Chapter 44
Austin
Iwatched emotion after emotion cross Nina’s face while we stood in the warm sunlight.
Fear. Anger. Shock. Confusion.
One thing for certain, Nina Novak, née Singer, was overwhelmed.
“I’m ready to go home now,” her small voice cut through the night air.
“Let’s go upstairs and talk about it.” John saved me from having to deliver the bad news.
Nina could leave SSI, but she couldn’t go home.
The mercenaries were getting bolder, and by now they’d realized we’d duped them and still had the Singer’s treasure.
A million dollars was nothing to the two corrupt officers paying several times that to have shadows in Weatherford twenty-four-seven. They never knew the value. But that wouldn’t stop them from killing for it.
Before Nina arrived, we’d decided the best course of action was to hide Nina away safely while we worked to take down Kane and Gable.
Cate was working with an FBI contact to get us a safe house.
John had called Madi; they’d use their connections to get Mrs. Novak admitted to a hospital or care center where it’d be easier to protect her while she continued to receive the care she needed.
Being apart from her grandmother would kill Nina, but we didn’t have a choice. Now that we’d found the treasure, the target on her back was bigger and glowing like a neon fucking sign.
We all have targets on our backs.
Nina’s eyes never left the pictures as she fell into the chair I pulled out for her.
My heart broke for the pain we’d caused her. The pain we still needed to cause her.
“Nina,” John said, dragging her attention away from the pictures. “You won’t like this, but we have to take you to a safe house.”
She did that thing again, the one where she blinked rapidly, like she was using her long, dark lashes to fan the confusion out of her brain.
I refused to think about how cute the expression might be if she wasn’t overwhelmed and exhausted. And in danger.
“What?”
“The CIA officers who want your parents’ treasure are getting bolder. The safest place for you is a safe house.”
“No.” she stood and started towards the door.
Having anticipated the move, I was standing behind her. When she crashed into me, I steadied her with my hands on her shoulder, just like the day we’d met.
“Nina, this is the safest course of action.”
“No. My grandmother needs me.”
Right, because of course Nina was thinking emotionally, not logically, and her first thoughts were about her grandmother.
Can you not act like a robot? I heard Bryce ask in my head.
With Nina, I could.
I pulled her into my chest, wrapped one arm around her back, and cupped her head with the other.
Expecting her to resist, I kept my grip loose so she didn’t feel trapped.
She didn’t. Instead, she curled into me and rested her forehead against my chest.
The trust she placed in me melted some of my armor.
“I know this is scary and you’re worried about your grandmother,” I lifted her chin so she had no choice but to look at me. “But, Cherry, I promise you we won’t let anything happen to her.”
“How can you promise that?”
I used my thumb to wipe away an escaping tear.
“John and Madi are looking for a respectable place for her to stay while you’re at the safe house.”
“You want to put her in a home?”
Shit. How do I answer honestly without upsetting her even more?
“Not exactly,” John saved my bacon, again.
“We’re looking for a care center where she can receive the care she needs while we provide full-time protection.
I know you’re worried about the care, or lack thereof, that she’ll receive in a home, but one of my guys will be there to make sure she’s treated well. ”
Nina clung to me while she listened.
“I can’t afford hospital care for her.”
I held back my laughter; it hadn’t clicked for her yet. “Actually, you can. I’ll cover the bill until you settle your inheritance.”
I wouldn’t let her repay me; covering the expenses after bringing professional killers to her door was the least I could do.
Nina pulled away as she remembered that she could now afford care for her grandmother.
“What about a nurse to stay with her?” Nina asked.
“Can you sit?” John asked. After she sat and blew her nose, John continued. “We considered that option, but she’s more vulnerable in a private home than in a public hospital.”
“Do you think they’ll hurt her to make me give them my parents’ money?” She still didn’t call it hers.
Growing up in the middle class, I understood how hard it might be to unexpectedly inherit a lot of money.
A lot for her. John and his boys had three times that value invested in SSI. I had twice that if I liquidated all my investments.
The two CIA officers hunting Nina had spent at least that on the revolving sets of men they sent to Weatherford to shadow us.
A million dollars was a lot of money, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t the payout our traitors expected.
“We do.”
“They can have the money if they just leave us alone,” Nina cried into her hands.
“It’s not that simple,” I said, handing her another tissue.
“Because they think I know something, but I don’t.”
“They’ll assume you know what your parents knew.” Gibson added, “What we now know.”
Nina clasped her hands in her lap like they were a lifeline. “Was there something else in the locker?”
“There’s enough evidence to put two corrupt CIA officers behind bars for the rest of their lives.”
“If you know who they are, can’t you just arrest them?”
This time I did laugh; it was mirthless, but still a laugh. “If only it were that easy. They run an elite global protection service company. It’ll be nearly impossible for us to get close to them.”