Chapter 39
Thirty-Nine
“ M ax, please tell us our fucking contract has been shredded.” Gage watched as Gunner grumbled the question at the FBI agent.
“You guys sure you don’t want to keep working with us?”
“Fuck no. If we aren’t on their radar, we want it to stay that way. We hope you take them all down and bury them at your black sites, but we’re happy just to live our small town lives,” Hawk replied.
“Well, I’m happy to tell you this, then. Congratulations, guys. As of today, the FBI is officially and permanently dissolving its partnership with Montgomery Defense and any employee of the company.”
“Thank fuck.” Nash stood up. “What’s happening with you?”
“Things are… sticky here at the moment. I’m being pulled from the case and reassigned off-grid. More than likely, this is the last time we’ll speak.”
“Do we need to be worried? Are we going to be stuck looking over our shoulders for these Santoro fuckers for the rest of our lives?” Stone asked. Gage wanted to know, too .
“Everything in our chatter says they’re still trying to set up a route in Texas, but we’ve put out the word in every official and unofficial channel we have that we’re done using you guys. Don’t let your guard down, but the big brass seem to think you’ll be in the clear.”
“Thanks for everything, Max. Believe me when I say we want to see you guys take them down, but it just can’t come at the expense of our families.”
“It was a good run while we had it, guys. I appreciate everything you did. I’ll see you around.”
Grumbles of “goodbye” filled the room as Gage disconnected the video call.
“He’s a good guy,” Nash said.
“Yeah, he is. I wonder what he’s going off grid for?” Hawk added.
“That’s not our lives anymore, guys,” Gunner smiled as Lily walked towards the conference room. “Fuck, I cannot wait to get her pregnant again.”
“Dude. We’re all happy as shit for you and Lily, but you gotta not rub it in our faces like that,” Hawk moaned.
“Not sorry.”
“What aren’t you sorry about?” Lily asked, walking straight over to Gunner before sitting on his lap.
“How much I fucking love you.”
“More like how much you love to fu?—”
“Hawk!” Gunner’s growl had Gage and Nash laughing.
“Looks like you’re healing up nicely.” Sloane watched as Gage walked towards her with a cup of water. All the guys had taken turns checking in on her since she and Lily were taken, but Gage had been the most persistent. It was Gage who asked her to come in for a final debrief of the whole situation, and even though she forced herself to walk into their office and put on a brave face, she was dreading it.
“Yeah, I’m good. I don’t even feel sore anymore. Hardly even remember anything happened,” she replied, clearly trying to ignore the memory of waking up from a nightmare that morning so vivid she’d screamed herself awake. It wasn’t a memory from the time she spent in the cabin with Lily, though.
“You know, I would have gone with you to the hospital.”
“Like I told you when the paramedics were checking me out, I didn’t need anyone to be there with me. It was all routine for what happened.”
Gage held the door open to their conference room, and she walked in, choosing the chair closest to the door.
“Sloane was incredible,” Lily said, smiling at her as she sat down in the conference room. God, she wished she had thought to schedule a patient or at least pretended she had one scheduled.
“I don’t think incredible is how I would describe it, Lily. I just did what I needed to in order to give us the best chance of surviving.”
“I literally would have never known how to get out of those zip ties, let alone known to fashion a weapon from the underwire in your bra.”
Gage’s eyebrows shot up. Shit. Knowing something like that was suspicious.
“It’s just from a self-defense class I took during college. I was hoping I would never have to remember it, but I’m glad I did.”
“Well, you really gave them hell. Lily told me about scratching James to get his DNA.” Gunner was looking at her, waiting for an explanation.
“What Paul tried to do though…” Lily’s voice was quiet, her eyes filled wi th pain.
“I just…” She was going to fight him. All her years of training after what happened in college were meant to save her in those situations. She shouldn’t have just laid there. She shouldn’t have been pulled back into her memories. But when Paul lowered his body on top of hers, she was back in the cave. It wasn’t Paul’s face mere inches away from hers. It was the shadow that haunts her dreams.
She swallowed roughly, and forced herself to smile, praying it didn’t falter as a warm hand settled over hers. “You okay?” Gage asked, his soft voice filled with nothing but concern, and it did something funny to her already churning stomach. She needed to get a grip. This wasn’t her. She was strong and capable. She did not fall apart.
“No…I um, I just remembered I can’t be here right now.” Sloane pulled her hand out from Gage’s, looking at her watch for good measure before looking at Gunner. “I think everything that you need to know for this debrief is in my police statement. It completely slipped my mind that I have a client coming in this afternoon. I’m going to go back to my office and get ready for them.” She stood, running her hands down her shirt to fix the wrinkles in it. Control your breathing. Count back from ten. Take a deep breath in and hold it.
“Sloane?” Lily looked concerned, but she just waved her off. “Should I come to the office with you?”
“I’m fine, Lily. You stay here. I need to get going. I’m sure you all understand. Excuse me.”
Her feet moved on autopilot, directing her down the hallway and out onto the sidewalk. Sloane just needed to get to her car. She could lock the doors and get her breathing under control. She could get back to her house and fall apart there.
She was just a few steps into the alley when her vision tunneled. Her body shook so violently that she fell to the ground, drawing her legs up into her chest while she tried to hold on to the reality of being in Silver Springs and not back in Ashwood Falls.
Her vision darkened as she tried to force air into her lungs. Three things she could see…three things…It wasn’t working, she was going to lose herself to the panic.
What the hell had just happened? One minute Sloane was fine, the next all the blood drained from her face and she’d run like an entire colony of fire ants were crawling up her legs.
“We’re going to get more cameras set up here and at the new facility. We have faith that Corrine is going to be in prison for a really long time, but I’m not having Lily go back to working at Sloane’s until there are cameras there, even with the threat of James and Paul eliminated.”
“Don’t say it like that, Gunner. She can decide about her office,” Lily scolded.
“I’m going to go check on her. I’ll ask. If she’s still uncomfortable with it, we’ll just have to make sure our cameras cover her part of the building, too,” Gage said.
He walked over to Sloane’s office, still thinking about how pale she’d looked as she scurried out of the conference room. Gage pulled on the door, but it was locked. Weird.
He walked back to the office to see if maybe she stopped in their bathroom before leaving and he’d somehow gotten ahead of her, but a sound in the alley caught his attention.
Gage turned the corner and froze. Sloane was on the ground, curled up as small as she could get, her red hair a curtain of protection draped all around her. As he walked closer, he could see her shaking, and hear the way her breath rattled in and out of her chest.
He’d seen this before. Hell, he’d fucking experienced it himself when Melody and Mikey were killed. She was having a panic attack.
“Sloane?” He softly called out her name, crouching down in front of her. Panicked eyes jumped to meet his and her hand shot out towards him. He didn’t want to scare her by touching her, but the way she was hyperventilating, Gage knew he needed to try anything before she passed out.
His hand slid into hers and squeezed. “I’m right here, Red. You’re safe.”
Red. Why the hell had he felt so compelled to give her a nickname?
“R-red?” she whispered.
“Yeah. You kinda need a nickname now that you’re part of the group. Doc is already taken, so I figured Red would be the next best fit.” His fingers brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
She flinched and his stomach soured. “I’m sorry, Sloane. I won’t do that again. Can you just take some deep breaths for me?”
She nodded, her eyes glued to his. He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, both taking in deep breaths.
Finally, she released his hand and he helped her to her feet.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know why it just hit me all of a sudden.”
“This is normal, Sloane. You of all people should know that reactions to stressful situations can sometimes take time to manifest. Your brain is processing through what happened. It’s okay to not be okay.”
Even when he didn’t think it was possible, her face went even more pale.
“Do you need to sit back down? You look like you’re about to pass out.”
“I’m not.” She shook her head. “It’s just like you said. A lot to process with what happened. ”
“What did happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did they…” Gage swallowed thickly. “Did they hurt you, Sloane? More than just your face?”
She placed her hands on her knees and drew in a deep breath. He had suspected Sloane suffered more that night than she was letting on, but he didn’t know how much to push. In that moment, he would have given anything to take the pain away that he saw written on her face.
“I can’t talk about it. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay. I just want you to know that I’m here if you do need someone to talk to.”
“I’m a professional, Gage. I’ll speak with one of my colleagues if I need to. But I don’t. I can handle this on my own.”
He got it. She was tough, or at least valued appearing in control of everything.
“Sometimes it’s nice to just talk to a friend.”
She didn’t respond to that, but he watched as an invisible wall fell in place, her face returning to the calm professional he was used to seeing.
“Thanks for coming to check on me, but I really am fine. I’ll see you later, Gage.” She turned and started walking back towards her office, but he wrapped his hand around her arm and stopped her.
“Why did you have me place that tracker in your necklace, Sloane?”
“Gage.”
“I want to know why you had me install it.”
“There’s no reason for you to know.”
“If you’re in danger, if you’re worried about something, then I want to know so I can help you.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need you trying to save me.”
“Too late, Red. I’d just like to know if there is more I can do to help you…feel safe. If there was something that happened, or someone who made you feel unsafe?—”
“It’s none of your business, Gage. And you should thank me for having you install that little tracker, seeing as how it was the reason you could find us so quickly.”
“That’s not the point. Are you in danger? Are you scared of someone?”
“Goodbye, Gage.” Sloan turned and disappeared around the corner of the building.
How will Sloane cope when the secrets she’s worked so hard to keep buried come calling in Silver Springs? Will Gage be able to step up and help her, or will the heartbreak from his past stop him?
Find out in Silver Secrets, Book 2 in the Silver Springs series.