assault. Oh God, had I slept with a murderer? I could see it. I mean, guys snapped all the time in the military. Some couldn’t handle the pressure of their jobs and shit happened. Maybe that’s what happened with Parker, but that didn’t really ring true with what I knew about him. He seemed like a very level-headed man, and I couldn’t see him just snapping one day, unless he was provoked.
“What…” I cleared my throat, trying to work some moisture back into it. “Why was he discharged?”
“We don’t know,” Alec said sympathetically. “But if Knight asked him to help, I have to believe that he knows something the rest of us don’t. And he would never bring someone here that was dangerous. Despite all of Knight’s faults, he’s a very good judge of character.”
God, I felt like that was a whole other barrel of secrets that was being kept from me, and I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to know at this point. I was already in way too much trouble for the decisions that I had made in the past week. Once the FBI found me, they would throw my ass in prison, and I was pretty damn sure that I wouldn’t be getting any of my rights looked after. If I was attached to someone with a DD, that would make my case even worse. My only chance of getting out of this without being crucified would be to find out what was really going on, and unfortunately, I needed Reed Security. I made more progress with them on my side than if I was trying to figure this out on my own. Hell, I’d probably still be staring at the same damn papers and trying to figure out what it all meant. So, I needed to stick with these guys, but I also needed to work on distancing myself from Parker. Since he didn’t technically work for Reed Security, that shouldn’t be too hard.
“I have to go,” I said, turning on my heel and rushing away. Except, I only got about five feet away before I realized that I needed one of these two to let me back into the panic room. “Uh, can one of you take me back to the panic room?”
“I’ll do it,” Florrie offered, walking my way. We walked in silence the rest of the way through the tunnel, but she stopped me outside the panic room door. “You know, I trust Knight with my life. If he brought Parker in on this, it was either that he really needed him or he knows something about Parker. If you want to know what this is all about, you’re going to have to talk to Parker. Knight doesn’t share secrets, but he does protect those that he cares about.”
“So, you’re saying that he cares about Parker?”
“No,” she shook her head. “I’m saying that he cares about everyone here. If Parker was dangerous, there’s no way that Knight would have let him step foot in this facility.”
“Look, I get that, but I’m in enough trouble as it is. If I do something and Parker’s involved-”
“You’re suddenly in trouble?” she asked, quirking her head to the side. “I’m confused by you.”
“How?”
“You’re a straight shooter. Everything about your profile screams that you do things by the book. One the other hand, there’s not a single thing that you wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice to get to the truth. Hence, you getting fired from your job and stealing from the FBI. I get it. You’re a justice crusader. It’s admirable; pretty awesome even. But now you find out Parker, who had a DD, is working with you and suddenly you’re worried about how that will look. And this is without knowing the facts behind his discharge and also knowing that Knight would never allow him on the property if he was dangerous. So, I’m confused as to how your moral compass works.”
My jaw dropped as I tried to think of how to explain it, but then I realized that she was right. I was judging Parker without bothering to talk to him, and I was suddenly concerned with working with him after I put myself in the position to be sent to prison. Yeah, I was pretty fucked up.
“Point taken.”
She smirked at me and then placed her hand on the scanner to get into the panic room. She didn’t follow me, and I was relieved since I didn’t really want her to sit here and hound me about this anymore. I needed to talk to Parker, and then I needed to get my head on straight about him. I couldn’t sleep with him again until I knew what was going on. As hot as he was, I also knew myself, and if he was guilty of the crimes that got him a DD, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to be with him.
Chapter Eighteen
Parker
I flopped down on my bed after taking my shower, and pulled out the file that Knight had given me about Blake. I still hadn’t made the decision about whether or not I was going to read it. Part of me was very intrigued, but the other part of me couldn’t invade her privacy in that way. And it shouldn’t really matter either. Blake and I were nothing. It didn’t matter if she liked me or if she was a good person. It didn’t matter what happened in the past or even what she did now. We were doing this job together, and then we were done.
I tapped the folder and stood, stepping away from it. I couldn’t
