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Chapter Forty-Six
Mia
In an apartment hidden away across town—miles from where that phone call came from—I let out a heavy sigh. Hawkeye was looking at me like he had news to deliver that he’d rather not.
“Didn’t they teach you to school your face in Seal training?” I asked him, hoping throwing in a tease would lighten the mood.
It worked because he smiled at me. It didn’t reach his eyes, but it was a smile, nonetheless.
“Yeah, I have some news.” Hawkeye came closer to the sofa, where I had been set up with enough pillows to ensure that my broken ankle was elevated. “We haven’t found him since he attacked Terry. He’s a little more skilled than we thought. He evaded us and now we’re searching.”
He let the words sink in as he watched me. I felt my body grow tense, and my mind began racing, thinking of all the possibilities. If he was still out there, then Ally, Catherine, and Terry were still in danger. I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t have the people I loved in danger.
“Okay,” I said and swallowed. Internally, I was processing. I was trying to decide how to handle this. How not to fall apart in front of a complete stranger. Tears pricked my eyes. “Can I talk to Terry?”
“He’s fine,” Hawkeye said as if that should have covered it. “He’s back from the hospital. It was only a broken nose.”
I shuddered at the words ‘only a broken nose.’ No, it wasn’t only a broken nose. That’s all Chad had done to him this time, but who knows what would have happened if he got the chance to do it again.
“Well, that’s all it will ever be. I think it’s best if I let Terry go. Take him out of harm’s way.”
“What do you mean?” Hawkeye asked me, his eyebrows bent in confusion.
“I mean that I’m going to let Terry go. Set him free. This way, he isn’t around the apartment. Or months from now, Chad won’t see us together. He’ll be out of the picture. He’ll be safe.”
“No, that’s not necessary. We haven’t found Chad yet, but we will. You have to give us some time. You have to have some faith.” He was pleading with me now. But I wasn’t listening.
“It’s not that I don’t have faith, it’s that I know Terry. And this is what is best for all of us.”
“Give us some time,” he commanded.
I shook my head. “Can I have some space, please?” I asked. “This isn’t something I want to do in front of you,” I admitted to him with a look of finality that told him, Please don’t mess with me right now. My mind had been made up, my resolve was in place, and there was no stopping me now.
“I wish you wouldn’t do that. Just give us some more time.”
“Privacy, please,” I said in return.
Hawkeye nodded and headed for the bedroom. Before closing the door, he turned to me and spoke. “You’re going to regret this because we are going to get him. And then you’ll want to call Terry again, and you won’t be able to.” He watched me, letting the words sink in before reminding me of one more thing. “Besides, Chad will never know that you let him go. This isn’t going to be some quick, magic fix for Terry. It will take months for Chad to realize that, and he won’t have months because he won’t be on the outside. Terry is also very well protected right now. So this isn’t necessary.”
I sighed. I heard what he was saying, but my mind was made up. I appreciated that he was trying to help me, trying to make me see reason, but I had been dealing with Chad for so long that I was well beyond reason.
“Privacy, please,” I repeated and was rewarded with Hawkeye closing the door behind him, leaving me to do what he disagreed with, but what I knew in my heart was the right thing to do. In the short run, this was going to kill me. But in the long run, it would keep Terry safe, and that was all that mattered now.
