Hunter sat across from Christopher in Jack’s hotel suite, analyzing him in silence, desperately wanting to find anything about him that would make Hunter hate him. He could see why Chloe fell for him in the first place all those years ago. He was good looking, quiet, respectful, and considerate of everyone around him. Despite what Christopher did for a living, Hunter had to admit that Christopher was a good guy.
Christopher leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, giving Hunter a hard stare. “Do you really think the two of you can be together? You are a federal officer and she lives in the world of organized crime. She’ll never be able to leave it.”
“I don’t think—”
“What if Matthew kills her? Then what?”
“He won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“He won’t,” Hunter repeated with an unrelenting tone. “He needs her. As long as David Lundy is still breathing, he won’t touch her.”
“You seem awfully sure of that.”
“It’s all I have to hold on to,” Hunter replied.
“You need to know that Matthew Parnell is not like other made men in organized crime that you know about, read about, or see on television. He’s unpredictable and dangerous. If evil incarnate had a twin brother, Matthew would be it. I mean, Jesus, he cut off a woman’s head; a woman, I might add, who worked for him and was loyal to him for over ten years.”
“What did you do for him?”
Christopher sat back on the couch. “I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but I did what I did for Renee. It wasn’t what I thought I signed up for when David sent me to Boston, but I had to do what I was told or risk losing everything.”
“Including Chloe,” Hunter stated.
“I guess what I’m trying to tell you is that you can hold onto whatever hope you want, but you have to prepare yourself for what might happen.” Christopher gave Hunter a hard, serious look. “Everything she has done over the past eight years has been to protect herself, and now she’s back, she’s alone, and whether or not she wants to admit it, she’s scared. She had to build this impenetrable titanium wall around her heart so she would never have to feel the loss of love ever again. Then she met you. She loves you and wants nothing more than to be with you, but in her mind, she has lost you forever. I will always love her, but know I can never have her again. You are the only one who can give her what her heart desires. If all of this turns out to have a happy ending, you’d better be good to her and treat her right, make sure she never cries and always smiles. I’ve already broken her heart once, and I know she couldn’t live with it happening again.”
Defeated, Christopher walked out of the room, leaving Hunter to stare out the window with an unexpected smile on his face.
***
“That’s all I know,” Jack said when he finished his story. “Matthew has eyes wherever she goes and nobody will talk to her unless they have to.”
Hunter saw the raised eyebrow look from Christopher that said, Told ya, and turned to Jack. “We have to get her out of there whether or not she can get us the evidence we need.”
“Christopher and I are going to Boston next week. I don’t know all the details, I’m just doing as I’m told,” Jack said.
“Wait,” Hunter said, trying to understand, “he’s going to Boston? He’s supposed to be dead. What if he’s spotted?”
“As I said, I don’t know all the details,” Jack replied. “I was told to bring him and that’s what I’m doing.”
Frustrated, Hunter asked, “And what do I do in the meantime? I can’t do anything until this asshole is either dead or in jail. I’m being babysat while he—”
Jack cut him off with a terse tone of voice. “You are being ‘babysat’ for your own protection. You should be grateful that you’re being extended the courtesy instead of being six feet in the ground.”
“What do Judd and Dennis know?”
“What I told them.” Jack pointed to the cast on Hunter’s hand. “Medical leave until further notice.”
Feeling frustrated and trapped, Hunter desperately wanted something heavy to throw or, if Jack would let him, which was doubtful, go to the shooting range to release his anger. “I’m a federal officer who has been chasing a ghost for years, and now that we finally know who this ghost is and where to find him, there’s nothing I can do. I’m sworn to secrecy and caught in the middle of the mob and possible murder of the boss himself. How am I going to do my job from now on? Every time I get a file on my desk that could be or is related to organized crime, I’ll have to ignore it.”
“You have options. You just don’t know it yet,” Jack said. “Look, this obviously isn’t the way things were supposed to happen, but it’s out there now and you now have a choice to do something about it.”
Hunter stood and faced Jack. “You’ll let me know what you find out?”
“I’ll tell you what I can.”
“You mean whatever you’re allowed to tell me,” Hunter stated, and walked out of the room.