Vinnie drew a breath. “You’re right. And I shouldn’t have gotten upset. But you don’t have a weapon. You don’t know what situation you’re walking into. I would have gone with you.”
“I know. I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal.”
Vinnie sighed. “I’m glad you’re safe. Is Abigail okay?”
“She will be. We’re going to relocate her,” Austin said.
“She’s in WITSEC?” Vinnie asked.
Austin nodded. “The guy who kidnapped her was never caught. He’s connected to a few other unsolved cases.”
“Shit,” Vinnie breathed.
“It’ll be okay. But no more exploring,” Austin chastised Lorelei.
Lorelei nodded, moving toward the building without looking back.
“Thanks for bringing her back,” Vinnie said. He shook Austin’s hand, then followed Lorelei to the building.
She didn’t say anything as she moved to the stairs. She struggled to make her way up them, and when she got to his apartment, she finally looked up at him.
“I know I screwed up,” she said quietly.
Vinnie unlocked the apartment and held the door for her to go in. “You didn’t mean to. You had no idea she was in protection.”
Lorelei shook her head. “It’s not only that. Someone was following me, and I had no idea. And I went out alone. I…”
“You what?”
“I think that’s why I was taken. I went to meet someone alone. Adam said two others offered to go with me, but I said it was fine. If I’d let someone else go, I might not have been attacked. I might not have disappeared.”
Vinnie pulled her into his arms. She trembled against him. He wanted to take all her pain and fear away, but he didn’t know how.
She wasn’t wrong. If she hadn’t been alone, it would have been safer. Before and now. But she was strong and capable and could do anything.
The problem was the bad guys didn’t always play by the rules.
Or ever.
“What can I do?” Vinnie asked.
“Just let me beat myself up for a minute. I know I screwed up, and I need to sit with it so I don’t do it again. So I don’t think I’m invincible again.”
“None of us are. That’s why we work with teams.”
Lorelei nodded. “I just need to remember that.”
“You do. And you need to remember you’re not alone. Come on. Show me how you found Abigail Painter. Maybe we can come up with some other names and people who aren’t on the witness protection list.”
Lorelei snorted. “That would be good.”
The boss peered out the window at the shitty apartment complex where Lorelei Sloane disappeared. She sure was lowering her standards for this one.
“She’s almost making this too easy,” the boss whispered.
“What are you going to do to her?” Nina asked.
“For now, nothing. She almost got that woman killed because she’s so damn incapable,” the boss said.
