11. River
CHAPTER ELEVEN
River
Both Hodge and I offered to help, but Charlie insisted on climbing out of the trunk by herself. Once she was standing on the ground, Hodge lifted her hand to his lips, and then my friend, make that former friend, actually kissed the back of it.
“I’m Griff Hodgson.”
“Sorry to show up unannounced like this,” she said.
“Nah, no worries. My home is at your disposal. Are you injured?”
“Nothing serious.”
“Lieutenant Governor McKinley, I presume?”
“You recognize me? Or is my face on TV? I heard what you said about the news.”
“Neither. Several puzzle pieces just connected, especially when I noted the gown you’re wearing. Great boots, by the way.”
Charlie had visibly relaxed, and now her mouth curved at the corners. “Thank you.”
“I better get you inside, Madame Lieutenant Governor. Looks like you could use a drink and a comfy place to sit. Guessing you’ve had a night. ”
“Have I ever.”
Hodge bent his elbow, and Charlie slid her arm around his. He led her toward the house with his shotgun cradled on his other side.
“I’ll get the rest of our stuff and lock up the car,” I said. Neither of them were paying me any attention. “Okay for me to park here, right? Right.”
I’d turned invisible, apparently.
By the time I caught up, Hodge was already ushering Charlie to the leather couch in the living room. “River left me a message last night about watching a condo building downtown,” he was saying.
“So you were the one. A friend from the SEALs?” She frowned at the TV, which showed a sea of emergency lights and police cars outside the botanic gardens. Hodge switched the screen off.
“Yep, we were in the Teams together. River didn’t give me the name of who I was supposed to watch for, but he gave me a description. A woman about five foot six, strawberry blond, thirties, beautiful .” Hodge grinned at me where I stood in the entryway. I’d dropped my duffel by my feet. “Didn’t take me long to figure out the lieutenant governor lived in that building,” Hodge went on, “and she matched said description. Though you’re even more beautiful than your photos give away.”
I rolled my eyes. Really?
I had a bit of a reputation among my friends as a flirt. But it was all in good fun. Hodge was laying it on thick.
“River told me he’d send someone to watch over me,” Charlie said, “but I don’t appreciate being ordered around. I went to a friend’s instead.”
“Figured it was something like that,” Hodge said. “I did keep watch at your building for a couple hours. Then he texted that I was dismissed and didn’t respond to any of my calls after that. Seriously, man. Manners.”
They both looked over at me.
I crossed my arms and leaned into the wall. “Where are your sisters?” I asked. “As you’ve guessed, we had some issues. No one can know Charlotte is here.”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s fine. My younger sis is out on a date with some idiot, and my older one is sound asleep. Both of them know how to be discreet.”
“With you as a brother, they’d have to.”
Hodge flipped me off while he smiled at Charlie. “Lieutenant Governor, what can I get you? A drink?”
“Water would be great, thank you.”
“And I bet a blanket would be nice.” He grabbed a throw from the back of the couch and draped it around her shoulders.
“I appreciate that.” Charlotte snuggled into the couch and wrapped the blanket even tighter.
“I’ll get you that water, plus some warm milk with honey. My momma’s recipe. Always made me feel better.” Hodge looked smug as he made his way to the kitchen. I snorted.
I went and sat on the couch beside Charlie. “Hey, you sure you’re all right?” I asked softly. “Tonight’s been a lot.”
“I’m fine, River. Honestly. I’m processing, okay?”
I went to touch her shoulder. She pulled sharply away, and I held up my hands. “Is this because of the kiss thing? You’re still mad about that?”
“What kiss thing? Everything before I got stuffed in a trunk is blending together into one nightmarish haze.” Charlie shoved up from the couch, letting the blanket fall to the couch. “You know, I’d actually like a shower. I feel grimy.”
“I’ll grab you a change of clothes,” Hodge volunteered from the kitchen. The great room wasn’t very big, so he’d likely heard most of what we were saying. “Since I assume you came without luggage. My little sister’s around your size.”
“That would be amazing, Hodge, thanks.”
He pointed Charlie toward the bathroom, then disappeared briefly into one of the bedrooms. Hodge reappeared and set a stack of clothes outside the bathroom. The water had started to run.
Hodge and I went into the kitchen, where he took a gallon of milk from the fridge. “She’s not a fan of yours, is she?” he asked.
“It’s complicated.”
“I have no doubt. Most people in danger, when someone rescues them, cling to their protector with everything they’ve got. Ms. McKinley is doing nothing but push you away. So either you fucked up royally, or there’s a history there. Something more than just whatever went down tonight.”
“Stop being so observant.”
“Don’t like getting a taste of your own medicine, Rubicon?”
I shook my head. “No, I really don’t.”
He laughed. “You ready to start talking?”
“Depends on how much you wanna know.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what I’ve gathered, based on the news and now seeing you here.”
Hodge took a mug from the cupboard, poured milk into it, and added a squirt of honey from a bottle.
“They’re saying it was an attack on a charity event. Several people shot and killed. I know we’ve been kidding around a bit, but it sounds beyond serious. Breaking news on every network.”
“Did they mention Charlotte?”
“No, not specifically. No names released yet. But I already figured out she was there. You also wanted me to look out for her earlier, which tells me you had either forewarning or suspicions that she could be at risk. This attack was targeting her? You helped her escape?”
I nodded. I chose not to tell him specifics about Stillwater. The more Hodge knew, the worse for him. “I got word last night that there was a threat on her life, and the intel said it would happen sometime in the next few days.” I chewed my lip. “Clearly, they didn’t want to wait around.”
Made sense, given the contest between the Stillwater lieutenants for the bounty their bosses had offered up. It was sick.
“Then why didn’t you go straight to the authorities once you’d gotten the lieutenant governor to safety? Are they compromised?”
“The group that wants to harm Charlotte is extremely powerful. Ties to police. Politicians. We have no idea how far it goes.”
“Wonderful.” Hodge braced his hands on the counter. “And you decided to share that with me? How’d I get so lucky?”
“I’m pretty sure you still owe me a few favors.”
He scoffed. “As I remember it, I am always the one doing favors for your ass.”
“Do you need me to bring up what happened in Yemen?” I rubbed my lower back. “My spine still isn’t the same after lugging your ass for eleven miles.”
“Never gonna let that go, are you?”
“Never.”
We smiled as Hodge stuck the milk in the microwave.
“Look,” I said, “this situation heated up a little faster than I’d hoped, and I’m sorry about that.” I had planned out an escape from the botanic gardens ahead of time, just in case. But I hadn’t had time to lay out detailed groundwork for being on the run. “I don’t intend to put your family at risk. I can promise you I wasn’t followed here. It’ll take the Feds, or anyone else who’s looking, several days to connect you to me. I can’t promise that no one will come knocking on your door. But I intend to be long gone by then.”
“You know I was just bullshitting about turning you away. I’d never do that. Not in a million fucking years. Yemen or no Yemen.”
“Yeah. I know.” That was why I hadn’t hesitated to come here. Once a Team Guy, always a Team Guy. You could take the man out of the SEALs…
“I’m here for my brothers,” Hodge said. “You would do the same for me. Maybe you will someday. So, what exactly do you need?”
“Just a place to keep Charlie out of sight for the night. We’ll be out of your hair in the morning.”
The shower switched off. Hodge glanced toward the bathroom. “If you’re up against the kinds of forces it sounds like, you won’t clear this up overnight. A woman like her lives in the public eye. Someone’s going to recognize her, especially if they start flashing her photo on TV, and you can’t keep her locked up in a trunk the whole time.”
“Believe me, I realize that.”
Charlie wouldn’t be happy with this situation. Going into hiding. But in many ways, this had been inevitable from the moment Cerberus had told me about the threat. She just hadn’t believed me.
Now , she’d seen for herself what Stillwater could do.
Hodge gripped his jaw in thought. “Stick around a few days until the heat dies down. I’ll put you and Charlotte into a safe house. Get a crew together to protect the lieutenant governor and get to the bottom of this.”
“A crew? I thought you were living a quiet life here.”
“More or less. As quiet as any of us can manage.”
Ain’t that the truth , I thought .
“I really appreciate the offer, and before, I might have taken you up on that. But I can’t. We’re going to leave in the morning. That’s final.” Charlie didn’t know it yet, but I wouldn’t budge on this point.
“And then? Where are you planning to go?”
“Better if I don’t tell you.”
“But you know how I am. If I feel like I kicked you out of here without a safety net, then I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. And I value my sleep.”
I chuckled. “I remember that, yeah.”
“So I need to know you have some sort of plan in place.”
“I’m working on it. I’ll do whatever it takes to expose the plot against her, and I’ll keep her safe until the danger has passed. And anybody who tries to touch her is a dead man.”
“Oh, is that all? Nothing much.”
I grinned. “Simple as that.”