CHAPTER NINETEEN ASHTON
CHAPTER NINETEEN
ASHTON
Molly fainted in the car, which turned into sleeping. I let her be.
The plan had been to take her to my place and stash her there. No one, or very few, actually knew where I lived. I could name them on one hand, but when she passed out, I decided to go a different route. I was bringing her to a compound very, very few knew about. She’d be safe.
We met with two of my men.
While she was in the back, all bundled up, I went over the plan with Elijah.
Elijah’s phone buzzed. “Body’s been handled, and I checked with our men. There were no 911 calls from her neighbors. Police were not notified.”
Even better. “I want her place cleaned out within the hour.”
He was typing on his phone. “On it.”
“Relocate her stuff to storage.”
“What about the bowling alley?”
“Notify her cousin. Tell him we’ll double his pay if he keeps his mouth shut.”
“Got it.” He continued typing, but his gaze met mine over his phone. “You sure about this?”
No. “This has to be done.”
“And Trace and Jess?”
Jess was already not happy with me, but she was holding back. Grudgingly. Still. I didn’t want to push my luck. If she found out about Molly’s apartment, she’d come barging in again. The “talk” between us had not gone well.
“Let’s keep this quiet for now.”
“You think this is because of Molly’s dad? You think he found something out already?”
“I think he kicked a hornet’s nest, yeah.”
It was the only thing that made sense.
“Well, looks like if he doesn’t get the information himself, you could always use her as bait ...” He stopped when I gave him a sharp look. “Oh.”
Oh. As if I wasn’t already considering it.
We were at war. There were no innocents in war.
My gut tightened on that because I was finding myself starting to second-guess my decisions. I was getting irritated by the speed and the frequency with which I was questioning myself when it came to Molly Easter.
I turned to where I could see just the back of her head, as she was tucked into a ball in the back seat.
Sleeping. Resting. She looked like an angel again.
She would be perfect for bait ...
I’d have to control it, contain it.
I would.
“Wait until we arrive, then let the information leak that I have her,” I clipped out. “Let it spread that I have her in one of our warehouses by the water. Set up a security system. Let’s see who comes looking for her.”
Elijah’s face closed off as he nodded. “Will do, boss.”
I went and got into the back seat next to Molly. The guys had wrapped her up in a blanket, and a pillow was under her face, but as we began moving forward, she moved around in her sleep. Finding my shoulder, she nestled in.
I let her stay.
That itch for her only kept intensifying.