He better. I’m trusting my whole world to him.
The software is nowhere near done cleaning the video. I have to go before Cruz gets back. I can hear Terry droning on about his favorite gun, which means I’ve got at least five minutes. I unplug the phone and stick it in the Spartan box. “When the video is done downloading, take that flash drive straight to the Feds,” I tell Caleb, and then I race from the house, with the phone safely tucked in the jewelry box, leaving half of my heart in that little cottage as I drive toward Greenwich.
The meeting place is at the bottom of an office building in an obscure part of town. That isn’t what scares me, though. What scares me is Sebastian continuing his pursuit of Serena and not releasing my grandfather. Which iswhy, for the first time, I’m glad Caleb is here to force her home, a continent away from those after her.
If I hadn’t brought her to Europe, she would be safely hidden within the bureau. It’s my fault, which is why I have to fix it. But I don’t know that I can.
The best I can do is get her out of here.
I try to convince myself she’ll be okay surrounded by agents. Even so, unease claws at my chest.
More times than I can count, I consider turning around and running back to Serena and thinking of another way to do this. Together. But my foot remains pressed on the gas as I fly over the motorway.
My grandfather was my saving grace every summer—the father figure I wished my own had been. There are two people I love in this world, and only one of them is safe right now.
The city streets widen to industrial roads, and buildings get bigger the closer I get to the meeting spot. Anxiety burns my chest, but whether out of fear or heartbreak, I’m not sure. I clench the steering wheel, trying to compose my breathing as I drive. Now is not the time for my faulty heart to give out on me. I open the pouch with my medicines and pour them into my hand, swallowing them around a drink of water so old it tastes metallic and sour. I gag but force them down anyway.
The sun has disappeared, and ominous streetlights beckon me on. There’s an eighty percent chance I die tonight, but I won’t turn around.
I drive right into the deserted parking lot of the warehouse and turn off the ignition.
Here goes nothing.
Chapter 35
Serena
He left me. Again.I know it was for my protection, but it still hurts. Therefore, I was compelled to find comfort with one of Liam’s most expensive guns I’ve named Javier.
Caleb practically had to force me into his rental car. It wasn’t like I could follow Liam. He never told me where he was going. He just went to be a sacrificial lamb. Because if they want the evidence, that means they want me, too. They won’t let him go.
“They’re going to kill him.” My words are barely above a whisper, but Caleb still hears.
His eyes drift from the road to me, but he doesn’t speak. He doesn’t have to. He knows I’ve been lying about my feelings for Liam, and he’s waiting me out.
“This is my fault. I’m the one who got in with a bad man and—”
Caleb slams on the brakes to avoid a collision with a tour bus. “Listen to me closely. What someone else did to you isnot your fault.” His eyes bore into mine with meaning. “You deserve more than you were led to believe, more than a life in hiding. I might despise Liam, but I respect him for doing what he can to keep you out of this.”
Tears burn the backs of my eyes, and I swallow. “But I loved his grandfather too.”
He sighs. “Look, let’s get this to S-A-C Ford and Hadley, and maybe we can convince them to help us find him.”
“Really?”
He nods. “Only because I know what it’s like when you fall for someone. How you’ll dive into gunfire to save them. But I won’t let you do it alone.”
I scoff. “I’m not falling for him.”
We’rewaypast that.
Caleb parks the car at the FBI safe house in London and gets out. I wait a beat before following him. What do I do when I see Agent Ford? What will I say? There’s a very real likelihood I’ll be fired, but the thought of it doesn’t terrify me like it once would have. I’ve overcome too much to be afraid of that. Being arrested, on the other hand… That thought gets my blood pumping faster.
Caleb types in a code to the safe house and pushes the door open, waiting for me.
My stomach is full of nerves and I can’t speak as I scoot by him.
The small entryway opens to a living space, and there, standing in the middle of it, is Special Agent Ford. There’s a familiar buzz in my chest at the sight of him, but I don’t lean into it, don’t relish its existence or him. It’s simply a reaction I’ve trained myself to experience because I thought I liked him. Agent Ford was the first man I laid eyes on after running from New York City. And I think that’s why my feelings and emotions latched onto him. I always fell for the wrong guys, but I had finally found a good one—one who would keep me safe. He was tall and charming and became my refuge. As I stand here now, I realize it was an immature kind of longing, superficial.
