Mine to Have (Mine #5)(36)
“I’m here to offer you a choice, Ms. Ward.” His words were emotionless, and so was the expression on his face. She was sure that sympathy had flashed in his gaze before, but there was no sign of any softening from him now.
She locked her trembling knees. “What kind of choice?”
“All of my intel shows that Luther Bates still has a hit on you.”
She could feel the blood draining from her face. She’d feared this—how could she not? But actually hearing those words from Victor had her heart stuttering in her chest.
“Gary won’t be the only one who comes after you. Luther Bates—hell, even in jail—he’s still a man with a whole lot of power.”
“B-but my parents have been dead for years. No one came after me before…no one knew—”
“Because you were in Europe. Out of sight…safe, until you came down to Miami, and someone recognized you.”
The sick feeling in her stomach told her that he was going to say—
“I’d wager that someone was Wesley Locke. He figured out who you were because he’d been on Luther’s payroll before. He sold you out, but I’m guessing the guy didn’t realize he’d wind up dead, too.”
Her lips felt numb as she said. “He…he told me to run. Right before he died—those were the last words he said to me.”
“If you’re trying to get away from Luther Bates, you have to run far and you have to run fast.” His voice deepened as he said, “I will do everything in my power to get that hit order rescinded. If Luther will call off his dogs, you can have a chance at a normal life.”
A chance?
“But Luther is a twisted sonofabitch, a man who believes in the eye for an eye mentality. He thinks your family ruined his life, so his goal…it seems to be taking your life.”
It hurt to breathe. “I don’t…I don’t hear choices from you.” More like just really sucky news. At least Saxon survived. Saxon is going to be okay! She’d just never be seeing him again. Her hand rose to rub at the growing ache in her chest.
Victor exhaled on a rough sigh. “You can stay here, in this town, and face the risks that are going to come your way. I can give you some guards while I go to talk with Luther Bates…”
She waited.
“Or you can get the hell out of Miami,” he said bluntly. “Disappearing before worked for you, and it can work again. I’ve got pull at the Department of Justice. I can get you a new start. A new name, someplace else to live. You can vanish, and just start over again in a different town.”
She took a step back. “I just got here.” She’d just gotten used to her routine, just made new friends. She’d been working on the hospital fund-raiser so she could—
“I think if you stay, you’ll die here.”
Elizabeth flinched at those cold, blunt words. Obviously, Victor didn’t believe in pulling his punches.
“And I need you,” he added. “Gary Warren wanted to eliminate you…hell, he risked everything to take you out—blowing his cover at the FBI and coming straight to battle me—so that means there was something special about you. Something he didn’t want you telling me…”
“There’s nothing special,” she said, her words hoarse. “Not a damn thing about me.”
“When your parents were killed, you might have seen him. You might have known something that could link him to their deaths—something that could blow his cover. So he went hard after you. He tried to take out two federal agents in order to get you.”
And he’d killed all of those people when he hunted her? But…Gary had looked familiar to her. “I’d seen his face before,” she mumbled. “I-I think I had, anyway.” Her hands slid back to her sides. Every breath she took felt cold in her lungs. “But I can’t remember when! Or where.”
“Maybe you just need some time to think about your past.”
Why would she want to do that? The past hurt, but then, so did the present. She turned away from him and paced toward the mirror. Her reflection stared back at her, an image of a woman who looked far too fragile. They’d given her new clothes, a t-shirt and jeans, and she looked…lost. Too pale, hair tousled, eyes far too big.
I don’t want to be lost.
“My choice,” she paused, licked her dry lips, then said, “is to stay here with a guard…and keep living my life.”
He was silent behind her, but she could easily see his reflection in the mirror. In contrast to her, he was big, tan, muscled. Dangerous. Solid.
“Do you think this Luther Bates will call off the hit on me?” Elizabeth asked.
He started to shake his head. She saw that faint movement, but he seemed to catch himself. “I’ll talk with him.”
So…no. He didn’t think Luther was going to back off.
“And if a guard stays with me, then that person…he or she would be at risk, just like Saxon was.” Saying his name hurt. How was it possible for one man to get to her this way? She’d known him for such a short time, but now, everything seemed different. She wasn’t even looking at the world the same way any longer.
Because I know the world isn’t safe now. I know danger is out there. It’s always been out there, and I was just stumbling around in the dark without a clue.