Chapter 25
Lord give me patience. Cause if you give me strength, I’m going to need bail money to go with it.
-E-card
Shiloh
My eyes narrowed on the bitchy nurse who’d, yet again, refused to let me leave my bed to go see James who was four doors down from me.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Mackenzie. Mr. Allen isn’t receiving visitors. He’s requested that no one bother him except for his daughter.” Nurse Bitch said as she breezed out of the room, purposefully ignoring my frantic waving.
That bitch. She knew I couldn’t call after her, nor could I press the little goddamn button since she’d moved said button halfway across the room.
I’d had surgery on my jaw, and then had it wired shut. Now all I was able to eat was food that came from a straw. Let me tell you, that’s something that sucks. Why you ask? Because the hospital doesn’t take the time to blend each individual food separately. They pile it all into one heaping pile, toss it into the mixer, and then blend it into one big pile of shit.
It tastes even worse. Therefore, I’m starving because I could only stomach a quarter of the food. Which would’ve been my next question had she stayed longer than the required time it took for her to replace my IV line which I’d purposefully pulled out to get someone in here.
Aside from the broken jaw, I also had a broken tibia, as well as a broken ulna in my left arm.
Therefore, getting around was not the easiest thing to do. At all.
Nevertheless, I’d have to go for it if I wanted to survive. Starving to death didn’t sound like the best thing in the world to do. That and I missed James and Janie, not to mention my brothers and father like crazy.
I’d been awake for well over eight hours now, and not once had anyone come to see me. I was getting really upset.
The first obstacle was getting up. With the fucking bed remote all the way across the room. Using the IV pole for support, I lifted my body up, managing not to jar my leg too much. My jaw, on the other hand, was a different story all together. It throbbed with each movement of my body. Which probably meant that all my other various broken bones and bruises were hurting, too, but the pain in my jaw was just overshadowing it.
The dumb nurse did happen to leave the beside roller table though, and it helped me immensely when I leaned on it. Instead of rolling the IV pole with me, I just removed my IV. Then I managed to grab the bag that contained my pee, flipped it over until you couldn’t see its contents, and started making my way slowly to the door.
Once there, I had a decision to make. Left, or right. I know she said he was four doors down from me, but I didn’t know in which direction, and the possibility could really turn dire if I had to walk one way, and then the other if I chose poorly.
Then I heard James deep voice, slightly raised and near panic.
Hobbling along, I followed the sound of his voice like a beacon in the night. I’d just gotten to his door when I finally could make out what exactly he was saying, and what I heard nearly made my heart stop.
“When is she due? What makes you think it was mine? I only slept with her once.” James snarled.
I was hyperventilating, and not from the exertion of getting to his room.
“Listen Layne, I know you think that it’s mine, but you’ve got to know, we used protection. She said...” He trailed off as Layne, whoever he wass, started to yell.
I could hear the sound of the man’s voice raised to a decibel that made you listen. His tone didn’t allow for anything else. His voice held power, and you’d listen, or likely pay for it.
“Okay, listen, what happened between us was consensual. Now, what the hell is going on?” James snapped, grimacing when his shout jolted his chest, causing him pain.
“Jesus Christ, you’ve got to be kidding me. When’d this happen? Is she okay?” He rasped.
My heartbeat accelerated, my one good leg went weak, and I knew he was worried about this woman, whoever she was. She must be important to him. Did he love her? Was he in love with her before me? Was he even in love with me?
Just as I started to turn around, Sam rounded the corner, and his face turned from impassive to downright thunderous when he saw me leaning against the table and the wall for support.
His steps sped up until he was almost running and caught me just as my one good leg collapsed. “Oh, Shiloh. So stubborn you are. The nurse told me you weren’t to be disturbed, that you didn’t want to see us. Are you upset with me?”
I scowled at him as he scooped me up, piss bag and all. “No. Nurse wouldn’t let me see James.” I said through my teeth. I wasn’t sure how coherent I sounded with my mouth wired shut, but I was guessing he’d gotten the drift.
“She’s just jealous. I think her and James had a fling a few years ago.” He spoke as he carried me into James room.
James eyes looked haunted and distant, but never once stopped speaking to Layne about the details of the baby mama’s assault, even after he saw me enter the room. When the conversation continued with him saying yes and no, and then lowering his voice when he needed to speak more than syllables, I’d had enough. Guess the nurse was right after all.
“Room please.” I instructed Sam, turning my face away from James sprawled body and into Sam’s chest. The burst of pain at my jaw hitting his chest was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.
He carried me away, and I took one last glance at the perfect muscles of James’ arms, the ripped sculpture of his chest, and the white bandage that bisected his midsection. “What had happened to him?”
I was in the hall before Sam answered the question that I wasn’t aware I’d voiced. “He got shot on the way to work two days ago. Right about the time you were taken by Glen.”
At the mention of Glen’s name, I shuttered. “Is he dead?”
The hope in my voice must have registered with Sam, but his grimace shot that hope to hell. “Sorry, Shiloh.”
The smooth cadence of his voice, followed by the rhythmic walking made my eyes heavy, and it was all I could do to stay awake. Sam placed me gently on the bed, adjusting all the lines and covers before he started to back away.
“Don’t leave.” I pleaded.
“Okay.” He agreed, and then I was asleep.
My dreams were anything but happy. They were filled with a crazed Glen trying to re-break my jaw, James and another woman holding their child, as well as Janie in the peripheral, mad that I never came back again.
“What are you doing out of bed?” The nasty nurse from earlier asked.
My eyes blinked open, and I turned my head until I got a face full of chest.
It wasn’t the same chest that I’d cried myself to sleep against earlier, either. No this one was the one I loved. The one that had a huge bandage across his chest.
He was on his side lying next to me. One of James’ dog tags was caught haphazardly in the gauze, while the other dangled free against his pec.
His large arm was slung across my body, holding me in my sleep.
“Are you awake yet, sleepy head?” James’ chest rumbled.
“No.” I snapped, or tried to, anyway.
It came out more like ‘non’ and spit dribbled down my chin, which inevitably ran down his chest shortly after. I’d forgotten about my wired jaw for a split second, but it didn’t let me forget it. His laughter startled me out of my mortification, and I looked up as he raised his arm, wiping the slobber off his chest, and then on the bed sheet before bringing his hand up to my hair.
“Where’d you go earlier?” He asked softly, ignoring the crabby nurse at our backs.
“When?” I asked.
“Shin?” He asked, pulling back, confused in my answer.
His hand went down towards the bottom of the bed, lifting the covers from my feet. His body remained in place, the cords of his neck straining with the effort to remain as still as possible
My off-white cast poked free, followed by my hospital-issued faded blue non-slip sock.
“James.” I called, wanting his eyes.
“Mr. Allen, I’ve got a chair for you.” The nurse urged tightly.
The pain was evident in his face as he moved, and I knew the movement to check on me was causing him discomfort, but he was too worried about something that was wrong with me rather than being worried about what he was doing to himself.
When he finally looked up and caught my eyes, I reached for his hand.
He gave me his hand, and I pulled it up until my head rested on our clasped hands.
His eyes went soft, and he smiled at me. “Are you okay?”
Knowing that we just needed to get the elephant out of the closet, I asked. “Baby?”
I think he purposefully misheard, because his eyes left mine, focusing on something above my head. “Janie’s fine. Shaken up, and understandably so, but she’s staying with Grammy and Grampy Todd.”
“I’m going to get an orderly to help you back in bed, Mr. Allen.” The nurse said quickly before leaving the room after she made her third attempt to get James off the bed and into the waiting wheelchair.
I snickered at the emphasis on Grampy, but didn’t give him a chance to retreat. My hand untangled from his, and I took a hold of his beard, holding on tightly so he couldn’t look away when I asked my next question.
“James...baby?” I asked again.
He sighed. “Fuck me.”
I didn’t let him go, and he didn’t try to turn his head again. “Please?”
“You’re hungry for peas?” He asked with a smile turning up the corners of his mouth.
I yanked hard on the beard and he winced, but his smile didn’t wane. “Did your brother ever really tell you what we do?”
I thought about what my brother did as a mechanic and custom bike designer. “Bikes?” I asked, confused.
He shook his head.
“Alright, let me tell you, but don’t interrupt me until I get it all out, okay? Please?” He asked softly.
At my nod, he continued.
“We’re motorcycle mechanics, builders, and designers. Although, that’s our day business. On the side, we help battered women escape dangerous and volatile situations. We’ve relocated thirty-five women. Teal, the woman you overheard the phone call about earlier, was one of those women. With me so far?” He asked.
I nodded.
“Teal knew she was pregnant before she was relocated. For all intents and purposes, though, that child is mine. I made that promise to her before she left that if something happened to her, I would take over custody of the child and do everything in my power to keep the child out of the hands of her ex-husband, and I’ll stick by it. I know the situation isn’t ideal, but there isn’t one single thing I can do about it. Nor would I want to. If it keeps an innocent child out of the clutches of a monster, then that’s the way it’s going to be.” James rasped.
Well, shit. Isn’t that part of who I am as well? To make sure that children are always put first? Why would this be any different? Then the truth hit me. If he had another baby, he wouldn’t want another one to deal with...would he?
“What happened?”
My head was hurting from our conversation and my aching mouth, but if James was willing to talk, I would listen. I did let go of his beard though, and he buried his nose into my hair.
“She’s been attacked. She’d filed with the lawyer she contacted that I was the father, and left my information down in case of emergency. Well there was an emergency, in the form of him nearly beating her to death at a stoplight, and I have power of attorney now that she’s clinically brain dead. Her ex-husband found her, I’m assuming, but the man was never apprehended. She’s not doing well at all, and they haven’t gotten any brain activity from her in over three days. They’re only keeping her alive at this point because of the baby.” He said sadly.
“Jesus.” I whispered.
“Yeah, that’s only the beginning. We have the other thirty-four women to worry about that we’ve relocated. Unless Teal fucked up, which I know damn sure she didn’t, we’ve got a leak. They’re about ten people besides ourselves that know that information, and the locations of all of them, as well as their new identities, aren’t even kept on record.”
“Who makes the new identification for you?” I asked.
“IDs?” He clarified.
At my nod, he answered. “I don’t know. That’s something that Sam’s taken care of. I do know that we have more than one man who does it. We change after every three women. However, Sam’s already aware of what’s happened, and he’s looking into it. If it turns out that it was the man we went to for Teal, we’ll have to relocate the other two women just in case. I have a feeling that Teal’s ex was looking for her specifically, and he has a lot more reach than she’d told us about. She knew that, knew that he’d find her. That’s why she went to so much trouble to name me the father.”
“Fuck.”
“I agree,” James rumbled, sounding sleepy.
However, in the next instant, his body tensed, and I knew something was wrong by the way he froze against me. All his muscles tensed
“Mr. Allen? I’m Roderick, would you like me to help you...”
I don’t know how it happened, nor what happened, but in the next moment, the report of gunfire echoed throughout the tiny hospital room. A nice little hole, the size of a penny, entered into the man’s chest almost exactly where James had been shot just a few short weeks ago.
The gun in James hand lowered slowly, and screaming started in the hallway.
Somewhere in the aftermath of James shooting the man, Sebastian showed and pried the gun from James’ hand. Wiping the gun off on the black t-shirt he wore, he fired once more into the man in nearly the same place, ejected the clip, removed the bullet from the chamber, and tossed them all into the bathroom before closing the door.
“Knew he’d come here, stupid bastard. Just meant to be here in time.” Sebastian smiled at the two of us.
James cursed and made it to his feet slowly before peering at the man who was bleeding out on the floor.
I took a closer look at the man on the floor and finally noticed the numerous tattoos on the man’s forearms, neck and head. “What the fuck?” I asked.
Oh, and did I mention the huge ass shotgun?
“Now’s not the time for that, Shiloh.” James said distractedly.
Jesus Christ, I really had to work on this talking thing. Then again, I would think that two grown men would think more of me than to say ‘want to fuck’ in the middle of this kind of dilemma. I mean I was kinky, but I wasn’t into doing it with dead people in the room.
“Everybody on the ground! No excuses. Get the fuck down.” A man’s voice called from the hallway.
Was that expected of me? Because if it was, I’d hurt myself. So would James. However, that turned out to be an unnecessary thought when Sebastian scooped me up from the bed and laid me gently down on the ground, following me down once he had me there comfortably.
“Keep your mouth shut.” Sebastian whispered.
James’ body hit the floor beside us way less graceful than I would’ve thought, and he grunted in pain, which was the only thing that kept me from punching my brother in the gut. Son of a bitch thought he was funny, too, if the smile on his face was anything to go by.
My perch on the floor was all kinds of precarious.
I couldn’t lay my face down because my jaw hurt too badly. I couldn’t use one of my hands because it was in an L shape plastered against my body, and my foot was stuck underneath me.
I had no traction to do anything to try to get comfortable, and when men rushed into the room, some dressed in police uniforms, and others dressed in hospital security uniforms wielding guns, it became very uncomfortable, very fast.
“Get off her, you piece of shit. She should still be in bed. She’s about four hours post-surgery on her leg and jaw, if you hurt her any more than she is right now, I will have your goddamn badge.” James snarled from beside me as he was restrained by another officer.
The hands on my back lightened, and I was supremely grateful.
“Help her in to bed. She’s no threat to you.” James snarled again.
I couldn’t see him because of the officer standing beside my head, but I could see Sebastian as he was rolled over onto his back, cuffed arms underneath him. He had a twinkle in his eyes, as if he had a secret.
“Alright, boys. Back away from these men and my daughter. I’m Silas Mackenzie with the CIA. My credentials are...”
My father’s voice surprised me, but the man’s boots at my face twisted in surprise, accidentally kicking me in the process.
And you guessed it. Right in the kisser.
The burst of pain flashed through me, vomit rose in my throat, poured out of my mouth, burst through my clenched teeth, my nose, and maybe even out my ears.
I puked and then dry heaved for nearly a minute before the pain in my jaw calmed down enough.
I was proud to see that the man that kicked me in the face now had puke on his shoes, as well as a new bruise on his face. He looked incredibly remorseful, but that didn’t help the waves of agony that were rolling through me with each pulse of my heart.
“Goddammit! I told you to fucking watch her you stupid piece of shit. You’re fucking done.” James snarled from his back, straining to get to me.
The arms that were wrapped around me were my father’s as he smoothed the hair from my face, wiping my face off gently with a cool towel.
“Page the nurse. Tell her to bring some medication in here for her pain.” My father demanded of someone.
I was crying, but the look on James’ face had my tears slowing until I was looking at him with wet cheeks only. He looked agonized, as if what he’d done inadvertently caused me to be hurt. Once my tears had stopped though, he calmed, somehow composing himself enough to stop struggling himself.
The sharp pinch of a needle entering my arm brought my attention to the nurse, the same one that hated me for some reason, punched a needle into my arm a little too hard, and I lost the battle with consciousness.
***
James
“Simmons is gone. I don’t care what you have to do, but you make him gone. He did that on purpose. He was standing a little more than a foot away from her face. He didn’t kick her on accident.” I hissed to Silas, and then turned to The Captain, making sure they both understood my standpoint.
“We’ll look into it...” The Captain started to say before I interrupted him.
“No. He will be gone. It’s either him or me. You decide.” I gritted out between clenched teeth.
Partly because I was in a lot of pain from my own gunshot wound, and secondly, I didn’t trust myself to start yelling the rooftops down.
When I’d seen Glen entering the room, at first my eyes didn’t quite comprehend what I was seeing.
I’d been lying in bed with Shiloh for a little over two hours when she’d finally woken. I’d been getting the run around by the nurse for going on half a day about Shiloh’s progress, and the nurse kept telling me that she was still asleep.
Since I was in no place to argue with the woman, I let her be, knowing she’d get a hold of me as soon as she was able. Which she’d done, but I’d promptly screwed up by not acknowledging her. I was in shock. I hadn’t believed Teal when she’d said that she was too important to be let go. That her ex-husband would find her no matter what she did.
I’d been naïve. I’d thought I knew this world. Thought I knew the kind of scum that inhabited this earth. Teal had been an innocent, and to know that she’d been beaten to within an inch of her life, absolutely shredded me. I’d brought the concerns to Sam, but we’d done everything we could possibly do, short of killing off the ex, which wasn’t what we did.
Until now.
With Shiloh asleep on the bed next to me, and Teal being kept alive halfway across the country, I knew that I wouldn’t stand by and let this happen anymore. Something had to change.
I’d been thinking about the changes that needed to take place when Glen walked in. Although dressed as an orderly, the shotgun in his hand was unmistakable.
It was gut instinct, on top of raw need to protect the woman I loved, that made my hand act. The gun became an extension of me. It took all of six seconds to get the gun in my hand, aim, and fire. It was only divine justice that the bullet had hit Glen in the same spot as he’d had a sniper take me.
The Captain’s vehement speech to Detective Howell brought me out of my musings. “Larson’s wanted on attempted murder of a police officer, kidnapping of a woman, attempted kidnapping of a child, and numerous other things, Officer Howell. We have the testimony of his brother and his girlfriend. The man is guilty. What Mr. Mackenzie did was acceptable.”
“Jesus Christ. You realize this is a colossal clusterfuck. This facility prohibits firearms on the premises. He had to get a gun in here someway without passing through a metal detector. Which means he entered illegally, and purposefully carried a firearm into the facility. That’s a violation of the law, and the hospital has the right to press charges, which they are doing.” Detective Howell gritted out through clenched teeth.
Technically, me and every other member of my team had done the same in the past week, as well as the past four years all together. I didn’t go anywhere unarmed, and that includes lying flat on my back in a hospital bed.
It was another two hours before they moved us to my room, the charge nurse opting to let Shiloh and I share a room until our stay was over with, since Shiloh’s was now a crime scene.
Sebastian was arrested for the possession of a firearm, and since he had priors, they kept him, denying him bail.
Shiloh slept.
I guess it was good that at least one of us could. I was fucking exhausted, but my mind was on a hundred different things, going in one hundred different directions.
***
Two days later
“They’re releasing you, but not me?” Shiloh asked.
Well, to the best of my knowledge, that’s what she asked. “Yeah, but I’m not going anywhere, honey. I’ll be here until you get to go home, too.”
“Good,” she hesitated. “You should go home anyway, spend some time with Janie. Get her used to having a new sister.”
I looked at her. I was thinking the same thing myself. Nonetheless, I knew something was bothering Shiloh, minus the fact that her brother was still in jail.
Pressing the button on the side of the bed, I waited for it to lift me up fully before I turned completely towards Shiloh, who was laid back in her own bed, looking even more pitiful than she had two days ago. I couldn’t wait to cuddle her, hold her close to my chest, and feel her sleeping next to me again.
“Tell me what’s wrong, honey.” I said softly.
Instead of talking, she started to type on her phone in a furious burst of motion. Moments later, my phone buzzed.
Shiloh: I scared that I’m going to be a bad mother.
I read the message, and then looked up into her eyes. “You’re kidding me, right? Just four days ago, you kept my own daughter safe from a man that broke your jaw, leg, and arm. How do you think Janie would’ve faired if you hadn’t been there, made sure that she was all right?”
I waited for her to reply, but she didn’t, only staying silent.
“What about when Lyle and his mother died. I distinctly remembered you being so upset, so outraged, that you wrote a letter to the editor. Which, might I add, everyone and their brother cut out and framed.” I stated.
Shiloh: What if I don’t love that baby as much as he or she deserves?
At that absurd statement, I burst out laughing. Her scowl only making me laugh all the harder.
“You’ll love the baby as much as our own, as much as Janie, when we finally have it.” I managed to wheeze.
She threw her empty water pitcher at me, and I caught it reflexively.
Painfully, I stood, and walked to the edge of her bed, clutching my discharge papers in my hand.
Thankfully, she was propped up into a seated position, enabling me to reach her mouth, which I captured with my own.
“Ewww,” Janie squealed from the doorway, making my lips lift into a grin before I pulled my lips away.
Shiloh’s eyes were dancing with mirth at being caught by my six year old, but she looked excited, too.
She hadn’t seen Janie since the day she was taken. Both of us felt that it’d be better until some of the bruises faded from her face, and she was able to take a full shower to wash away the blood from her hair. We’d felt that Janie would be better off if Shiloh looked better, and was dealing with her pain level better.
Because, let’s face it, Janie was a very active six year old, and she wasn’t easy on injured people. She didn’t know how to be. Which was why when she launched herself at me, Silas caught her in midair and twirled her around his head.
“Easy there, midget. Your daddy just had a hole put through his body. He hurts. You’ll have to be gentle with him for a few days.” Silas explained patiently.
Janie looked at me, and then over to Shiloh. “What’s with that cast color? Who picks white?” She finally asked.
Shiloh snickered, and then looked over to me, waiting for me to explain. “Shiloh didn’t get to pick it. Guess you’ll have to decorate it for her to make it pretty.”
“I can do that. I’ll need my Sharpie’s.” She said with a determined expression. “Daddy said you broke your arm again. I told him he should buy you a horse so you didn’t have to walk and fall anymore.”
I closed my eyes, thinking how nice it would be to have the innocence of a child, and the ability to recover from a traumatizing event only days after it happened.
Sadly, I knew I would remember this for a while. Maybe even the rest of my lifetime.
Although I knew I could bear it. Having Shiloh and Janie would make anybody question their sanity, but that was my life. I looked forward to hearing what new cuss words Janie learned while helping the guys at the shop. Or what would come out of Shiloh’s mouth next. I only had one thing I had to make sure to do. That was to embrace the crazy.
***
Later that night
My door opened.
Thinking it was only the nurse, I didn’t react to the intrusion. I was used to it. Frankly, I didn’t think it was even possible to ‘recover’ well in the hospital. How does one get better when they don’t even let you sleep and eat properly?
Turning my head, I was startled to see a frightened, tiny form slipping into the room, and doing her best to close it behind her, despite the little mechanism at the top that kept you from closing it except at the speed it wanted.
“Jolie?” I rasped with sleep still clinging to my voice.
She turned sharply, gasping. Why would she be surprised when she was the one to enter my room?
“Are you okay?” I finally asked as she stood there like a frightened rabbit.
“I’m sorry. I’m just not used to not being afraid all the time. You startled me. I thought you’d be asleep.” She finally answered.
“Can you explain that?” I asked.
She walked slowly over to the chair that was beside my bed and sat.
“I don’t know if James ever told you about the bullying I’d received in high school...” She asked, looking over to me for confirmation. At the shake of my head she continued.
“I was bullied quite badly after the accident with James’ best friend. After a while, I just couldn’t take it anymore and left. There was a small incident of an older senior nearly raping me, and I just broke. I left, ran. Lived on the streets in Austin for over eight months before a man found me.”
She swallowed hard.
“I was young and impressionable. I thought the man loved me. Then the man loaned me out, bet me like a fucking stack of chips at a poker game to pay, I guess you could say. Glen Larson was one of the ones at the table, and once that bet was made, he made it a mission to win. And win he did. I wasn’t too in the know, to be honest, of what kind of person the man I’d been living with for about four months was, but I learned quickly in that week I had to spend with Glen Larson. Stole some money from Glen to get away, and left. I’ve been running for about six years now. I thought that after five years of no one even looking for me, that it would be safe to come home when my Aunt died and left me her house. I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
I absorbed that news for a minute. “So, what was all that shit you were trying to do with James?”
She shrugged. “Glen. He wanted you. Told me if I got you alone that he’d consider the money I stole from him paid in full. But I didn’t want James hurt, so I tried to wiggle myself between the two of you. Once I learned what they were planning to do to you, I backed off. That’s when I truly started to try to get a hold of the police, but James just kept telling me to go away. Same with Max. I didn’t know whom to trust. God I was so fucking scared.”
She seemed to slump, and she looked totally defeated.
“That’s why you brought the wrecked bike to Free?” I questioned.
She nodded. “That was one of Larson’s men’s old bikes. It was just a way in.”
“How did you come to be where James was shot?” I asked.
I was burning with questions. The need to know more about what happened with James was absolutely killing me.
“I overheard Glen talking about a new gun before I left the last time and didn’t come back. I’d learned from working at The Gun Doctor what you would use that kind of gun for. I followed him; saw where he set himself up. I’d never intended to let anything happen. I was over confident. James came flying down the street before I could even react, tell him, and warn him. It all happened so fast, and I couldn’t let anything else happen to him, so I pulled him into my rental and took off. Dropped the car and him at the ER entrance, yelled like a frantic woman that someone was in trouble, and took off.”
I couldn’t even begin to tell her how humbled I was that she’d do that. Put herself in the line of fire when I was sure she’d been scared shitless.
There was only one thing I could think to say. “Thank you.”
“It wasn’t enough. It will never be enough.” She sniffled, trying her hardest not to cry. “Tell him I’m sorry. He was always so good to me.”
“You already told him.” I said, nodding my head towards the doorway where James was now leaning quietly, head down.
When I pointed out his presence, he looked up, eyes hard.
“You’re about to disappear.” He said with no emotion in his voice.
She rose, nodding. “I know. Thank you.”
When she tried to slip past him out the door, he grabbed a hold of her arm. “No, we’re making you disappear. We’ll give you a new identity. Money. A place to live. You’ll keep your head down. And you’ll never contact us again.”
Tears poured down Jolie’s face. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “Should have contacted me before it got this bad. You’re welcome.”