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She pulls back and looks up at me. “It’s them, isn’t it? The ones that are after you.”
I nod because what else can I do? “I will always be watching over you.”
“I don’t want to go. It’s us against the world, remember? You saved me. I need you, I don’t have anyone else.”
I hold her at arm's length. “You'll be able to make friends and have a life. Be a regular teenager. I'll get my life sorted out and then I will be back for you.”
“Jolie,” Becca interrupts. “We really need to get on the road.”
Jolie turns and cuts her with an icy glare. “No, I don’t care what you want.”
Damn, I wish Creed was here to calm her down. She may be reasonable but very few things make her lose it. Being touched when she doesn’t want to be or being forced to do something she doesn't want are her biggest triggers. I find myself watching and waiting for her reaction to them in this painful situation.
I nod at the officers or fake officers in this situation. Brennan would have prepared them for this. One steps forward and I can see the glint of the syringe in his hand. His partner also moves forward as a distraction.
I see it as it happens in slow motion. His hand reaches out to grab her, she turns and swiftly knees him in his balls. I grit my teeth as he falls to the floor. She looks down at him like he's the scum on the bottom of her shoes. That split second is the opening they need and the other guy jams the needle into Jolie’s neck. I run forward and catch her as she falls.
“Make sure she is well looked after or so help me god.” I exclaim sternly. “I’m not the type of enemy that you want.”
She nods, not saying anything, obviously regretting her decision to help Brennan out.
Cradling Jolie to my body, I hold her tighter than I should. I can now understand what the rest of my team went through saying goodbye and our brothers, the pain they must have endured thinking she is dead. Surely there has to be a way to take down Mr. Z and put everyone out of their misery.
“Grab her bag,” I demand as I bury my nose in Jolie’s hair and take a deep breath, memorising her cherry blossom and toffee apple scent. I slip my arm under her knees to carry her out bridal style as Becca grabs it and we walk out to her car. She will have a few hours until Jolie wakes up so I hope she gets to where she needs to be before that happens.
I carefully place Jolie in the back seat, her body sliding in easily to lay across them. I buckle her in the best that I can and place a kiss on her forehead. “I'll be back for you even if I have to scour the earth to find you,” I whisper with conviction. Taking a step back I close the door and Becca gets in the driver's seat.
“I'll take care of her.”
“You better because there is nothing I wouldn’t do for her. Brennan trusts you so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but so help me I will be your worst nightmare if you don’t.”
She quickly starts her car and slams the door. She takes off like a bat out of hell, gravel flying on the road and gets away from me as fast as she can. I stand and watch until I can no longer see them, sniffling as tears roll down my face.
I don’t bother to wipe away the wetness, she deserves way more than my tears. I stalk towards the cop car seeing as how that’s the only way I’m leaving this place. I’m surprised Brennan could pull this off.
Once I’m seated, they drive, not asking me any questions. I’m presuming they were given orders and know where to take me. We continue driving in silence until we pull into an underground parking garage.
We pull up beside an SUV with dark tinted windows, just like the ones we use at Olympia. If Mr. Z has found me, I will happily take his punishment, but he'll have to kill me because I won’t give up Jolie’s location, not that I know it. All of the information is safe with Brennan. He has a photographic memory, so that helps us not to leave a paper trail.
A twinge of uncertainty hits me as I step out of the car and wait. I glance around pinpointing the exits in case I need to make a run for it. The driver's side door opens and I sigh in relief when I see Brennan.
“How did it go?” he asks.
“As good as we expected. But at least this way she has a chance at a normal life. We can always go back for her when it’s safe.”
Brennan nods, he seems as convinced as I am. Mr. Z is smart but whoever would take over in his death would be a hell of a lot worse than he is, so we need to play it smart. We need to find a way to outsmart him.
“We need to move. There is only so long this car can be off the grid for.”
Brennan gets back into the SUV and I walk around to the passenger side. As we drive down the road he fills me in on our brothers and he tells me that they have changed. They no longer live each day for her. Creed has been removed from duties and works in the morgue, Chester has thrown himself into work, and Kai has lost his special vision. Her absence has impacted everyone and not for the better, but we have to remember why we needed to remove her in the first place. We couldn’t protect her against her own damn father.
I start to recognise where we are headed, Brennan takes us towards the test zone. I don’t mind hiding out close to home but this may be a little too close for comfort.
“Stop over thinking it Trace,” he murmurs. “I found a small cottage deep within the bush, it’s been owned by the same family for over a hundred years. It has been used as a weird spiritual retreat. I paid the owners double for the next five years. Not that I think it will take that long, but it covers all the bases.”
“Fine, but I'll need some things. I left everything behind.” I say with a sigh.
He nods and we drive the rest of the way in silence. I lay my head against the window and close my eyes, willing myself not to cry again. I’m really hoping it doesn’t take five years to take him out. I’m not sure I can go that long without seeing my star.
