Chapter Ten #2
“I’m not sure that you do,” M?rten said, banging his hand down on the table hard so that she flinched in her chair, and turned to face him in surprise.
“I’ve felt all along that this guy was dangerous, and I’m glad someone is finally taking your plight seriously.
I’m sad that it took Nikki’s house to be firebombed for people to understand.
” He sent Nikki a brief glance of solidarity.
“But this is a life-and-death situation. I’m going back to Sweden in two days, so I won’t be around to cover your pretty ass anymore.
Don’t forget, there is already a woman who’s gone missing, and if she’s linked to this case… ” M?rten let his words trail off.
Of course, Summer hadn’t forgotten about Paige.
She wanted the ranger found as much as anyone, and it sent shivers of ice down her spine thinking that her friend could’ve been abducted, maybe being held prisoner, or…
Summer daren’t even think of other alternatives.
But that didn’t mean the same thing was going to happen to her.
“I can’t go into witness protection,” Summer ground out from between gritted teeth, glaring at him like this was all his fault.
Which she knew it wasn’t. But she was already angry at him; he was a convenient target, and it felt good to let some of that anger boil to the surface.
To use it to drive away the fear. Because the idea of going into witness protection was scaring her even more than the idea that some maniac might be after her.
The concept of someone else dictating her every move, of her being stuck in a house under lock and key being watched twenty-four hours a day, not being able to control anything in her life scared the shit out of her.
Her heart was fluttering like a bird in a cage at the mere notion.
She needed to shut this suggestion down right now.
But they’d scoff at her claim she would be like an animal trapped in a zoo; they just wouldn’t understand that autonomy over her life was how she managed to stay sane. So she needed a plan B.
“I’m not letting some asshole disrupt my life. Besides, I’ve already handed the photos over to the FBI. I shouldn’t be a threat to him anymore, should I?” she said with more forcefulness than she felt. She was grasping at straws, but she had to start her argument somewhere.
“Perhaps not, but we require more time to figure this out,” Jacob said in that most annoying know-it-all tone. “We need you in a secure place until we can be sure about a whole lot of things.”
“No.” Summer wasn’t having this, so she took a different tack.
“I have a world championship meet in two weeks, and I don’t plan on missing it.
And if I’m to do well at that meet, I need to continue my training schedule.
Which I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to do if I’m hidden away in a safe house for weeks on end.
I don’t think you understand how important this is to me.
” Yes, this was good, she decided; she could use this as her defense, and the theory gelled more decisively in her mind.
She’d told them all about it just this morning.
It should be fresh in everyone’s minds, and hopefully she had put enough passion into her speech that they believed this was the only reason she was defying them.
M?rten stared at her as if she’d morphed into a brainless idiot. “You can’t honestly tell me that some stupid triathlon event is more important than your own safety?” There was sheer exasperation in his voice now.
“I’m sure we can arrange something for you.” Jacob jumped in. “A way for you to continue your training,” he said with a smile that was supposed to be convincing. But she wasn’t fooled.
It was Summer’s turn to bang her hand on the table.
This time she directed her anger at Jacob, her emotions in full flight now, and she rode that wave to drive home her point.
“How? How are you going to arrange it? Does this safe house have a fully equipped gym? Are you going to let me out of this place long enough to swim laps at the local pool at five a.m.? Are your agents going to take me to a nearby running track, so I can do sprints, or follow me on my ten-mile runs?” She glared at him bitterly as he sat back in his chair, shrugging one shoulder ruefully.
“I’m not positive about all of that,” he admitted with a wry twist to his lips. “But surely—”
“Surely nothing,” Summer spat back. “I need to do all that and more to make sure I’m in peak condition for this trial.” She knew they were all trying to help her, but she felt hemmed in, like a set of prison bars was closing in on her.
“You might just have to miss this stup—this meet,” M?rten added.
Summer pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him. “What did you say? Were you about to call this a stupid meet?” Summer could barely credit her ears. He’d been about to denigrate one of the major passions in her life.
But then why would M?rten think anything else?
He was a complete stranger, and there was no way he could understand how important this was to her.
And now that she was on this train, she was starting to believe her own rhetoric.
It was a good excuse not to go into witness protection, but everything she was saying was also true.
Most people who didn’t run triathlons could never understand the deep competitive urge driving her on.
The personal challenge she set herself every time she ran, to do better, finish faster, get her technique just right so that each stroke in the swim leg was perfect and effortless.
There was a sense of accomplishment like no other when she finished a race.
Not many individuals could finish a full triathlon.
It was an adrenaline high few other people knew.
A part of her enjoyed being among that elite number.
She also hadn’t told the complete truth when she explained to M?rten that she started triathlons to stay fit.
This was something she’d barely admitted to herself, but six years ago she’d been looking for a means to rid herself of her demons.
And running until she was so physically exhausted that she could scarcely suck in a breath, let alone think beyond taking the next step, had helped her push that terrible night when Marco had died into the recesses of her mind.
When she was running, or swimming, or riding, she was no longer haunted by the harrowing images.
Her senses drifted free, almost as if it were her own personal form of meditation.
It was a way to give her memories a break.
Slowly, the nightmares had receded, and she had begun to find her equilibrium again.
She never wanted to stop running. Because if she did, a tiny part of her was afraid those nightmares would come back with a vengeance.
She let none of that show on her face, however, just allowed the anger to boil over. “What I do is not stupid,” she spat, getting to her feet.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he retorted, also standing so that now they were arguing nose-to-nose over the table.
“Don’t twist this around to suit your own truth.
This is not about stopping you from doing what you love.
This is about keeping you alive! How can you be so stubborn that you cannot see that?
” M?rten’s face was turning an interesting shade of red, and a part of Summer was intrigued as to why he seemed to care so much.
But she wasn’t about to let him win, and so she started talking over the top of him, until they were both shouting at each other like truculent children.
“Why don’t you take her to Sweden with you?
” Nikki said so quietly that Summer almost didn’t catch her words.
She turned to stare in Nikki’s direction, letting her argument trail off.
M?rten continued to count off on his fingers all the reasons she needed to listen to Jacob and himself, unaware of what Nikki had said.
“What are you suggesting?” Jacob asked, raising a curious eyebrow, as M?rten kept on blustering, talking over the top of him as well. But now all of Summer’s attention was on Nikki, ignoring the annoying Swedish cop who was a major pain in her ass.
“I mean, think about it,” Nikki continued, her voice remaining quiet.
At last, M?rten stopped speaking, one finger still poised in the air, a scowl darkening his features. “What did you say?” he growled.
“We can probably assume this Tyrone King person doesn’t have a clue who M?rten is or where he’s from. So, it’s the perfect hiding place. You’ll be out of the country, but you can continue to train as much as you like. It’s summer in Sweden at the moment, and the weather should be ideal.”
Was this woman mental? That was possibly a worse idea than going into witness protection?
Summer opened her mouth to retort, wracking her mind for reasons she couldn’t go.
There was no chance she was going to spend the next two weeks in close quarters with M?rten.
He was too… She was too… Nope, it just wouldn’t work.
Nikki thought she was helping Summer, giving her a way out, but little did she know she was pushing her right into the lion’s den.
“What if Tyrone works it out? What if he follows me to Sweden? Then I’d be putting M?rten in direct danger as well,” she countered with a defiant lift to her chin.
M?rten remained frozen, his finger still raised is if to make his next point, but his face became thoughtful, which worried Summer. He tilted his head to the side and considered her over his hovering hand.
“That could be an option,” he said into the ensuing silence.
“What? No! I’m not going to Sweden. I’m staying right here, and I’m going to continue my life, and not let some asshole scare me off.”
M?rten ignored her, turning to Jacob to say, “Do you want to run it past your superiors?”