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She was insane for thinking she could help me and not get hurt, but it explained how she knew I needed that help. "I'm taking her to get the kids and go to the station. Stall them," Jason ordered as I floundered for a response.
"I'll stall them." Ness eyed his badge and then nodded, closing the door behind her as she went to the front of the studio once again. Jason's hands were tense on my shoulder as he shoved open the back door, bringing me to the unmarked car he drove that he'd tucked into the back lot. I alternated between jerking against his hold and feeling like my body was entirely disconnected from me.
“Wait,” I whispered before he opened the door. “Just wait. Let me think. Jason!”
"What do you think Matteo Bellandi will do when he finds out you've been talking to the cops?" Jason asked as he put his hand on top of my shoulder and pressed me down into the seat.
"I won't testify," I whispered. It was true, even with everything I'd learned, I couldn't bring myself to help put Ryker behind bars. I didn't think I'd ever be able to look at him again, but I couldn't betray him in the way it felt like he'd betrayed me.
I didn't think there would ever be a day when I could handle his secrets.
"Let's just get the kids safe first, and then we'll figure out where to go from there," he grunted, pressing the pedal to the metal and getting us the hell out of the parking lot before anyone even saw us leave. I knew Ryker would see it all on his cameras once he realized I was gone, but I had to hope that I had the kids with m
e by then.
I just needed them with me so I could think straight.
I needed them safe.
Forty-Nine
Ryker
The phone rang in my pocket as I strode for the car. As much as it killed me to leave Calla with men she didn’t know, I’d had to wait for someone to come guard the dealer in the warehouse who was using more than he sold.
“Yeah?” I grunted into the phone as I answered. With my car door already pulled open, I sat while I waited for the person on the other end of the line to respond.
“Ryker, your wife is gone,” Dario’s voice said. I stilled, staring at the steering wheel in shock.
“What do you mean she’s gone?” I growled, the deadly tone seeping into my voice as my body went cold.
“She isn’t here. Nobody saw her leave, but we’ve looked everywhere.”
“Look again,” I said, hanging up with dread in my veins.
My fingers went through the motions, bringing up the security feed from the studio even as I couldn’t think past my rage.
She’d left me.
The coincidence was too huge. She’d been alone for the first time, unguarded, and she’d made a run for it. She’d probably had a twenty-minute head start at least.
But I’d find her.
I thought the video feed would show my Sunshine sneaking out the back on her own, suspected with every bit of me that she left of her own volition. I never thought to see Jason shoving photos in her face, and while I couldn’t make out what they were, the pallor of Calla’s face gave me a pretty damn good idea.
Shit.
I’d explain. Whatever it was, once I found her, she’d understand.
But when he said my birth name, I watched all the life slip from my Sunshine’s face as shock settled in. Of all the secrets that could bite me on the ass, that hadn’t been the one I expected.
Calla didn’t move, didn’t fight or walk or anything as Jason dragged her out the back door.
Switching camera feeds came as naturally as breathing, giving me a view of the back alley where Jason’s personal vehicle waited. When they got close to the car, Calla struggled finally.
She hadn’t left me.
Not really, and the way Jason dared to put his hands on my woman as he shoved her into the passenger seat made my fury grow.
