Cooper:Calling him now. See you in an hour.
“We’ll figure this out,” I say through the shield separating my front and back seats, watching her through the rearview mirror.
“He’s going to find me. I need to leave.” Tears well in her eyes.
“No, he won’t. And you’re not going anywhere. You’re safest here with me and my family. I have someone coming to install a security system at my house right now. You’re moving in with me. I’m going to take a leave of absence. And I’ll be with you all the time.”
“That’s ludicrous, Wy. That doesn’t even make sense. I’ll just go. Unburden everyone here with my mess.”
“Stop,” I say with more aggression than I intended. Softening my voice, I continue. “You’re not going to leave me. You’re safest with me. I’m going to protect you. I’ll take any hit I need to for you.”
I pull into the station and park my cruiser at the intake bay so we can slip in through the back to Chief’s office.
“Come on.” I open the back door and grasp her hands behind her back. “Cover your face with your hair. I don’t know who we can trust in the department.”
She shakes her head until her hair falls over her face, and I lead her by her wrists toward Chief’s office.
Releasing her once we’re inside, I pull the door shut and lock it, lowering my voice when I speak.
“Chief. This is Sophia.”
“Son, why all this mess if you just wanted me to meet your girl?” He tilts his head to the side while smirking at us.
“I’m Sophia Chiave. My father is Hugh Chiave.” She speaks clearly and with authority to him.
“Sit down, Officer Keaton. Seems you need to tell me the full story.”
I do as he says. “Sophia moved here under a false name. Aubrey brought her here after her fiancé beat her almost to death. Her brother Ryder helped her fake her death so that James and Hugh couldn’t find her. Since Aubrey knew I’d rent to her best friend without much question, and don’t get on me for that, she came here.”
“And we have a problem because Hugh and this James know where she is?” His gaze bounces between both of us.
“Not quite. As far as we know, they still think I’m dead. But Hugh knows Wyatt was the one who got the intel from my brother for his arrest. So he sent one of his guys to deliver a package for him. A burner phone that was supposedly from my brother. But it’s not.” She finishes telling Chief about the differences and how she knows it wasn’t Ryder.
“Well. What’s our plan? We can’t let them know you’re on to them. We need to let them continue with their plan as usual so we can catch them.”
“I need to be home with Sophia. She can’t be left without protection.” I put my hand on her thigh.
“Well. Let’s think.” He leans back in his chair, tapping his fingers on his desk. “I’ll get your doctor to fax over some paperwork that you can’t return to work. PTSD or anxiety because of the situation will buy you some time without alerting anyone as to why you’re not here. Then you can be with her on detail. We’ll keep everything need-to-know for now until someone else needs to be brought in. What is your plan for security?”
“I have Kane Pierson on his way. And we need to get Sophia’s car from Rebels to the impound,” I say.
“Good. He’s good. Try to get him to look into the Chiave operation. Give him my permission. I’ll move the car personally with my wife tomorrow. Just leave the keys on my desk.”
I nod at his direction, and then look over to see Sophia’s confused look.
“Get home. I’ll go to Adam’s office to distract him. Give this old man two minutes, then you leave out the back.” He stands, leaving us in his office.
“What the fuck is this plan? Who is Kane?” She’s fuming.
“Kane is Cooper’s friend that helped me with the Jack situation. He’s an insanely talented hacker, and he’s able to set up security systems that no one can break into.” I grab her hand and tug her down the hallway with me out to my cruiser.
“Wyatt, I don’t know about this.”
“I do. We can trust Kane. He’s good friends with Coop.” I kiss her forehead and hold her hand while she slips into the backseat of my cruiser.
She sucks in a deep breath, giving me a slight nod.
Everything has to be okay.
