Chapter 18
Luke pulled out of the driveway and turned toward town, noting the rain clouds beginning to form in the distance.
As he drove, he let himself think.
He thought about Ellie Johnson, young and unknowingly married into the mob. He tried to square that woman with the one he’d met at a fundraiser in Charlottesville.
He thought about the years in between. Jenna making breakfast in their kitchen and humming softly to herself.
Jenna in the delivery room, her hand in his, fierce and exhausted.
Jenna at Sarah’s funeral, standing beside him, steady and quiet when he hadn’t been able to be either of those things himself.
Had any of that been real?
He turned that question over for several miles and arrived at the same answer every time.
It had been real.
Whatever name she’d been using, whatever secrets she hadn’t been able to tell him, the woman who’d stood beside him at his sister’s graveside and held herself together so he didn’t have to was real. He was certain of that.
He wasn’t certain what to do with the certainty.
The mountains flattened as he came down out of the foothills, the valley opening up ahead of him.
He’d driven this road so many times that he knew every curve of it without thinking. Today it felt shorter than usual, like the town came up to meet him faster than he was prepared for.
He came down the last long curve into town and turned onto Main Street.
He observed Blue Ridge Hollow a moment. The town had resumed its ordinary rhythms. Nothing indicated this street had been a crime scene earlier in the day.
He parked half a block from Ember & Oak and sat in the truck a moment looking at the restaurant. What had Jenna and Wes been talking about? Had anything changed?
He needed to rip off the Band-Aid and get this over with. He couldn’t delay these inevitable conversations any longer. Decisions had to be made.
After another moment, he climbed from the truck and walked toward Ember & Oak.
The warmth of the restaurant hit him first, followed by the low hum of conversation and the smell of woodsmoke and something savory from the kitchen.
Wes and Jenna sat at a back corner table, away from the windows. They both looked up when he walked in.
He read Jenna’s face before he reached the table.
Her expression wasn’t lighter. No, if anything, it was heavier.
Why? What had changed since he left her?
He pulled out the chair across from her and sat down.
It was time to get this conversation over with.
He looked at Wes then Jenna. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Jenna watched Luke’s face as Wes talked.
Wes laid out what he knew in a careful, methodical way. He stripped everything down to the facts and presented them without editorializing.
Luke rubbed his jaw before saying, “So Vito has been secretly running this crime syndicate the whole time?”
“That’s correct.” Wes nodded.
“And he’s been looking for Jenna for years?”
“That’s what my contact told me.”
Luke’s eyes went to Jenna. “The marshals told you it was over, that you were safe and that the threat was diminished.”
“Yes.” She offered a brief nod.
“But they were wrong.” The words left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Wes doesn’t think it was intentional,” Jenna told him. “They assessed Vito as finished, and the crime family no longer operational since the head of the snake had been cut off. But the Barones were more clever than that. They just went more deeply underground so their work wouldn’t be discovered.”
Luke looked back at Wes. “So, the shooter this morning . . .”
Wes leaned forward. “We still don’t know for sure that he’s connected with the Barones, though that’s the most likely scenario. Either way, based on what I’ve been told, he was probably contracted.”
Luke sat with that information before slowly nodding. “So what do we do now?”
Wes looked between them before his gaze stopped on Jenna. “Our first priority is getting you out of Hollow House tonight. Someone knows where you’re staying. That location is compromised.”
“I agree, but where does she go?” Luke asked.
Wes looked at him a moment before saying, “If I were in your shoes? Refuge Cove. It’s gated, it’s remote, and you’ve already got people there around the clock because of the shelter operation. It’s the most defensible option.”
Jenna watched Luke turn the information over. She knew what challenges that would present—the questions he’d have to answer if she went to stay with his family. Questions he may not be ready to answer.
She almost told him to forget about it. Staying at Refuge Cove was a bad idea anyway, and she didn’t want to put him in an awkward position.
Before the words could leave her lips, he said, “I’ll call Caleb.”
“You don’t have to,” she rushed.
“I know. But I want to.” His voice left no room for argument.
Could she really let him do this? She didn’t know—nor did she know what other options she had, other than running. She’d already promised herself she wouldn’t do that.
“There’s something else.” Wes’s voice turned more cautious. “I think you should consider bringing in Micah more fully. Not just with the shooting. With everything.”
Luke looked at him. “You mean, tell him about Jenna’s WitSec history?”
“He’s going to figure it out regardless. Better he hears it from Jenna than for him to piece it together on his own and wonder why you didn’t trust him.”
“I can do that,” Jenna said. “It seems reasonable.”
“Okay then,” Luke said. “We can stop by his office when we leave here.”
Jenna looked at her water glass, her thoughts scrambling back to Refuge Cove and the possibility of going there.
It would be difficult, to say the least. She wasn’t sure how Luke’s family would receive her.
Sure, they’d always been kind. But she’d hurt their son. That had to cause some hard feelings.
A lump formed in her throat before she said, “Luke, I know how hard it would be for you if I stayed at Refuge Cove. Me being there would be difficult on your family also—”
His eyes narrowed. “Let me worry about that.”
“I just want you to know that I’m not pressuring you in any way, nor do I have any expectations—”
“Jenna.” His quiet voice stopped her. “It’s my decision, and I’ve already made it.”
She started to argue but closed her mouth instead.
He held her gaze another moment, something unreadable moving through his eyes.
Then he reached for his phone, ready to lock all the details in place.