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“I know.” She patted his arm. “The empty wing, round-the-clock security detail, guards outside… kind of added to the prison effect.”
“I’m sorry if it made you feel that way, but—”
Rainy cut him off. “Don’t be sorry, Killion. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful again, just sharing the experience I guess. I know it was important, and I appreciate all the care that went into keeping the facility safe. Not just for me, but the others who are here. I would hate to be the source of anything menacing descending on this place.”
There it was again. Killion couldn’t help but pin his eyes on her and listen to her as she described the importance of others safety and well-being first, herself second. It was as familiar as it was surprising. When he knew Rainy before –– as Jenny –– it was one of the qualities he admired most about her. She had a kind and generous heart. It pained him to remember sometimes, but the reminders were important or he’d get too lost in the lies. Lies that were meant to protect him and everyone else. Lies that muddied the truths that surrounded their relationship both then and now. Lies that he was finding harder and harder to cling to when it came to Rainy because more and more all he saw was the truth –– her truth –– and just how much hope it left behind.
“It wouldn’t have been your fault, if it did,” he said. “You aren’t responsible for the actions of others. Especially the criminals we continue to hunt and protect you from.”
“That’s kind of you to say, but it’s easier said than done. If I had just stayed away in the first place…”
“We wouldn’t have the babies. Your brothers wouldn’t have their sister back. And we…”
“And we?” She hung on his words.
Killion wanted to say, and we would have never met, but thought twice about it. He quickly reminded himself that the we was what left a gaping hole in his heart when she disappeared one day and he thought he’d done something wrong. That we ended and he thought it was because he didn’t know how to love correctly. That we ended because he wasn’t enough. Killion knew he was different from most people, interacted differently, perceived things differently, didn’t take social cues well, and he also knew that he didn’t fit in with most people and crowds. The day she left, he knew he wasn’t designed to be anyone’s other half. A lover, sure, a companion, a significant other, a soulmate. He was just… Killion. The smartest guy in the room.
“And we… wouldn’t have been able to shut down the largest trafficking ring to date and put away some of the worst criminals of our time,” he said. It wasn’t what he wanted to say, but at least it wasn’t a lie.
“Right.” Her gaze quickly dropped from his, Killion’s words seemed hard to swallow and not what she was hoping to hear. “Well, it’s definitely been an experience. It’s funny because I didn’t really recognize the extent of the security involved until I was more mobile and able to sit in the rocker by my window and watch the world go by. I chuckled the first time I noticed the same dark SUVs driving by, circling the block like clockwork. Now that part might have been overkill.”
“It’s just until all the players get their day in court and a nice long sentence in a cold dark cell out in the middle of nowhere,” Killion said.
Rainy let out a sigh of relief. “I’ll be glad when…”
Killion stopped, gripping her arms to steady her. “Wait. SUVs?”
With a quick nod, she shrugged off his question. “Yeah. Around the block, same time, several times a day. Sometimes I want to wave in case it’s one of my brothers… or yours for that matter.”
She began to giggle, but it was short-lived when Killion’s tone sharpened and the look on his face turned threatening. “How long?”
Killion was often hard to read, but there was no confusing or questioning the concern looming over them, and that had red flags and alarms going off in her mind, triggering the fear she worked hard to ward off daily.
“I-I don’t know.” She stammered, “I’ve only been able to master the movement of that rocker without help for a few weeks, so… a few weeks at least.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he growled, startling her.
“I-I didn’t think I needed to. Figured you knew.” She trembled as she cowered under his tone and hard glare. “It’s just more security, right? Isn’t it?”
“Not ours.” He chided, noting her response to his disposition.
She was a trauma survivor who clearly felt threatened, and it was his doing. Killion turned away from her, unable to stomach what he’d done with a handful of words and change of tone. He knew better. He also knew there was a looming threat, and he’d missed it –– they all had –– and he hoped like hell it wasn’t too late to rectify it.
He tapped at his comms earpiece. “We need backup on scene until we get her in the air. I need everyone available, possible threat, unknown unsubs, only description is black SUVs.”
He paused as though he were listening. “Copy that. Send it down. We’ll meet you on the elevator. Almost there.”
Killion wrapped an arm around her waist this time for added support so they could move quicker –– she was trembling, pale, wide-eyed and he noted the bead of sweat collecting at her brow and upper lip. They continued on but made it only a handful of feet before she grew limp in his arm and her legs gave way.
“Killion?” she cried.
He was quick to sweep her up in his arms, and the feel of her against his body nearly broke him. Feeling her against him used to bring him pure desire, but now it made him crumble with guilt and that sense of fear he couldn’t seem to shake or wrap his mind around. Rainy was terrified, and once more, it was his doing.
“You’re okay,” he said, looking her in the eye, his expression soft and caring as he quickly made his way to the elevator. “You’re okay, darlin’, I promise. I’m not letting anything happen to you.”
Cane was bringing the elevator down to meet them as an extra security measure so they wouldn’t have to wait for it to arrive on their floor, but it hadn’t arrived yet. Killion saw the digital floor numbers descending, but it wasn’t happening fast enough for his liking. They were sitting ducks and a perfect target, waiting the seconds it was likely to take, even if it felt like hours.
To the left of the elevator was a door marked stairs, and he contemplated charging up the remaining flights in lieu of waiting for the elevator, but the stairwell had possibly been compromised. There was no telling if the building had been compromised, and the real fear lived in the not knowing.
