“That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispers in awe. “You’re the only one who’s ever….”
Stood up for him like that.
Claimed him like that.
Looked as proud to be with him as she did.
“It’s me and you now,” she replies. “No one’s changing that, certainly not Luke. The only good thing he’s done is bring us that map.”
The map. He’d almost forgotten. “So what’s the plan?”
“You won’t like it.”
* * *
“Nope. No way. Nah.” He’s already pacing the length of the kitchen island before she’s finished explaining.
“It always worked before.”
“You’ve done this before?” Wade’s eyes widen with horror.
“Of course. How else do you think I got close enough to them? Hand-to-hand combat isn’t exactly my thing.”
He hasn’t given much thought to the details of what she did in her search for him. Purposely blocked it out because he can’t picture her that close to people so dangerous. Not when he’s still so afraid that what happened to him might happen to her, too, that it plagues his nightmares.
She risked everything for a slim chance at success, not only once, but over and over again until it was a honed skill.
“I know how it sounds, but laying out bait is how we catch the rats,” she continues.
“Sure, except when you’re the bait. That’s not happening.”
She wants to put herself on the side of the road smack in the middle of Silas’s new territory until one of them tries to pick her up. The very idea has him on the verge of another panic attack.
Kara is determined. Being relentless was the only way to move forward in the face of impossible odds, and she’s perfected it.
“Wade, I know what I’m doing. We capture one when they come tohelpme, and get him to tell us where the camp is. You’ll be out of sight the whole time. I won’t be alone. Then we take them out one by one from a distance until we reach the main rat. I’ve only ever left one of them alive before. The others don’t know what I look like, and it’s been years since anyone could give them a description.”
“You left one alive?”
“To go back and tell Silas why I was picking off his men. So he knew I was looking for you.”
He sighs, threading a hand through his hair in frustration. “Not willing to risk you like that.”
“Do you have a better plan?”
“Not yet, but that doesn’t mean this one is solid.”
She cuts him a harsh glare paired with a harsher tone. “We can’t let this chance pass. If we wait too long, they could move on again. There’s no telling when the next sightings might be.They’re like fucking ghosts. You think they’re there and then they’re just gone.”
“I can wait.” He’s unprepared for how easy that is to say after wanting his revenge for so long.
“I can’t. He needs to pay for what he’s done. For what he’s taken from you. From us.”
“We’re here, aren’t we? Together?”
Kara tilts her head, her lips pursed and her tone uncertain. “Are you saying you don’t want this anymore? That killing Silas isn’t something you—”
“I’m not saying that. Not exactly, just not like this.”
