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Ridge slammed his cup down on the table in front of them hard enough to make a loud noise in the quiet room. Hank’s whiney attitude was rubbing his last nerve raw. They were all trying to help him get out of a situation that he himself had gotten into. Directing his attention at Corbett, he asked, “Can I field this one?” He knew he risked pissing Raven off by asking.
He could tell that Corbett was trying to keep from laughing when he said, “Sure, go for it.”
Turning to Hank, Ridge gave him the same intense stare that had made Hank want to piss his pants when he’d first met him. Now… well, he hoped it still made him want to piss his pants.
“You want to know what your other options are?” he asked. “Okay then, let me be the one to share this with you. You messed with some bad dudes here, Hank. Did you miss that part when they tried to kill you, or when they kidnapped your sister? Your choices are as follows: Witness Protection or death.” He smiled. “You pick.”
Raven shifted in her seat. Ridge ignored her, so she elbowed him softly in the side. When he finally turned her way, she gave him a look that said,“Why are you being so mean?”
“I…” Hank looked from one man to the next, and then at Raven. With wide, pleading eyes, he said, “I don’t want to leave my sister. She’s the only family I really have.”
Ridge sighed. “By staying, Hank, you’re putting your sister in as much danger as you are in. I know that you don’t want that. I remember how upset you were when they took Raven.”
“I have a question,” Raven said. “Will he be able to leave Witness Protection once these guys are caught?”
Lewis and Corbett glanced at each other, and then Corbett said, “It will ultimately be up to him and the Marshals. But you have to remember that the reach of someone like Vincent Heston extends beyond the walls of a prison. If Heston is alive, and you’re on his list, you’ll likely stay there.”
Ridge knew Corbett was trying to explain it in terms he thought Hank would understand. Finding Hank and getting rid of him, Carl, and the others who, in Vincent’s opinion, were to blame for the collapse of his operation were a priority. Hank’s inflated sense of having things his way was getting in the way of him fully grasping that.
“Where would he go?” Raven asked.
“The U.S. Marshals would handle that part of it,” Lewis told her. “Once he’s gone, even we wouldn’t know where he is.”
“So I would never be able to see my brother ever again?” she said, the reality of it setting in for her.
Neither man said anything, and that alone spoke volumes. Ridge could see the tears forming in Raven’s eyes.Shit!This idiot will never stop hurting her. He reached for her hand, but she slid it back in her lap. He failed to understand how he always ended up being the bad guy when it came to Hank.
Sighing, he looked at Corbett and said, “Are you guys anywhere near catching Heston?”
“He’s been a pro at evading us so far,” Corbett said. “The reality is that it may take us years to find him, and once we do, more years to build a case against him. If and when he does go to prison, I don’t doubt that would make him want to lash out even more. I’ve seen cases where witnesses started to drop like flies as soon as the kingpin was taken down.”
But Vincent’s not an actual kingpin, not the way his father was, Ridge thought. He’s more of a pretender to the throne.
Raven looked anxiously at Ridge. It broke his heart to see her like this, but he held his ground. “Raven, you came to me and asked for help keeping Hank alive. I went to Corbett and asked for the same thing for you. We’ve done that, but now you and I have a life to get on with, and Corbett and the rest of the DEA have other jobs to do. No one will be able to follow Hank around and keep him safe for the rest of his life. This is his best option.”
Raven knew Ridge was right. She wasn’t mad at Ridge or Corbett or Lewis. She could never be. If it weren’t for them, she and Hank wouldn’t be sitting here today. The entire situation just felt so hopeless. She had told Hank she would back him up on his decision to stay, and he sat there now, waiting for her to do just that. But she wasn’t sure she could follow through. She would have an empty place in her heart if she was never able to see her brother again, but knowing he was alive and safe would ease her heartache. If he died because she had encouraged him not to go away…
“Can I talk to Hank alone for a few minutes?” she requested.
Corbett looked at Lewis and Ridge and said, “I don’t know about the two of you, but I could use a cigar.”
The men got up, and Ridge led them out the back door, leaving Hank and Raven alone.
“Raven…”
“Hank, wait,” she said. “Hear me out.” She didn’t want him to have a chance to weaken her defenses. “You know that I love you. If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t have stuck all of this out for so long. Because I love you, that is why… I think they’re right, and you really have no choice.”
“I don’t want to be alone,” he asserted.
“I know, Hank. But you’re a great guy. You’ll make friends. I’m sure of it. Hank, if you stay here, there is a big chance that you won’t live. If Heston has you killed, then I really won’t ever be able to see you again. You’ll have nothing, not even your life. And furthermore...”
“I’d continue to put you at risk,” he said sadly.
“That’s not what I was going to say, but yes, although that is a risk I’d be willing to take if it was only me we were talking about. But there’s more to this than just us. They nearly burned down my best friend’s home. Ridge put himself at risk to save us all. The bottom line is, Hank, we’ve all gone through a lot to keep you alive, and if you refuse to go into the program, it’s almost as if it were all for nothing.”
Hank didn’t say anything. He looked sullen. Raven was afraid he was still going to refuse. She stood and picked up the tray with the coffee pot on it. “I’m going to refill this,” she told him, leaving him time to think. “I’ll be right back.”
He nodded but still didn’t speak. She felt terrible for him, even though she knew that his love of an “easy” buck had gotten him into this mess. He really had never been taught any differently, she thought, even though she knew she had to stop making excuses for him. It was hard. He was, after all, her brother.
