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“The problem is, the California police don’t have jurisdiction in Illinois. The only thing he’s done here—that we can prove—is call to her from the back of the Majestic.”
Alicia stood up and walked away from the couch. “You don’t get it. Neither of you. I faked my death. I had a friend who worked at the county hospital. He was a good guy the firm I worked for used as an expert witness a couple of times.”
“You were a lawyer?” asked Brock.
“No, a paralegal. I saved money from what Ewan gave me for groceries and took small bills from his wallet when he was passed out and hid them all over the house and our garden. When I’d saved up enough, I had my friend let me know when the morgue got a Jane Doe that might pass for me.”
She shook her head. “We stuffed that poor woman into the back of my SUV. It was awful and the stench was horrific. I don’t care who she was or what she’d done to end up on the streets; she deserved to be treated with more respect, but I didn’t have time to do that. I packed a bag and then removed some essentials, dragged her up to the front seat, and rigged the accelerator with a stick to send it careening through the railing and into the ravine. I stood and watched it hit bottom and explode into flames.”
Brock felt like he wanted to throw up. She had been put through hell and the first time since he’d known her that she really needed him, he’d balked. Thank god for Seth. He’d have to thank him someday.
“As far as the law is concerned, Alicia Rennault is dead.”
“Why didn’t he have them run dental records or something?” asked Brock.
“My guess is he wanted to collect on the life insurance. If I’m alive, he will not only feel humiliated, he’ll have to give that money back, and Ewan is not about to suffer either.”
“But if we can prove…”
“You won’t be able to prove anything. Trust me, over the years I tried so many times to go through proper channels to find someone, anyone, who would or could help me. And in the end, there was no one. Each time I tried, he beat me worse than the time before. Half of the cops didn’t care, and the other half felt sorry for him that he was married to a crazy woman. At one point he even had me committed. He wanted them to perform a lobotomy—they refused.”
“For the record, baby girl, I’m back to wanting to kill him. She’s right Seth; having him arrested will have little to no effect.”
“But this time, she’ll have us backing her.”
Alicia shook her head. “No. He’ll drag all of you through the mud.”
Brock got up and closed the distance between them. “That’s what washing machines were made for. Trust me, Sully and Nina will have a field day with destroying his life.”
“I didn’t have a choice…”
“Not then, but you do now,” said Seth. “The big guy is going to hate me for saying this, but you have a choice: stand and fight with Cerberus at your back or run. We can move you to a safehouse. You’ll have to walk away again…”
“No, she won’t. Alicia can run if that’s what she wants, but this time she won’t be alone.”
“What are you saying, Brock?”
“I’ll go with you. I may have failed you earlier, but I swear to you that won’t happen again.”
“You didn’t fail me. I lied to you; you were shocked.”
“Nope. I failed you. I know you well enough to know that if you were hiding a marriage, there was a damn good reason. I didn’t wait for you to explain, I just got all judgmental and shit. I hate when I do that, and I know better. Seth said you had two choices; you don’t. You have three. I’m the third choice, baby girl. Choose me. We’ll run some place he can never find us until Cerberus can put an end to him, but rise or fall, choose me.”
He watched as a myriad of emotions played across her face until he saw the one he wanted—a mixture of hope and stubbornness. She nodded.
“Seth? We’ll try it your way and take this bastard down out in the open, but get Nina working on some false identification documents. I want to be ready to run if it goes south. I’m going to gather the team and head back to the office. If this guy is as psycho as I think he is, we’re not safe here, and neither is anyone else. We’ll be staying in the big suite on the third floor.”
“That sounds like the start of an excellent plan. Alicia, we’re going to need you to tell us everything. I’ll get on the phone to Nina and JJ. Nina will take care of the documentation, but nobody knows more than JJ about getting women out of bad situations and hiding them.”
Brock nodded. “Sounds good. Just have them leave the clothes Camille bought for Alicia up in our room. I’m going to want added security…”
“Brock, this is too much. I can’t just ask all of you to uproot your lives.”
“You didn’t ask, baby girl. Your family—your chosen family—has got your back. Your soon-to-be-ex has no idea how bad things are about to get for him.” He took her hands in his. “I know I let you down…”
“No. We let each other down, but we don’t have to let that define the rest of our lives.”
“Hey, Brock?”
