CHAPTER 27
The ground rushes up to meet me as I sit down. Hard. The sound of the ocean fills my ears, a noise that I vaguely recognize as the blood rushing through my head too fast.
Jake’s on his knees beside me with a panicked expression. His lips are moving, but I can’t hear a word he’s saying. I stare at his hands, wrapped around mine. I can’t feel him, either.
How long has he known? What part has he played? And why is he only telling me this now? Raising my eyes to his, I blink away the tears clouding my vision, looking for the truth.
“Cassie.” His voice is pure anguish as it breaks through my thundering pulse to reach my ears.
“You’ve been visiting her,” I say, my tone cold and distant.
He nods, swallowing hard.
“And you’re paying for her legal defense.”
“I didn’t know she was the one trying to hurt you when I made the deal with her.
And I didn’t know what else to do. I was desperate.
After what happened with the sniper, I went to see her after her hearing was delayed the next morning.
I told her I’d pay for her to be represented by someone other than the public defender if she told me what I needed to know to protect you. ”
“And you believed her?”
“I didn’t know what to believe. Or who. All I knew was that I had to find a way to keep you safe. I was willing to try anything.”
“Is that why you went to see your dad?”
His mouth opens and shuts, his surprise that I know about the visit evident.
“Yes,” he says. “Partly. When she was first arrested, I—I didn’t know how to feel. A part of me couldn’t help but be excited to have her back after all these years.”
He sits on the ground beside me. Gives me a timid look as he scoots closer to me, squeezing my hand.
“I was so young when she left. The mom I remembered was fun and loving and kind. Not the type of person who would murder her closest friends. But what she did to your parents, it made me realize that maybe I didn’t really know her at all. That I needed to speak with someone who did.”
“And what your dad told you?”
“Made me realize you might be in danger. So I started visiting her to see what I could find out.”
“And?”
“She acted like nothing was wrong. Like we were just catching up under normal circumstances, like she wasn’t facing murder charges. She even asked about you when I visited. She seemed to genuinely care, and I thought—”
His head drops. A shudder rolls through him. When he continues, his voice is choked, thick with regret.
“I fell for it. She had me convinced that my dad must have lied. That she had spoken the way she had about what happened on the recording because she was scared and she thought taking some of the credit for the murders would get her respect from the people she feared.”
I bite my tongue to keep from pointing out all the evidence there was to prove otherwise.
Jake isn’t like me. Not just because of my career and experience with killers, either.
He doesn’t assume the worst about everyone.
Of course he’d want to believe the best about his mom. I shouldn’t fault him for that.
“It turns out she was just playing me the whole time.”
“How did you figure it out?” I ask.
He looks like he’s going to be ill as he admits, “I almost didn’t.
It was the private investigator I’d hired who found out that someone was trying to sell you to Bianchi.
I was already in negotiations to get you back when the gag order was lifted and I found out that he was dead.
But I had competition. There was someone else trying to buy you. That’s when I knew it had to be her.”
“But you can’t be sure. It still could have been one of Bianchi’s guys, or one of the two men who were arrested for kidnapping you. If no one knew what happened to him—”
Jake shakes his head sadly. “You don’t know how badly I wish that were true. But it was her, Cassie. I have proof.”
“I’m sorry, Jake.”
A small spark catches inside me, quickly turning into a flame. And Jake’s devastated expression? That mix of shame and regret and grief that I’ve worn so many times myself? It causes that flame to flare into an inferno.
“As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters. You know that, right?” He cups a hand to my cheek. I cover it with my own. “I’m not sure how she’s pulling this off yet. Until I do, we can’t risk going back to the sanctuary.”
“Then let’s go find out.”
“I’m not so sure that—”
I point toward the white sedan. “You have a plan, right?”
“A vague one. But you’re in no condition to—”
“I’m fine,” I insist. “I just need to drink more water. And eat some food.”
“There should be some in the car.”
That’s all I need to hear to propel me into action.
He frowns as I move to get up. “Maybe you should sit for a few more minutes.”
“There’s no time. If someone’s tracing your phone, they’ll be tracking that call I made to Marla. We need to get out of here before they find out where we are.”
Jake’s lips press together in a tight line, but he nods. Wraps an arm under me to help lift me to my feet. He keeps me tucked to his side as we cross the parking lot to the white car.
“Where’d this come from, anyway?” I ask, gesturing toward the vehicle. “Did Marla help you get it?”
“No. Julian did.”
I give him a sharp look. “Julian?”
He grimaces. “Yes.”
“So you trust him now?”
Jake nods sheepishly.
“How’d that happen?”
“We talked things out.”
My stomach clenches as I remember the footage I saw of Julian at the house the day I was taken. “Was this before or after you gave him a black eye?”
“During.” He cocks his head, giving me a curious look. “How’d you know about that?”
“I saw him on the security camera knocking on the door.” Reaching the car, I watch as Jake feels around the back tire, withdrawing a set of keys. “You want to tell me how violence resolved your trust issues?”
Jake unlocks the door and holds it open for me. I arch my eyebrows, waiting for an answer.
“I said some things I shouldn’t have.”
“Like?” I prompt.
“I accused him of trying to drive a wedge between us. To steal you from me.”
“I’m not a wallet, Jake. I have free will. I make my own choices.”
He hangs his head. “I know. And he told me that there’s no way you’d ever choose him. But that I was going to lose you myself if I didn’t get my head together and be honest with you.”
“Hmm. Definitely sounds like an unreasonable response that deserved a violent reaction to me.”
“In all fairness, he took the first swing.”
He gestures to his jaw, where I notice the dark shadow of a bruise hiding under the thick stubble that’s grown in.
“And what’d you say to get him to do that?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, he asks, “Do I have to tell you?”
“No,” I decide. “He hit you, you hit him, then what?”
Jake shrugs. “He apologized. Told me that he hadn’t realized I had a valid reason for not telling you what was going on. That he figured I was lying to you about being okay about the situation with my mom, and he wanted you to know that wasn’t true.”
“Why did you lie?” I ask quietly, finally taking a seat in the car.
He squats down in front of me, sets the backpack full of money on the floorboard, and grabs a bottle of water from the back seat, breaking the seal. As he hands it to me, he says, “Because I couldn’t bear to tell you the truth.”
“Which is?”
“That being with me might be what’s endangering you. That the reason your life is at risk is because of me.”
He swallows hard, checking the road with a wary expression that suggests he expects to see danger approaching at any moment. Standing, he gives me a grim look before shutting my door gently and hurrying around to the driver’s side, sliding behind the wheel.
I wait until the car is in motion before saying, “That’s what I don’t get, Jake. How are you sure it was your mom that put the hit out on me? What’s this proof that you have?”
“The private investigator I hired was able to track down the sniper’s bank accounts and get me his financials.
I tracked the money. Deposits made to both him and the inmate who killed Bianchi came from the same bank account.
One held by Cadence Glover. My mom’s middle and maiden names.
And there’s only one branch. It’s in the Keys. ”
Pulling my seat belt loose, I turn to face him, studying him as he drives. I’m impressed. “Was this information obtained through legal means?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“Only Julian.”
“So what’s the plan?”
He lifts his gaze from the road long enough to glance at me. For the first time since he stepped inside that abandoned building earlier, he smiles. “We’re going on vacation.”