13. Felicity
FELICITY
The second the woman downstairs said the cartel found another witness, ice slid straight down my spine.
I stood frozen near the top of the stairs.
Barefoot.
One hand gripping the railing hard enough my knuckles hurt.
Another witness.
Oh God.
No.
Rain battered the tavern windows below while voices carried upward through the old wood and shadows.
Blaze’s voice stayed low.
Controlled.
Dangerously calm.
“Who is she?”
“The girl?” the marshal asked. “Her name’s Isabel Torres.”
Silence.
Then Trigger cursed softly.
I closed my eyes briefly.
Torres.
I knew that name.
Not personally.
But enough.
Enough to feel panic beginning to claw its way up my throat.
The cartel lieutenant I was supposed to testify against had cousins with that last name.
Violent men.
The kind who smiled while hurting people.
The kind who buried entire families.
“She saw something she wasn’t supposed to,” the marshal continued downstairs. “Same as Felicity.”
My stomach twisted hard.
No.
Not another girl.
Please not another girl.
“Isabel’s aunt worked bookkeeping for one of the shell companies moving cartel money through Texas,” the marshal said. “Three weeks ago, the aunt disappeared.”
I heard Wolf mutter something rough beneath his breath.
The marshal continued anyway.
“The girl found files hidden in her aunt’s apartment. Names. Routes. Judges. Deputies. Payoffs.”
Every hair on my body stood up.
Corruption.
Still spreading.
Still alive.
“And now people are dying,” the marshal finished quietly.
The tavern fell silent after that.
Heavy silence.
The kind that settles before violence.
I should’ve stayed upstairs.
I knew that.
Blaze told me to stay upstairs.
But then?—
The girl downstairs sniffled softly.
Small sound.
Broken sound.
And suddenly I wasn’t hearing her anymore.
I was hearing myself all those months ago.
Terrified.
Alone.
Running.
Moving before I could stop myself, I headed downstairs.
By the time I reached the bottom step, every man in the room turned toward me instantly.
Blaze’s expression darkened immediately.
“Flick.”
Oops.
Too late now.
The teenage girl near the door looked terrified.
Not just scared.
Haunted.
Rainwater still dripped from her coat onto the tavern floor. Bruises shadowed one side of her wrist, and she couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds soaking wet.
God.
She looked so young.
The marshal—Ava—studied me carefully the moment she saw me.
Recognition flickered instantly across her face.
“You’re Felicity McKenna.”
Not Ward.
McKenna.
My real name hit me hard enough I almost forgot how to breathe.
I swallowed hard.
“Yes.”
The girl beside her stared at me.
Confused.
Scared.
Then her eyes widened slightly.
“You’re the woman from the news.”
Blaze shifted closer to me automatically.
Protective.
Always protective.
“That was a long time ago,” he said firmly.
But Isabel kept staring.
“They said you disappeared.”
Something in my chest cracked quietly.
Because I knew that look.
I’d worn it myself once.
The look of someone realizing survival came with a price nobody warned you about.
I stepped a little closer despite Blaze practically radiating disapproval beside me.
“What happened?” I asked gently.
The girl’s bottom lip trembled instantly.
And just like that?—
She broke.
“I didn’t mean to find anything,” she whispered shakily. “I swear I didn’t.”
Ava reached toward her shoulder, but Isabel flinched hard enough the marshal stopped immediately.
Fear response.
Deep one.
My chest tightened painfully.
“She’s been running for two days,” Ava explained quietly. “Cartel hitters grabbed her aunt yesterday morning. Isabel barely got out.”
The girl wrapped her arms tighter around herself.
“They killed Mateo.”
Trigger frowned. “Who’s Mateo?”
“My cousin.”
Her voice cracked apart completely.
“He tried to help me.”
Oh God.
That tone.
I knew that tone.
The sound guilt makes when it starts eating someone alive.
I crossed the room before I could stop myself.
Blaze caught my wrist gently.
“Flick.”
I looked up at him.
“He died because of me.”
His jaw tightened immediately because he knew exactly where my mind just went.
The people hurt after I agreed to testify.
The lives destroyed around me.
The constant feeling that survival itself was selfish.
Blaze’s grip softened instantly.
“That’s not on you.”
Maybe not.
But pain still recognized pain.
I carefully pulled free before walking slowly toward Isabel.
The girl looked ready to bolt.
“It’s okay,” I said softly. “I’m not going to touch you.”
Her eyes searched mine nervously.
“You survived this before?”
The question nearly shattered me.
Because no.
Not really.
Surviving wasn’t the same thing as living.
But I understood what she was really asking.
Did you make it through?
I crouched carefully in front of her.
And for the first time in months?—
I told someone the truth.
“Barely.”
Silence filled the tavern.
Even the storm outside seemed quieter somehow.
Isabel stared at me with wide frightened eyes.
“They won’t stop, will they?” she whispered.
Nobody answered immediately.
Because everybody in the room knew the truth.
Cartels didn’t forgive.
Didn’t forget.
Blaze stepped closer behind me.
Close enough I could feel the heat coming off him.
Close enough to steady me without touching me.
Ranger.
Protector.
Home.
Ava finally exhaled slowly.
“We think somebody inside law enforcement is leaking information.”
The room went deadly still.
Wolf’s expression darkened instantly.
Trigger muttered, “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Ava shook her head once. “Felicity’s relocation details were classified. Isabel’s safe apartment was compromised within forty-eight hours.”
Cold spread through my stomach.
No wonder Michael kept moving me.
No wonder nobody trusted anybody.
Blaze’s voice dropped lower.
“Meaning somebody’s selling witnesses.”
Ava held his stare.
“Yes.”
The word landed like a gunshot.
My pulse started climbing hard.
Because suddenly nowhere felt safe anymore.
Not witness protection.
Not Texas.
Not even Eagle River.
Blaze must’ve sensed the panic hit me because his hand settled lightly against the middle of my back.
Steadying.
Grounding.
Immediate.
My eyes closed briefly.
Dangerous.
So dangerous, how much that helped.
Isabel looked between us slowly.
“You love him.”
Every adult in the room froze.
Oh my God.
Heat rushed into my face instantly.
Blaze went completely still behind me.
The poor girl looked horrified immediately afterward.
“I—I’m sorry—I didn’t mean?—”
“It’s okay,” I said too quickly.
Too softly.
Too honestly.
Because the worst part?
I didn’t know how to deny it anymore.
And judging by the way Hersh’s hand flexed lightly against my back?—
Neither did he.