Chapter 18
Anastasia
A soft knock on my door jamb pulls my attention from the bag I’m not wanting to pack.
I glance up at Weston. “You can come in.” I shove a T-shirt into the bag, then follow it with a pair of jeans.
“You know, I don’t even know how long I’m packing for.
How long before I get to sleep in my bed?
Before I get to stand behind the counter of my shop and—”
Weston wraps his arms around me and holds on. “You’re one of two people alive who loves Violet as much as I do.”
Hearing him say her name breaks my heart. We’ve barely spoken about her since the funeral. And even that’s a rare occurrence. I haven’t heard him say her name since the day we buried her.
“How can I run away? What if he chooses someone else?” The idea of anyone ending up like Violet, dead and discarded in the woods, is enough to make me want to vomit.
He releases me and crosses his arms. “We will catch him before he hurts anyone else.”
“It’s been almost two decades, Weston.”
“As much as you don’t want to admit it, Sawyer and Jack are right. Removing you from the equation removes predictability. He’s going to be desperate to find you. And mistakes are born out of desperation.”
“And if you’re all wrong?”
“Then that’s not a weight that belongs on your shoulders.”
“I’ve lived with this for so long, Weston. And I’ve tried to move on. That flower petal—”
“I know, little sister.” The use of the pet name he and Zane gave me all those years ago brings tears to my eyes.
It’s an echo of another time, when Violet was alive and we were all running around, playing, unaware that there was such darkness headed our way.
“Just promise me that you’ll keep Sawyer in line. ”
I snort, appreciating his attempt at humor even if it is forced. “No one can keep Sawyer in line.”
“If anyone can, it’s you. The guy is crazy about you.”
I stare down at my hands. “I feel the same way about him.” Heart heavy, I turn toward Weston. “I’m sorry, Weston. I should have called you or woken my mom or Zane up. Instead, I let all of you down.”
Weston clenches his jaw and looks away. Emotion has never been an easy thing for him to share, but every now and then, you get a glimpse behind the armor. “You didn’t let anyone down, Anastasia. Not at all. Thank you for being such a good friend to Violet.”
“Thank you for being such a good second brother to me.”
He smirks. “Anytime. Now finish getting packed so you can get out of here before it’s too late.”
Ten minutes later, I’m packed and stepping into the living room. My mom, Zane, Tessa, Garrison, Ryker, Officer Leopold, and Jack all stop talking and turn to face me.
I feel like something on display at an exhibit.
“I’m ready.” I glance around the room. “Where’s Sawyer?”
“He’s meeting us there,” Zane says. “You ready?”
“Yeah.”
My mom walks over and wraps her arms around me.
“I love you, sweetheart.” She pulls away, tears shimmering in her eyes.
“What happened then is not your fault, and what is happening now isn’t either.
They will find this guy, and he will pay for what he did.
But remember, God is just, and even if this monster escapes the law, he cannot escape judgment. ”
“I know, Mom.” Leaning in, I kiss her cheek. “I love you, too.”
Officer Leopold steps up next. “We’ve got leads we’re chasing, okay? And we’ll have someone watching this place at all times just in case he makes another move.”
“Thank you.”
He smiles tightly.
Weston and Ryker both offer me somber nods.
Tessa comes in for a hug. “Why does this feel an awful lot like a goodbye?” she asks.
I laugh, even as the tears threaten to fall. “I was just thinking that.” What I don’t want to say, though, is how terrified I am that it is. Whether that’s because he catches up to me—or they don’t catch him. How can I ever feel safe again?
God, I need Your strength. Please carry me through this.
“I love you, sister,” she whispers.
“I love you, too.” Pulling back, I squeeze her arms, then turn toward Jack, who, for some reason, still cares enough to let me live.
“Thank you for being here.”
“I told you that I’d protect you, Anastasia.”
“I know.”
He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Be safe.”
“You, too.”
After an awkward hug, I follow Zane toward the back door, while everyone else follows. Ryker and Weston move around us, and Weston opens the door to step out before I can.
“Are you seriously shielding me with your own bodies?” I ask the men when Garrison falls into step on my other side and Jack moves in right on my heels. The idea is just as horrible as the fact that they feel like they have to.
“Don’t you know I’m bulletproof?” Ryker jokes.
“Not funny,” I snap.
“It was a little funny,” Garrison offers.
As a single unit with me trapped in the center, they guide me toward Zane’s truck, only stepping aside long enough for me to get into the cab.
Zane climbs behind the driver’s seat and pulls out of the little parking lot without so much as a moment’s hesitation.
Likely because the windows aren’t bulletproof.
Oh, what has my life become?
“The boat is stocked for another month,” Zane tells me. “Sawyer knows how to drive it, but—”
“So do I,” I say. He hadn’t mentioned the boat back in the apartment, but I’d been able to pick up on some of the cues. It’s the most isolated place I could be. Out at sea with a Navy SEAL.
“I know.” He reaches over and takes my hand with his. “It’s going to be okay, Anastasia.”
“I’m scared. And I’m angry.”
“I know you are.”
“This is my home. And I’m running away.”
“Don’t look at it like that. Think of it like you’re changing the rules on him. You’re taking away the advantage he thought he had.”
“How am I doing that? I’m losing the safety of my home.” Except, is it really that safe? He blew up Sawyer’s shop—with us partially inside. Then, shattered my windows with a single bullet.
“A man like that wants to hunt,” Zane explains. “He has likely spent a while tracking your every movement, watching until he believed he fully understands you.”
“Gee, that’s comforting.” My stomach rolls.
“What you’re doing by leaving is proving that he doesn’t.”
“And if he finds us? It’ll just be Sawyer and me.”
“Even injured, Sawyer is the best hand-to-hand guy I know. There’s a reason this guy used an explosion to try to take him out, rather than coming after him himself. It took a bullet to take him out of play when Katelyn was attacked, and that’s exactly what it will take for anyone to get to you.”
Bile sears the inside of my throat. “That’s not any better.”
Zane squeezes my hand. “Look, we’re putting you out away from everyone because it’s the absolute best thing we can do. Trust us to find him.”
“What is the plan? Watch my apartment and try to catch him breaking in?”
“We’ll go in rotations. The coffee shop will stay open—once the windows get fixed—but it’ll be worked by two undercover FBI agents and Katelyn.”
The mention of my friend makes my blood run cold. “No. She’s pregnant, Zane. She can’t be there.”
“Garrison will be, too. And Jack is setting up shop in your apartment while you’re gone. She’ll be protected. Plus, she’s refusing to let anyone else take the lead so that—in her words—you have a business to come home to.”
“Not if he decides to come after her the same way he did me. Glass won’t stop a bullet.”
“The kind we’re putting in will,” Zane replies with a grin in my direction. It dies, though, as we make a left down a back road that leads to the other side of the marina.
“What about Mom?”
“Tessa and I are moving into the other side of her duplex. We’ll be there to watch over her.”
I nod.
Family dinners.
Church on Sunday.
Afternoons at the diner.
That’s what I’ll be missing. All because some psycho decided to make me his next target. For eighteen years, I carried the weight of what happened to Violet, wondering why I was the one who survived and she didn’t.
Why did he pick her?
And this whole time, he was going to come after me, too.
Zane puts his truck into Park, then turns toward me. “There’s a satellite phone on the boat. If anything happens, you call me. We’ll come straight for you.”
“I know.”
“I love you, Anastasia. Thank you for doing this. For trusting us.”
My throat constricts. “I love you, too, Zane.” Leaning in, I wrap my arms around my big brother and squeeze. When I pull back, I see that Sawyer has stepped off the boat. He’s shed his sling and is walking down the pier toward us, a serious expression on his face.
He pulls my door open, and I climb out.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” I greet. “You ready for an endless amount of time at sea?”
“If it’s with you, absolutely.” He flashes me a sweet smile, then takes my bag out of the back passenger seat. “Truck followed me a few miles, but I lost him.”
“You get a description?”
“Already texted it to Jack,” he replies. “Could be nothing but worth checking in.”
“Followed you—” I turn toward Sawyer. “Were you pretending to be bait?”
His expression is one hundred percent guilty. “I might have driven your car.”
“Sawyer! You are still healing.”
He pokes a finger into his own chest. “Feel sturdy enough to me.” Then, he turns back to Zane. “Everything is ready to go, Cap.”
Zane looks from him to me. “Do I have to say it?”
Sawyer laughs. “No, Cap. You don’t. I’ll keep her safe, I promise.”
“I know you will.” He turns to me. “Love you.”
My throat constricts, chest aching as I stand here. “I love you, too.”