I must have screamed and cried myself to sleep because I’m soon awakened by a hand on my shoulder. My sore, heavy eyes flutter open and I see Benny staring down at me. I open my mouth to say something—but nothing comes out. I remember that I’m naked and start to squirm, but then recall Raide throwing a blanket over me before he left.
Benny sits on the bed and watches me, his face an unreadable mask. “He told me he left you here,” he says, his voice as guarded as his expression.
“I’m sorry,” I croak.
“You’re a bounty hunter.”
It’s not a question, so I don’t answer it.
“You broke him.”
If I had more tears to cry, they’d rise to the surface and fall down my cheeks. “I didn’t…,” I begin, but what is there to say? I did break him. I became more invested than I ever should have, and in doing that, I lost the man I allowed myself to fall in love with. Who had allowed himself to fall in love with me. There are no apologies I could possibly give.“I’m in love with him.”
Benny flinches and looks at me with a hard expression. “That the truth, or you trying to get me to let you go?”
“Can you see me, Benny?” I say, and my voice is so hoarse I barely recognize it. “Can you?”
“Yeah, Grace, I can see you.”
“Then look at me, really look. I’m broken, too.”
His face softens slightly and he sighs. “He’s gone, Grace. This time he won’t be found.”
I close my eyes, and pain twists so tightly in my chest, I’m afraid it’ll drown me. Raide is going to make a mistake—he’s angry, he’s hurt, and he wants revenge now more than ever. He’s going to find it and I’m going to lose him forever. I have to fix this. I open my eyes and look up at Benny. “I need to go home.”
He nods and releases me from the cuffs, then hands me some clothes. I take them and quickly dress while his back is turned. When I’m done, I clear my throat and he faces me once more. He’s got a more gentle expression on his face now, one that tells me he just might understand how this feels. “I’m so sorry, Benny,” I whisper. “I know I screwed up.”
“Yeah, you did.”
“I’m going to fix this.”
His eyes widen. “You need to be careful, honey. Raide is in a dangerous situation, and you could lose everything.”
“None of it is worth anything if he’s not there to share it with me. I have to help him, because you and I both know he doesn’t belong in prison.”
Benny nods. “Drive safe.”
I give him a weak smile, then I gather the last of my things and I hurry out to my car. I don’t know how Raide got away, I don’t have time to think about it, I need to get home and get to my office.
I have to fix this.
* * *
“Jesus, Grace!” Don yells when I come through the office doors. “I was out of my mind with worry.” His eyes scan over me just as Vance and Julio enter the room.
Both are in protective gear, guns tucked in their belts.
Vance reaches me before Don can say anything more. He takes my shoulders, and his eyes move over my body. “You look like hell—what happened?”
“I need to talk to you—all of you.”
“Grace, what’s happening?” Don asks, narrowing his eyes.
“Can we do this in your office.”
He studies me a second more, then he nods. “Okay.”
We all move to his office and I keep my head down the entire time. I know what I’ve risked, I know what I’m about to lose, but I have to tell the truth. The only way I can help Raide is to be honest. When we’re all in Don’s office, I turn and face them. “I have something to tell you all.”
“Grace?” Vance questions.
“Please,” I whisper, shooting him a pained look.
He nods and sits back.
When they’re all focused, I speak. “As you know, I was assigned the Raide Knox case. I knew when I took it on, it would be a challenge. He’s a big man and even with all my training, bringing him in on my own was pretty much impossible. So I decided to work it a different way. I thought if I could get his attention, I could just call it in when we were alone together.”
“There’s no rules against doing that, Grace,” Don says.
“I’m not finished,” I say softly, and he nods. “So I followed Raide, I got in his face, he became interested. This is where—” I swallow. “—it goes bad. The night before I called him in, when he was squatting, I … I slept with him.”
Gasps fill the room.
“This is outrageous—she should be fired on the spot!” Julio roars, leaping up.
“Julio, sit down!” Don barks.
Julio sits, spitting curses at me.
Don turns to me. “Grace, you know you’ve broken the rules.”
“I’m still not finished,” I say, and tears prick my eyelids.
Don closes his eyes and rubs his temples, then he mutters, “Go on.”
“I found him again after that, and I spent the last two days with him up in his cabin in the mountains.”
More gasps, and I look up to see Vance staring at me with such a pained expression, my heart breaks even more.
“On the last day, I found out he was up there looking for his sister’s killer. It’s why he skipped bail in the first place. He doesn’t want to go down without avenging her. I knew I had to act, I knew the best thing I could do for him was to bring him in, because he was going to do more damage if he was out. He found out who I was when he looked at my phone and saw I had contacted all of you, and he tied me up, then fled.”
Silence. Long, draining silence.
“I fell in love with him,” I whisper, dropping my head. “I know what I’ve done, I know what I’ll lose, but he’s innocent. I want to help him.”
“Grace,” Don says, his voice broken. “I put all my faith in you.”
I look up and the tears spill down my cheeks. “And I let you down, I know, Don. I’m so sorry.”
He sighs and stands. “Do you know where Raide is?”
“No.”
“Grace, no more lies.”
I shake my head. “I really don’t.”
He nods. “You understand I have to report this?”
I nod and swallow.
He shakes his head and exits the room.
Julio stands and glares at me. “I knew you couldn’t do it. You’re a girl and girls will always get tangled up the way you do. You’re too weak,” he spits, then he, too, storms out.
I slowly turn to Vance, who is staring at his clenched fists.
“Vance,” I say softly.
He jerks his head up. “I knew you wanted this job. I knew you were taking a risk seducing him, but even I thought you were smarter than this, Grace. This is all you’ve worked for. Is it really worth losing over some criminal murderer?”
I flinch. “He didn’t do it. He’s a good man.”
Vance stands and roars, “He would tell you anything you fuckin’ want to get into your pants! Tell me, Grace, if he’s not a murderer, then why is he running from his trial to find a man who he claims killed his sister?”
My body goes tight.
“I don’t think he’s going to thank him. He’s going to kill him. That makes him a murderer.”
“Don’t, Vance,” I whisper.
He shakes his head. “You mean a lot to me, Grace. You know that. Right now, though, I’m disgusted by you.”
He storms out and I drop to my knees, pressing my face into my hands. I knew this would happen. I knew I would suffer for my choices.
I just didn’t know it would hurt so much.