“No.”
“I’ve got Lowry,” Rhys said into his comms. “She needs a minute and will walk out on her own.”
“Copy that,” Herring acknowledged. “Medical’s on standby.”
“When you’re ready,” Rhys told her.
Gratitude flashed over her face, but her eyes skirted feverishly around the stall like danger might leap at them. “Where is he?”
He. Jordan Everett.“In custody.”
“He’s not with them? He can’t see me?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?” Her voice cracked, and if she weren’t dehydrated, Rhys was certain she would be crying. “He said… I thought…” Her gaze skirted around the stall as though there was no place safe for her eyes to land. “I thought he was someone else. I thought he loved me.” She dropped her forehead to his chest. “I’m so stupid. I thought he loved me.”
He’d immersed himself in the investigation and had watched her fall in love with a man who wasn’t who he said he was. She’d been conned, lied to, and tricked. Rhys worried that the sadist prick who’d done this to her would use mental insanity as a defense, and holding her now, he would do anything to make sure the filth ended up behind bars. “Look at me, Jules.”
“I don’t want to see him again.”
“You won’t.” Hell, Rhys didn’t know why he’d lied, but she needed to know she was safe.
She rolled her head back and forth. “I thought I was going to die here.”
He had too.Damn.“But you didn’t. You need to go to the hospital. Get checked out.” Had she been assaulted? Physically hurt? Mentally, yeah, certainly. But how injured was she? “You’ll be home before you know it.”
“Callaghan, med evac is here,” Herring called. “Time’s up. Menendez, move in for an assist.”
“My team’s coming in to help you.” Rhys rubbed her back. “We’re all here to help.”
She inched back and raised her face to his. The bruises made him see red. Dehydration marred her smile and eyes. “Don’t leave me.”
“There are—”
“No.” She clung to his arm. “Don’t leave me.”
He’d pulled people out of worse. He’d never once had to remind himself it was just the job. “I’ll stay by your side.”
“Don’t tell anyone how you found me.”
“I won’t,” he lied again, instantly regretting what he’d said but knowing it was what she needed to hear.
Menendez stopped outside the stall.
Rhys gestured to his teammate. “I trust him. His name’s Ronaldo.”
She shrank into Rhys. Fear trembled through her body. “I trusted Jordan.”
“Look at me, Jules.” He touched her cheek. “Jules? Give me your eyes.”
She tipped her head back and met his gaze.
“You’re safe. And I’ll be with you until you tell me to go away.”
“Promise?”
Rhys nodded. “Promise.”
