Page 19 of Ghost
“I appreciate you notacting like you didn’t know what I meant,” Ghost said. “Okay,you’re pissed off, got it. Is it with me?”
“You? You have got to beshitting me. The getting shot at part and the fact that I don’tthink it was me they were after. Which means you’re in danger. Moredanger than I’d thought.”
“So it is at me. I figuredyou were used to getting shot at because of your career choices.Besides, it might have been you they were after.”
“First, I don’t think I’llever get used to being shot at, and second, nobody gives a rat’sass about me.”
“I do,” Ghost said underhis breath before thinking about stopping himself. “It’s not thefirst time the Noah Group has come after me, and I doubt it’ll bethe last. That’s my lot in life. A genetically engineered weaponthat has to be brought under control or destroyed.”
“How the hell are you stillcalm? And do me the same favor of respecting my intelligence andacting like you haven’t got a clue. You said you knew this wasn’tour day to die; why? Can you tell the future?”
The look of concern and confusion onRay’s face did nothing to quell Ghost’s fear of sharing the truthwith anyone. The reaction, the fear, and concern it would cause nomatter what Ghost said to quell those fears was inevitable in hisview. After that would come questions, demands, and anger, andGhost would find himself alone yet again.
He was sunk. He couldn’t get out ofthis, but he still wasn’t willing to have this discussion. At leastnot yet. Maybe never.
“I wish it were thatsimple,” Ghost admitted honestly before feigning interest in thescenery flying by his passenger side window. “I need something fromyou, Ray.”
“What?”
Ghost didn’t need to turn around; heheard the skepticism in Ray’s voice. How many times in the past hadthe detective been told ‘trust me’ for it to blow up in hisface?
“I know we just met, whichadmittedly went over like a lead balloon, and now you know aboutpeople like me, you can understand my need for secrecy. My life hasbeen one giant secret after another, and that’s kept me alive.Alone but alive. Trust comes hard, and there are some things I’mnot ready to share. I need you to understand that.”
“I take it this issomething you haven’t told anyone else.”
“No one.”
“Is itdangerous?”
“Not to the people I careabout.”
Ray took a deep breath and let it outslowly. “Okay.”
“Thank you. I understandit’s a lot to ask.”
After a few moments of silence, Raysaid, “So odds are they were after you, but why kill you? Wouldn’tyou be a prize to try to capture?”
“You think I’m a prize.You’re special too,” Ghost teased, hoping to lighten themoment.
Ray’s chuckle made the lame joke worthit.
“Smart-ass.”
“Thank you. Now, about yourquestion. The traditional way of thinking would make what you saidlogical. Take me instead of killing me, but the Noah Group doesn’trely on logic as much as one would hope. They’d kill me to stop mefrom helping those who are fighting against them and, by the sametoken, to stop me from being taken by another faction of the NoahGroup.”
“That’s fucked up,” Raygrowled.
“Agreed, but a fact proventime and time again. They will do whatever it takes to furthertheir own agenda. You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Ray looked concerned, and Ghostworried he’d done the one thing he’d initially wanted more thananything but no longer held the same appeal—he’d scared thedetective into leaving.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ray
The whole Ghost and Noah Projectsituation had taken on a new level of crazy, and Ray regrettedsigning up for the conference as the representative for hisstation. At the time, he’d thought it was the perfect solution toget out of Marshall fast, but now all he wanted to do wasreturn.
Only yesterday, he’d been pinned downby gunfire behind Elias’s truck, and now he was checking into theFour Seasons on the strip in Las Vegas. Surreal didn’t even coverit, and Ray secretly wished he could return to the barn they’dvisited and still ha Ghost in his arms.
