Chapter 5
Newton
Even with tears on her face, she watches, standing with me to the side of the porch as police and paramedics extract Nathan Adair from the house, the wheels on the gurney they’ve placed him on getting caught on the threshold.
I don’t know if it’s because she’s brave or what, but I think she’d have less tension in her muscles if the bullet in Adair’s knee was in his head like the one that Xan caught.
“We’ll die together, angel. Just like I always promised,” Adair says when he spots Brielle standing on the porch.
He continues to rant and rave about destiny and their futures together. The dossier we got a year ago on Xan spoke of his unstableness, but Nathan Adair was spoken of like he was some sort of undefeatable evil genius.
”You”re safe,”I assure her, as they get the gurney off the porch and onto the walkway leading to the ambulance, but she doesn”t even turn her eyes to mine.
They stay locked on her stepfather until a police officer climbs into the back of the ambulance and pulls away from the curb.
People line the streets, everyone wanting to know what”s going on. It speaks a lot about people”s lack of self-preservation when folks hear gunfire and they go toward it rather than running in the other direction.
I want to assure her that he”ll never be able to touch her again, but I know better than to make promises I have no power to control.
I try not to focus on the whispers of unkept promises that threaten to take over in my own head.
”Newton, I need you to—”
”He”s with Brielle,” Rivet informs Jinx, having been the one to request that I step up and get Brielle away from Beth.
”Shit, okay,” Jinx says, his voice in my ear through our mic system. ”Boomer, I need you to head to the hospital. It”s not that I don”t trust Farmington PD, but they may need a little backup. We don”t have any idea how many men Adair might have with him in town.”
”Sure thing,” Boomer responds. ”I”ll keep you updated.”
”We”re coming out,” Rivet says just before she appears in the doorway.
Instead of walking toward one of the waiting SUVs, Rivet pulls Beth to the side, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone.
Although I can”t hear what”s being said, I watch Beth”s face transform when she holds the phone away from her face. I know she”s seeing Oracle for the first time since this entire ordeal started back in Santa Fe.
I turn back to watch Brielle as she watches the other woman, and although she”s trying to act brave, I can see the pulse kick up in her throat.
Before long, Beth allows Rivet to escort her to one of the vehicles.
”She”s refusing treatment at the hospital,” Rivet says, her voice coming through my earpiece. ”We”re taking her back to the clubhouse.”
We stay on the porch until their SUV pulls away.
Daylight allows us to watch them all the way down the street until they make a right several blocks down.
”Are you injured?” I ask Brielle.
”I”m fine,” she says, but there”s a familiar wobble in her voice, one I”ve heard from many women in the aftermath of being rescued.
”I”m going to take you back to the clubhouse.”
”I have to get out of town,” she argues.
”That”s not my call,” I explain, wrapping my arm around her waist in order to direct her toward one of the other SUVs.
I fully expect her to shove me away, to insist that I leave her alone, but she doesn”t. Her fingers tangle in the front of my t-shirt. It leaves me wishing I had a jacket to offer her when a shiver runs up her spine and makes her teeth chatter. I know it”s the beginning of an adrenaline crash, more so than the cold, but I still feel helpless as I escort her across the yard.
She continues to cling to me when I open the back door of the dark SUV, so I don”t fight her. Rather, I climb inside the vehicle with her and pull the door closed.
”Newton needs a driver,” Jinx says, no doubt having witnessed the entire thing.
”Got it,” Scooter says, opening the driver”s side door less than a minute later.
I pull away from Brielle only long enough to pull her seatbelt across her body and click it into place before snapping mine in as well.
I don”t stroke her hair or whisper assurances like every cell in my body is urging me to. I know a lot of people might find comfort in that, but I also know Brielle has experienced more in her lifetime than a lot of the people we rescue have.
She wouldn”t be interested in generic claims and promises. No one has been able to protect her yet, and this situation is just proof to her that Nathan”s reach has no bounds.
What I do know is that every member of Cerberus would protect the clubhouse with their life if they were called to do so.
”Where do I take her?” Scooter asks from the driver”s seat as he pulls away from the curb.
I don”t answer him because I”m not the one making the calls, and he asked the question into his mic.
”Back to the clubhouse,” Jinx answers, and for the first time tonight, I”m able to breathe a sigh of relief.
He could”ve easily been instructed to take her back to the shelter or to another safe house. Hell, Kincaid could”ve given the direction to leave the woman at the bus stop, proclaiming her to be more trouble than she”s worth, even though that would be out of character for him. Kincaid could easily make this a Farmington Police Department issue. Hell, it”s still possible Kincaid will only allow her at the clubhouse long enough for police and prosecutors in Ohio to make other arrangements.
He might not just throw her out in the cold, but he also isn”t obligated to keep her on the same property where his wife, daughters, and grandchildren are either.
I pull her to me a little tighter when she begins to shake, trying my best to focus on anything but the warmth of her breath on my neck.
I can tell she”s trying to fight the urge to seek comfort, but her body isn”t her own right now. It”s demanding comfort and seeking it wherever it can find it. It”s not specific to me. I could be anyone else right now.
At least that”s what I tell myself when I begin to grow a little territorial over her.
I”ve only spent twenty minutes with the woman and I already know I”ll ask Kincaid to let me go wherever she”s taken. Protecting her feels like something I have to see through to the end.
The trip back to the clubhouse is somehow too short and too long all at the same time.
Scooter parks in the front parking lot.
”We”ll debrief in twenty,” Jinx says through our mics. ”Farmington PD is going to deal with Xan and evidence collection.”
Brielle stays close to me as I climb out of the SUV, and, despite her stiffening for the briefest of seconds before climbing the porch steps, she doesn”t argue.
I guide her to my room, unsure of where else I can take her. I”ll know more shortly, but for now, my options are limited.
”I have to go debrief,” I tell her when I step inside and turn on the lights.
Her eyes dart all over the room, and the sight of her doing it is very familiar.
She”s trying to determine if she”s going to be safe in here. I also know I have to let her decide that on her own. Words of assurance are as weak as they are brief, so I don”t waste the energy.
”I”ll be back,” I tell her, a little disappointed that she releases me immediately rather than holding on to me tighter and asking me to stay.
My skin grows itchy the second I step back into the hallway, and I”m fighting the urge to scratch at it by the time I make it into the conference room.
Before long, every Cerberus member who helped out today is in the room.
The debrief doesn”t take long, and, despite my urgency to get back to Brielle, I don”t argue when Jinx lists me as one of many who needs to get across town and help evacuate the shelter. The location is no longer safe for the women and children there.
”There has always been more than one contingency plan,” Jinx explains. ”We just always hoped we”d never have to use them.”
I can”t look down the hallway when we file out of the room because I know doing so would force me to feed that part of me that needs to go and check to make sure that she”s okay.
Another part of me, a selfish part, makes me wonder if she won”t be moved from here before I return. If that happens, I don”t know how I”ll react. Honestly, I can”t explain the draw to her that I feel. All I know is my gut is telling me to keep her close, and if I can trust anything, it”s that instinct.
It screams at me all the way outside of the clubhouse, and it doesn”t relent with each mile of distance that is put between us.