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“Y-yes. I thought no one knew I was here. They told me that no one would know other than that older woman and her husband.”
“No one except my grandmother and grandfather,” smirked Luke. “You’re safe here. May we come inside?” She nodded, opening the door further. Abe was the last one through the door. He stared down at her, glaring at her as he moved past her.
“We didn’t mean to frighten you,” said Hex. “It’s just that Abe was on his way home last night and was attacked.”
“That’s right. Stabbed,” said Abe. Lyra covered her mouth, tears threatening to spill. “He said, ‘this is for Lyra.’ At first, I thought he was blaming me for your disappearance. Now, I think he was saying he wanted to stab you, not me. I think he thought I knew where you were.”
“I’m sorry, Abe. I’m so sorry. Agent Carr said that I couldn’t contact anyone. It was best if everyone believed I was dead. He said if I reached out to you, someone would know, and they would harm you.”
“Well, guess what,” he frowned. “Someone did harm me, and I had no fucking clue where you were.”
“Please don’t be angry, Abe. Please.”
“Angry? Oh, I’m beyond angry. You knew I was a fucking SEAL! You knew who and what I was. I told you I saw a future for us, Lyra. That meant something to me.”
“Abe,” whispered Razor, coming in the door behind him. He looked toward the young woman, nodding. “Hello. I’m Diego, Abe’s father.”
“Oh,” she smiled. “You look just alike. I’m so glad to finally meet you.” Razor smiled at the young woman, then looked back at his son, giving him a silent warning.
“Abe, they wouldn’t allow me to call anyone. I had no phone, no computer, nothing. The explosion at the safe house was planned. I had a few scratches, so did the agent, but we were fine. They took me out the back and into the house behind the one I was in.
“From there, they had me in a safe house in Wyoming. Then, I was moved to New Orleans. They were worried that there were too many people. I guess someone knew Miss Irene and called her. They moved me here in the middle of the night.”
“How? I mean, we have tight security here,” said Hex.
“I know the bayou,” said Irene, coming in the door. “Y’all aren’t the only ones that could move with stealth. Matthew and I picked her up about a week ago. She was scared to stay in them bayou cabins with no one bein’ out there, so I moved her here. With everything goin’ on with the weddin’, Tobias and Gail, and Halo Island, no one was payin’ attention.”
“Mama Irene,” said Abe, shaking his head. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“I knew you were comin’ home, baby. You needed to find her yourself. Now you have. She’s healthy, and you’re gonna keep her that way.”
“You’re still going to testify?” asked Abe.
“I have to, Abe. The things that I know about my uncle, I can’t just turn away and ignore that. He’s a horrible, horrible man. I discovered that he killed my parents when I was young. He killed his own wife and daughter, and I knew that eventually, he would kill me too. So, I cooperated for as long as I could, all the while feeding Agent Carr information.”
“You risked your life,” frowned Abe.
“Yes. Yes, I did. Just like you do. Every damn day. So, don’t judge me, Abraham Salcedo. Don’t you dare judge me. I did what was right. I’m sorry that I hurt you, that you worried for me. I was always planning to come back to you. But I have to do this first.”
“You do this, and you have no future,” he said, staring at her. “You testify against your uncle, and everyone who has ever done business with him will come for you. Your life is over.”
Lyra stared at him, wondering what happened to that sweet, kind, handsome man she’d fallen in love with. He was suddenly so cold and distant. She couldn’t believe it. Nodding her head, she walked to the door and opened it.
“Then I guess my life is over.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Lyra watched as Abe exited her cottage, her heart shattering from the pain in her chest. She stared at the other men, shaking her head as tears trailed down her cheeks.
“Let me talk to him, honey,” said Razor, giving her a quick hug. “My son is stubborn like his mama.” She nodded as he squeezed her shoulder, leaving the others with her.
“Lyra, we need to know everything,” said Hex. “I know this is going to be hard for you, but we have to know what we’re dealing with. We’ve got friends at the bureau, but we also know that sometimes they don’t get to everything. We want to make sure we cover all our bases and get you to that courtroom when the time comes.”
“Have you done this before?” she asked.
“We have,” nodded Luke. “My Aunt Rose was a witness in a trial against her ex-husband. Skylar, AJ’s wife, was in witsec when he met her. We’re all former Special Forces, or former agency, bureau, or law enforcement. I promise you that we know what we’re doing.”
“I was supposed to get a call from Agent Carr yesterday. When he dropped me off here, he gave me this phone, telling me only to use it to contact him or him to contact me. He never called. He’s always on time. Always. At first, I thought it might be that it was the holiday, but when I tried calling his number, it just went dead. Nothing. No ringing, no voicemail. Nothing.”
