Chapter 18
Two more days had passed, and when Gage and his mom left to go grab some breakfast—at her insistence—Kinley knew this would be her only chance to talk privately with Cruz.
Gage’s friends had been in and out, and she was surprised he’d agreed to leave her alone, but she didn’t question it. She had a chance to talk to the FBI agent, and she needed to take it.
She was still in a lot of pain, but the doctors reassured her the pain was normal because broken ribs took a long time to heal.
The swelling in her face had finally subsided enough that she could see clearly again.
She’d looked in the mirror the first time she’d hobbled to the shower, and had cried.
Gage’s mom had been helping her, and at first she’d been alarmed, but then she simply held her until she’d gotten control of her emotions again.
She was covered in bruises. Her torso looked bad, and she could remember each and every time Simon had hit her with that damn bat.
But it was her neck that horrified her the most. She could clearly remember the excitement in Simon’s eyes as he’d kneeled over her helpless body and wrapped his hands around her throat. He’d enjoyed strangling her.
But each bruise made her more determined to live. She wouldn’t give Simon King or Drake Stryker the satisfaction of knowing they’d killed her.
An idea had formed in her mind at that moment, and she’d spent the last two days trying to talk herself out of it…to no avail.
It was the only way. It sucked, and she didn’t want to do it, but Simon wasn’t going to disappear. He was going to haunt her forever if she didn’t do this.
So when Molly and Gage left the room, she called for Cruz. He appeared within seconds, looking immaculate and not as if he’d been watching over her for the last week.
“I want to go into witness protection,” she told him without preamble.
His eyes gentled, and he pulled a chair up to the bed. “Why now?” he asked. “Brown’s in jail and the Parisian police have picked up Stryker. He’s got a good lawyer, but from all accounts, he’s going to go down.”
“For murder?” Kinley asked.
She saw the answer in Cruz’s eyes even before he shook his head.
“Not without your testimony. They have surveillance video of him having dinner at the hotel’s restaurant with émilie, but there’s not enough proof that he killed her.
His DNA was inside her, but he’s claiming their sex was consensual.
He’ll go down for statutory rape, having sex with a minor, but he’s claiming she left the hotel on her own, and that was the last he saw of her. ”
“They need my testimony to tie him to her murder,” Kinley said flatly.
Cruz sighed and nodded.
“Simon’s not going to stop until I’m dead,” she told him.
“The money’s already been paid,” Cruz informed her.
That surprised Kinley, but it didn’t change her mind. “It doesn’t matter. If he doesn’t already know I survived, he’ll be pissed when he finds out. He’s going to come for me again. To finish the job.”
Cruz stared at her but didn’t comment.
“He is,” she whispered. “And he’s not going to care who stands between him and my death.
He threatened Gage. And Gillian. And I know he wouldn’t care if he had to hurt any of the others.
He watched me for weeks, Cruz. He knows who’s important to me.
He’ll go after them just to fuck with me.
He played with me…his word, not mine. He’ll hurt or kill everyone I care about before he finally puts a bullet in my brain.
I want Stryker to pay for what he’s done.
I want émilie and all the other girls to have justice.
But more than that, I need to protect the only person who’s ever loved me. ”
“Lefty,” Cruz said.
“Gage,” Kinley agreed.
After a moment, he said, “If you do this, you can’t contact him at all. No letters. No emails. Nothing.”
“I know.”
“There’s no telling how long Stryker’s case will take to go to trial.”
Kinley nodded.
“And even then, if what you’re saying is true, you still won’t be safe. You may not be able to see Lefty again. Ever. Are you willing to sacrifice your happiness, and possibly his too?”
“Yes.”
“He’s not going to agree. He’s going to try to talk you out of it,” Cruz told her.
“That’s why I don’t want him to know until I’m gone.”
Cruz inhaled sharply. “That’s not fair to him.”
Kinley’s eyes filled with tears. “I have to do it that way. Otherwise I’ll let him talk me into staying. He has a job, Cruz. He can’t watch over me twenty-four-seven. Simon’s gonna get to me sooner or later, and I can’t have that on Gage’s conscience.”
Cruz’s jaw ticked with displeasure. Then he finally said, “You can’t leave without explaining your reasoning.
” He held up a hand to stop her protest. “You owe it to him. At least leave him a note. He loves you,” Cruz said, leaning forward.
“Men like Lefty and his teammates don’t love easily.
They know they live dangerous lives. The last thing they want is to leave a woman or family high and dry if they die while on a mission.
If you disappear without a trace, he’s going to lose his mind.
He won’t understand. He won’t be able to concentrate on his job. You don’t want that, do you?”
She shook her head, and the tears she’d done her best to hold back finally spilled over.
“Think long and hard before you agree to this,” Cruz told her. “When you enter the program, you’ll be alone, and you can’t contact anyone you’ve met here.”
“I’ve always been alone,” Kinley said sadly. “I never expected to find a man like Gage. I don’t know how or why he loves me, but I’m doing this for him.”
Cruz looked sad then. “I know you are. And I think it’s the bravest and most honorable thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life.”
“I want to go soon. The sooner the better,” Kinley said between sniffles.
“I’m not sure you’re well enough to be moved yet. It’ll be very stressful, and the last thing you want is to have a relapse.”
“I need to do this as soon as possible,” Kinley argued.
“It’ll kill me to lie to Gage. And you know as well as I do that Simon’s probably heard I survived by now.
The fact that a beaten, near-dead woman was picked up on the side of the road has been all over the papers, even if they didn’t use my name.
He’s not stupid. He’ll figure it out. He’ll be chomping at the bit to get to me. ”
“All right. You’ve got some time right now to write your letter. When you’re done, give it to me, and I’ll make sure Lefty gets it after you’re gone. You understand that even I won’t know where you are, right?”
She nodded. It was scary as hell to know she’d be taken to some strange city and basically left on her own, but if it meant keeping Gage safe, she’d do it.
Cruz stood and leaned over, kissing her on the forehead.
“Just think,” Kinley said with an attempt at a smile. “After I’m gone, you can go home to your family and you won’t have to babysit me anymore.”
“Mickie knows enough about what I’m doing to be completely okay with me being here as long as it takes.”
“She sounds like a good woman.”
“She is,” Cruz said.
And for a moment, Kinley was jealous as hell. She wanted to be that woman for Gage. But it wasn’t meant to be.
“I’ll be just outside. I’ll knock on the door if I see Lefty and Molly coming back so you can hide the letter. If you finish before they get back, just call out and I’ll come get it.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” Cruz said gruffly. “I’m not happy about this at all, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. I’m going to do everything I can to find this Simon King guy for you, Kinley. To make it safe for you to come home to Lefty.”
Choked up again, she could only nod. Home to Lefty. Three words had never sounded so beautiful. Maybe except for when he’d told her he loved her.
After picking up a pad of paper and a pen from the table across the room and handing them to her, Cruz nodded and headed for the door, leaving Kinley alone with her thoughts.
She thought the letter would be hard to write.
But the words flowed from her fingers. She didn’t know if she explained herself in a way Gage would understand, but she knew down to the bottom of her heart that she was doing the right thing.
If Simon came back for her, he’d find that she was gone, and he’d have no reason to hurt anyone else.
At least she hoped that would be the case.
She called out for Cruz, and he pocketed her letter just in time before Gage, his mom, and Brain returned.
“Did you have a good lunch?” she asked. “I didn’t know Brain was coming up.”
“I didn’t either,” Gage told her. “And yeah, lunch was good. I brought you a present,” Gage said, holding out a cup. “Vanilla milkshake,” he said with a smile.
Kinley took it and forced herself not to cry.
He’d remembered the story she’d told him about how one of her favorite foster mothers, one of the ones she’d thought might adopt her, had taken her to dinner for her birthday and bought her a vanilla milkshake.
She’d loved her ever since, even when that family hadn’t worked out.
She savored the shake, and laughed and chatted and tried to forget everything that was about to happen.
Gage’s mom left later that afternoon, and Kinley memorized everything about Gage as evening fell. She knew this might be the last time she saw him, and she wanted time to stop. But of course it didn’t.
Somehow, between her and Molly, they’d convinced Gage to leave the hospital the night before and go to a hotel to get some sleep. It had done him a lot of good, as he looked less stressed when he’d returned that morning.
All Kinley had to do was convince him to once more leave her for the night, to go back to the hotel. It took a while, but he finally agreed to leave around eight. It helped that Brain volunteered to stay and watch over her.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to get rid of me,” he teased.