Page 46 of Preying Heart
“That’s not what I’m after.”
“Said no man ever.” Lucy rolls her eyes. “Let me guess. You took her down to the playroom and showed her the pool table.”
“I showed her the books and movies so she won’t get bored, but she wants a computer to go on the internet.”
“We can’t let her do that,” Lucy says. “I snooped around town. Everyone is already claiming they saw her. They were bummed out when the ten-thousand-dollar reward was canceled.”
“Our million-dollar dude really wants to let this die down.”
“Some other news will stir things up and everyone will forget,” Lucy says. “But my, oh my, I think we’re going to hit pay dirt. Whoever put the hit out on Stan Greasley has it in for them. Think they’ll come after anyone who worked for Operation Persephone?”
“Like me and you.” I palm my aching temples. “I’m going to have to take a trip to see my contact. He won’t communicate over electronic means.”
“I know, and you want me to guard Remi.”
“I don’t know if you can keep her from leaving.”
“We can’t keep her here against her will,” Lucy points out. “At the same time, if she walks out, she could talk about us, and we’ll be toast.”
“Right.”
“So what were you thinking when you dragged her here?” She slaps her own face. “Don’t answer. You need to get over what happened to your mother.”
“That’s a low blow, Luce.” I growl and Glock perks up, baring his teeth.
“Then what else is there? Don’t tell me you’re falling in love with her. Granted she’s attractive and all that, but she’s damaged.”
“So am I. You know she’s jealous of you.”
“She has nothing to worry about, bro.”
“Yeah, but I kind of like it. She keeps mentioning you. Makes snide remarks.”
“I’ll go check on her and make her more jealous.” Lucy flutters her eyelids at me. “Darling.”
I don’t think she’d be too happy if Remi tells her I slipped up already by letting on our father built this hideaway. While her mother was able to leave after Dad died, my mother wasn’t so fortunate. She was Dad’s first wife, and she was so young when she had me.
The memories sift through my head, and I need air. “Come on, Glock. Out we go.”
The dog jumps up eagerly and together we climb up the rugged ridge to the west of the Fortress. I hike at a fast pace, running from the demons that haunt me.
But they find me anyhow. As I hike down the ridge toward a dry riverbed, I come across the spot where I fell and broke my arm.
All Mom wanted to do was get away from the Fortress. One day, she packed her backpack, put on her hiking boots, and waited for my dad to go on a bounty hunt. She thought I was asleep. I didn’t want her to go, so I chased after her.
After I fell, my arm stuck out at a weird angle, but I followed her until she had no choice but to take me with her. I don’t rightly remember the journey. I was in a haze of pain. But eventually, she hitchhiked and got us to Boise where she took me to a clinic.
Looking back, I can see she was being trafficked. She worked at strip clubs and entertained various “friends.” I was told to hide in the closet and keep quiet. One night, a friend got too rough and …
My foot slips on the loose gravel, and I tumble down the same embankment where I landed more than twenty-five years ago. Nothing hurts. I’m made of stiffer stuff. But as I lie on the ground staring up toward the rays of sunlight sneaking through the trees, I wonder what my mom would say if she saw me now—obsessed with keeping women safe and failing miserably.
ChapterSixteen
Remi
There’s a knock at my door. I don’t want to talk to Heath. It galls me how helpless I am, and that I allowed myself to lose my freedom. All my life, I went along with whoever was in charge as long as they protected me or provided for me.
I never took responsibility for myself. All I wanted was to be taken care of, and look where I ended up. Trapped in a relationship with Gavin Greasley on his terms. At his beck and call while living in a gilded penthouse. It all worked out until the day I could no longer comply.
