CHAPTER 11
Gavin
This was not good news. Not at all. Because if Charlie’s boss was dead, then it meant that whoever he was working for had decided that things had taken a turn they didn’t like, and they were now looking to tie up loose ends.
And Charlie was one big ole loose end, and I had no doubt they were going to do all they could to make sure she didn’t become an even bigger problem than she was now.
“Lou, above all, I need to keep Charlie safe. She’s all that matters in this mess, especially when she hadn’t realized what she was walking into.” She’d been completely innocent—probably never did anything illegal in all her life—and now she had criminals hunting her down and wanting her dead. But there was no fucking way I was going to let that happen. “I can try to keep her safe on my own, but if the FBI can help in any way, I’ll sure as hell be able to do a better job of it.”
“We’ll have to bring her in for questioning if we have any hope of keeping her out of harm’s way. We need to figure out who’s behind this, so we can try to put a stop to it at the source. And eventually, we’ll also need her to testify if we have any hope of putting an end to this.” Lou knew damn well that having her be a witness in this case, if it went to trial, would put a bull’s eye on Charlie’s back, and was already putting his hands up to try and calm me down. “I know you don’t like the idea—and believe me, I get it. But the only way to make sure Charlie stays safe is to put these guys away for a very long time. And in order to do that, we need her help, though we’ll do our best to work other angles.”
I didn’t just “not like” the idea — I fucking hated it. Yet I knew that Charlie’s options were few, short of being on the run the rest of her life. And that just wasn’t any way to live. “I want your word that if there’s a way around getting her to testify, if there’s someone else who can testify in her place, especially when she only stumbled upon this by accident, then you’ll go that route first.”
“You have my word. But we’re going to have to move quickly on this, and get her someplace safe. One person’s already dead, and we still don’t have any indication as to who’s behind it. Though with Whitman’s murder, we now have access to all his files and his home, even if there’s a good chance that if the hit was done by a pro, they may have wiped Whitman’s drives clean, and destroyed any evidence that would lead back to them.” Lou shook his head, looking distracted with his thoughts. “Our teams are still trying to figure out whether or not they actually got their hands on the weaponized virus. If they did, it could be disastrous.”
He was right. Depending on how they altered the virus, there may be no easy way to combat it, and it may have already fallen into the wrong hands. God only knew what they wanted it for or where they would use it, but the results would be the same.
People would die.
“They may have wiped his hard drives, but there’s still a good chance that the data can be recovered. If you need my help in any way, just let me know. I want this over with as soon as possible.” The faster we can get this over with, the safer Charlie would be. I reached over and gave her hand a squeeze, needing her to know that she wasn’t alone in all this. “How are you holding up? Do you have any questions for Lou?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been in this kind of trouble before, and I honestly don’t even know where to start. I’m in way over my head—if it weren’t for you, I don’t know what I’d do.” She then turned her attention to Lou, looking visibly shaken up—and with her boss now dead, who could blame her? “I can’t thank you enough for helping to keep me safe, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I can only go into hiding if I can bring my dog—and Gavin’s dog too. After Ripley’s time at the shelter, putting her in a kennel, no matter how nice, is just going to stress her out. I can’t do that to her.”
Lou’s eyes flicked over to me in question, as if asking if she was actually serious. I put my arm around her shoulders in response. If that’s what it took to get Charlie to agree to all this, then the dogs were coming with us—which suited me just fine. Though I could usually drop off Thor at my brother’s place with no worries, given that my brother had no qualms about feeding Thor a steady diet of pizza crusts, steak grizzle, and any other table scraps that happen to be around, I liked that Charlie had immediately thought of the dogs. “You can’t blame the girl for wanting to take care of her dog, now can you?”
Lou just shook his head, and gave us an easy smile. “No, I certainly can’t. You know what my wife is like with our three dogs. Those pups are more spoiled than our kids are.”
“I guess we should start packing.” We’d only grab the essentials. Though I didn’t know how long we would be gone for, we’d make do, or pick up what we needed once we got to wherever the hell we were going.
“I have men stationed outside your home. They’ll take you to one of our safe houses when you’re ready. Here’s their number. Just let them know, and if you need anything at all, they can get in touch with me.” Lou turned his attention back to Charlie. “I appreciate your help with this matter, Charlie. You have my word—we’ll do all we can to keep you safe.”
I saw Lou to the door, noting that there weren’t just two men stationed by my door, despite all my security, but that there were likely several more agents stationed around the perimeter of my property. Despite my past run-ins with the law, I had a good working relationship with the FBI, and given my hacking skills and my willingness to work with them, I knew they considered me an asset.
Did that mean they wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble for Charlie alone? I didn’t know, and frankly I didn’t really care. All that mattered was that they’d go above and beyond to keep Charlie safe. She was my one and only concern in this mess, and I’d do whatever it took to make sure she got through it safely.
I resisted the urge to pull her into my arms again, knowing that I was already getting far too attached to her, and she deserved a hell of a lot better than anything I could offer her, given my past. “How are you holding up, love?”
“Honestly? I’m feeling rattled. My boss is dead. And though I know he was up to no good—and I haven’t forgotten that he also put a hit out on me—it’s still kind of hard to deal with the fact that someone who was in my life practically every day was violently murdered.” She wrapped her arms around herself, as if warding off the chill, despite the comfortable temperatures.
Again, I had to fight the urge to cross to her side and pull her into my arms. I wanted to comfort her, and yet each touch, each moment spent in her company, took me down the path I wouldn’t be able to return from, and I shouldn’t be wandering down it in the first place. “I wish I could be more sympathetic towards him, but he tried to have you murdered, and he was weaponizing a virus that will likely go on to kill thousands of people if it ends up in the wrong hands.”
She let out a ragged breath, looking shaken up. “I guess you never really know what people might be hiding. I couldn’t have never imagined any of this.”
Her words were like a knife to my heart. But they were exactly the reminder that I needed to keep my distance. I wasn’t the man she thought I was. She may think I was some sort of knight in shining armor just because I’d managed to temporarily keep her from harm, but what would she think of me if she actually found out I’d raped my best friend while in prison? Hell, I was pretty sure just knowing I’d spent time in jail might possibly make her see me in a whole new light. The things I’d done that I wasn’t proud of made up one hell of a long list, and I had no doubt she’d be appalled at the violence I’d committed.
I wasn’t worthy of her. I just had to keep reminding myself of that.
“Come on. We should get packing. The sooner we can get you to a safe house, the better.” I tried to put some distance between us, tried to put up some walls, but as smart as Charlie was, she immediately picked up on the change.
“I’m really sorry to be dragging you away from your life. You don’t have to come with me, you know. I can manage on my own now that I have the FBI watching out for me. Not to say that I’m not grateful for everything you’ve done.” Her words tumbled out in a hurry as her cheeks flushed red, her eyes refusing to meet mine. “I have no doubt I’d be dead right now if it weren’t for you. But… I’ve already messed up your schedule and barged into your life. I’m sure you have work to do… things you’d like to get back to.”
I fucking hated this. I needed to keep my distance, but pushing her away was only upsetting her, and making her think that she wasn’t welcome here, that she was being a nuisance, when nothing could be further from the truth. For the first time since I could remember, I felt like I had finally found a bit of happiness… found someone who could chase away my demons. Except that I wasn’t worthy of her. I’d never be.
Yet I couldn’t have her thinking that I didn’t want her. So, despite everything I’d already told myself, I closed the distance between us and tipped her chin up so that she’d be forced to look at me. “The only thing that matters at the moment is you. Nothing else. There’s nothing in my life that’s more important than you and keeping you safe, and you have my word, I’ll do whatever it takes to see you through this.”
“I know you will. It’s just hard not to feel like I’m in the way. Although… I guess maybe those are my hang-ups. My dad…” When her voice cracked, I had all too good an indication as to why she always seemed to be putting herself down, why she always seemed to be apologizing, or why she always seemed to think that she wasn’t good enough.
And frankly, her father and I were going to have words, as soon as this mess was over. “I want you to forget about anything hurtful your father ever said to you, because it’s clear he doesn’t have a fucking clue as to just how sweet, smart, and kind you are. You’re amazing, Charlie—and I hate that you’d think otherwise. A father’s supposed to build you up—not tear you down.”
“It’s sweet of you to say that, but… things are complicated when it comes to my family. It’s easy to blame my father for things, but there’s a reason he is the way he is.”