Page 43 of One Cry Too Loud
Kat and I stood at a distance while Charlie and Holly spoke. We couldn’t hear what they were saying, but-for my part, I didn’t think we needed to. It was all right there on their faces, right there in the way they moved around each other, in the way they hugged each other. They were finally talking the way they needed to. They were explaining everything, and it seemed like they were moving past the things that were keeping them at arm’s length.
“You knew?” I asked, turning to the woman.
“About his sister?” She replied. “Of course. I had to vet him when I asked him to join the team. Besides, it’s public record. It’s not like there’s any getting away from it.”
“Have you ever talked to him about it?” I wondered aloud.
“It’s not my business,” she replied. “It’s still not my business, aside from what it’s about to do with this investigation.”
“I know,” I answered. “But there’s nothing we can do.”
“We can’t afford to lose him right now,” Kat said, her arms folded. It had been nearly an hour since Tag had freed us from the bank vault, and in that time, a few decisions had been made.
“We can’t afford to keep him, Kat,” I rebutted. “Nefarious threatened his nephew. There’s no telling what he’ll try to donow that we’ve gotten away. Charlie feels like he needs to be up there to keep that boy safe, and I agree with him.”
“I know that, and of course I want that child to be safe. Keeping people safe is always my priority. I’m just saying that Charlie is a big gun for us. Having him out of commission is going to be a blow.” She shook her head. “Besides, I honestly think Walker and his family would be safer in one of the safehouses with the others.”
“That’s an option, and it’s one I ran by Charlie,” I explained. “But he’s never met the family who adopted Walker after his sister’s death. He’s going to have to explain who he is, what’s going on, and exactly what’s at stake. Even face to face, that’s going to be a difficult conversation and a hard pill to swallow. Doing it virtually would be almost impossible.”
“I get that,” Kat relented. “Good thing Nate can arrange a jet with absolutely no notice.”
“Benefits of being backed by a billionaire,” I muttered.
“Are you okay?” Kat asked, turning to me. “I know what happened in that vault was a lot, and I know you decided against seeing a medic-”
“I don’t need to see a medic,” I replied. “Besides, we can’t really afford to be on the grid like that. Nefarious found us even with all the precautions.” I shook my head. “Because of me, of course.”
“It wasn’t because of you,” Kat said.
“I should have known better than to blindly follow a lead at a time like this,” I answered.
“Maybe, but it’s the same thing I would have done,” Kat admitted. “This is Holly. This is for her child. She’s one of us. She’s family. It makes sense that we’d all be a little out of sorts about this.”
“Especially Charlie,” I muttered, still looking at the pair as they spoke, saying what appeared to be their goodbyes.
“I always figured those two had a thing for each other,” Kat said. Looking over at me with a smile, she added, “I guess I was wrong.”
My face went flush. I knew exactly what she was alluding to.
“I didn’t know she was going to kiss me,” I said.
“I know,” Kat replied.
“If you’re-”
“Jealous?” Kat asked. “We’re too grown for that, Jackson.” She leaned to the left, nudging me. “Besides, I know you. I know where things stand between us.”
“You do?’ I asked. “And where is that?”
“You still owe me a drink,” she replied, smiling a little. “Assuming we make it out of this.”
“I think, after all this, I might owe you two,” I answered. “Assuming we make it out of this.”
“You buy the first one. I’ve got the second,” Kat said. “Assuming we-”
“We’re going to make it out of this,” I said. “You’ve given me a pretty good reason to want to.”
“I think you had some pretty compelling reasons before,” she replied.
