“Fuck no,” Bobby scoffed. “Rocco shot the bastard, and I needed to erase evidence of his heroics.”
“Rocco was involved in this?” Everett glared at Bobby.
“Oh, you didn’t know?” Bobby taunted.
Rocco and Everett were close friends going back to their days in the DEA. It was normal to presume that Rocco would tell Everett before any of them, but from Everett’s response, he hadn’t.
Kane jumped from his seat and walked over to them. “Fill us in on the details, Bobby.”
“Rocco was working and heard all the commotion and rumors about a knife-wielding guy chasing a woman. He checked their exterior camera feed and realized the chase was headed straight for the alley behind the clinic. So, he steppedout, shot the dude, and pulled the woman inside to safety,” Bobby explained.
“Where’s the woman now?” Everett asked.
Bobby shrugged. “He don’t know. She didn’t open up to Rocco, and you know his ass didn’t push. But he did give her our card and a burner to use if she found herself in trouble again, which she likely will.”
“My money is on her needing us in the future. A random mugger wouldn’t chase her through the streets with tons of witnesses. Quattro mercenaries are relentless. The guy is after her for a reason, and he won’t stop looking for her until he finds her,” Kane said.
Lachlan nodded, feeling bad for the woman. “Let’s just hope she uses the card to become our first client before that happens. This is precisely why Ike created Stingray Security. We can help people in trouble who can’t escape.”
“You’re making a big assumption that she’s innocent in all this, which she might not be,” Bobby warned.
“We’ll back anyone over Quattro any day,” Everett said. “I don’t give a fuck what she did or didn’t do.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Glad to hear it,” Rocco’s voice floated into the room. “Because she absolutely needs our help.”
Lachlan looked past Rocco to the woman standing at his side, and his heart fucking stopped. The room shifted sideways as recognition slammed into him like a physical blow. That slight tilt of her head, her fingers worried the hem of her sleeve—gestures burned into his memory from thousands of shared moments. The face that haunted his dreams and phone screen stared back at him, thinner now but undeniably, impossibly real.
His ears rang as blood rushed through his head. Three years of grief crystallized into this single moment as his legs threatened to give out. He grabbed for the table, his tremblingfingers finding purchase as memories crashed over him—her laugh as she kissed their toddler, the last brush of her lips before she got into that car.
Kane and Everett appeared at his side, their grips on his shoulders both steadying and restraining. They saw it too. This wasn't another grief-induced vision or desperate fantasy.
She was … here.
It was Britt.
Chapter 14
This must be what it felt like to stand in front of a firing squad.
Britt swallowed past the lump in her throat, clasping her hands behind her back. After texting the number on the red metal card, Dr. Forrester arrived within thirty minutes to pick her up from near the jitney stop where she was hiding. She’d never been happier to see a somewhat friendly face, although she still didn’t feel completely comfortable with the doctor. His no-nonsense, cavalier “take-it-or-leave-it” demeanor made her question whether he truly wanted to help.
But she figured he wouldn’t have picked her up if he didn’t.
He hadn’t asked her any questions when she got in his car, encouraging her to wait until they were with “the others” before talking so she wouldn’t have to tell her story twice.
Now, she was standing in the middle of what she imagined a high-tech government facility would look like, facing off with the group of bodyguards Dr. Forrester had insisted could protect her from whoever was after her. Three devastatingly handsome men stared back at her. Two of the men exchanged quizzical gazes, communicating silently between them. Britt looked away, staring at the floor. Her body flushed with heat as her nerves went haywire. “The others” were just as, if not more so,intimidating than the two men hunting her down over the past twenty-four hours.
Dr. Forrester broke the silence. “This is the lady who was chased through Conrad. She needs our help.”
Could she trust these men to help her? Or was she running from one monster into the path of another? She knew nothing about them and couldn’t vet who they were. What had she been thinking?
Britt shook her head and took a step back. “I’m sorry.” Her voice trembled. “This was a mistake.” She felt like she was going to hyperventilate. The walls closed in on her. She needed to get away from this place. From these men. “I have to get out of here. I’m sorry for wasting your time.” She pivoted toward the door.
“Please … don’t … go,” the haunted pleading in the request halted her.
She turned to look back at the man who’d spoken. He stepped toward her, arm extending, then falling back to his side. His presence hit her like a physical force, pulling her like gravity. The air between them seemed to crackle with electricity, making the fine hairs on her arms stand on end. Each breath became shorter, shallower as if the oxygen in the room had suddenly grown thick and heavy.
