Page 165 of Haze of Obedience

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"No. I—"

"Don't. Please. We can't both feel guilty about things."

"What do you have to be guilty about?"

"The day you didn't deliver me to Interpol. You got shot because of me. I thought you died."

Silence.

"Did anyone hurt you, Zoe?"

"No. Not like that. Not this time."

I let out a big breath of air. "And you've taken care of yourself?"

She briefly closes her eyes. "You saw the cocaine box."

"Yeah. But I didn't see you touch it."

"So many nights, I thought about it. I fought with my demons, wanting it to mask things over...the...the pain of losing you."

Blood pounds in my ears. "But, you didn't?"

She swallows hard and shakes her head. "No."

I kiss her. "I'm proud of you."

A tiny smile forms. "I knew you would be."

"I am."

She slides her hand on my back and freezes on my bullet wound. "Rollover. I want to see your wounds."

I obey her.

For several minutes, she traces my scars. "I'm so sorry."

"Just be happy it didn't ruin my V," I tease.

She kisses my shoulder. "That would be a tragedy." She dips down and kisses each wound, then brings her arm around my waist and snuggles her warm flesh against my backside. "I want to think we're out of danger, but we aren't, are we?"

I turn into her and glide my arm under her shoulders. "No. And you might not like what we have to do next."

"What is it?"

"We need to go back through Mexico and into the United States."

"Why?"

"We can't get on a plane in Belize or Mexico or anywhere else in Latin America. You won't make it past the ticket counter."

"But how will we get past the U.S. border?"

"Tinker knows a guy. He's on sick leave but supposed to be going back to work soon."

"Okay. What are we going to do there?"

"My family is there. They will help us figure out how to get to Bermuda."

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