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“You promise to wake me up when the files finish?”
I kissed the top of her head again, sure I’d never tire of doing it. I’d never have enough of Hazel. Not in this lifetime or the next. It took everything in me not to pick her up in my arms, carry her to the bedroom, and make all kinds of promises.
“Absolutely.”
But I reminded myself this wasn’t the time to scare her away. Soon, people would ask her to make a choice. Whether to testify, to work with the FBI, and the one I dreaded the most, the chance to leave me. I needed to make sure, absolutely sure, she’d pick me when the feds asked.
The witness protection program could give her a chance at a new life. She’d be stupid not to take it, and if anything, Hazel proved she wasn’t stupid. But I hoped for this one thing she’d pick me.
“Okay, I’ll go to bed if you promise to come in soon,” she said, slipping away from me and standing at the edge of the couch.
I stared into her eyes and swore I saw my entire future in them. “I’ll give it another hour, and if the files aren’t done, I’ll join you.”
“And if they finish, you’ll wake me up?” she asked again, leaning over the couch.
In one quick movement before she pulled away, I kissed her lightly against the lips. “Yes, I will wake you up when it’s finished.” Hazel deserved to see the files.
The problem came because I wanted to protect her. Hazel thought the files were financial documents or something else having to deal with the company. I didn’t. From my past investigation of Jack Beamer before I refused to work with him, I figured the files were much worse. Proof the CEO used company money to pay for his extravagant lifestyle and possibly sex trafficking. I didn’t want Hazel to see any evidence of his misdeeds.
I wouldn’t ruin Hazel’s view of the world with reminders of the sick and depraved people out there. A world where someone killed for a pair of shoes. I wanted her to live a happy, safe, and secluded life, where she had passion and the ability to do anything. Even stand up to the asshole hacker who refused to help her.
Hazel didn’t hide away. She held her head high and walked on. I didn’t want evidence of the world’s worst to take that strength from her.
I watched as she headed off toward the bedroom. I even repositioned myself to see her movements, but the angles were wrong, so I lost sight of her around the corner. She became invisible until she lay on the bed, and then I only had a view of her face as she rested peacefully with the covers pulled up to her chin.
Fifty-six minutes after she left for bed, my computer beeped once, signaling my transfer completed. In one breath I tried to stand and find Hazel to go through the files together, but in the next, I hesitated. Who knew what was on this thumb drive? I’d read the speculation about her boss and the horrors he inflicted on a person. Jack Beamer enjoyed tying young girls up for his own pleasure.
I wanted to believe most of the files were financial since that’s what Hazel’s boss would have had access to, but couldn’t guarantee it. If her boss, Sean, thought they were bad enough to encrypt a thumb drive with them, they had to be horrific.
I twisted on the couch, leaning forward to see into the bedroom better. She lay on the bed, her head resting on the pillow with two of her hands tucked underneath. I couldn’t tell from my location, but I imagined a small drool spot forming on the fabric directly underneath her mouth.
Hazel had to be protected at all costs. All American Bank put her through enough, and I didn’t want to add to the horrors she witnessed already.
With her safely tucked into bed and sleeping soundly, I brought the computer to my lap and double clicked to open the file folder. As expected, I saw a few Excel spreadsheets and two Word documents, but those didn’t catch my attention.
The truly earth-shattering evidence were the pictures. Hundreds and hundreds of pictures. I clicked on one, waiting for the preview to load, and almost threw up the popcorn Cyrus forced us to eat earlier in the evening.
No.
I flipped to another photo.
This couldn’t be.
Two more disgusting images crossed my computer screen.
It was worse than I expected, and I expected unbelievably horrible.
I gagged at the next few images and decided I’d seen enough.
No way would I ever allow Hazel to see these images. The person who took them and acted out the scenes deserved a fate worse than death. No punishment the United States government gave came anywhere close to being an equal punishment for what Jack Beamer did and took photographic proof of.
The CEO should be thankful I wasn’t the killing type, but that didn’t mean I planned to let him get away with the cruelty I found in every image I clicked on.
Someone had to pay and not just for the horror they put Hazel through, but for every innocent woman displayed on my laptop screen.
CHAPTER19
HAZEL
