“I know.”Holding her close, his eyes welled with emotion.“It’s going to take some getting used to.”
They stood in silence, hugging each other, and I watched on, aching, not only with pain, but also at my powerlessness.
“I’m just glad you’re here.”Kissing her forehead, Owen withdrew and turned to me.“I guess I have you to thank for that.”
“In a twisted way, yes…” I managed a small smile.
“Erin tells me you looked after her.She says you saved her.”His tone was skeptical.
“I made a promise to look after her, and despite all this,” I nodded at my newest gunshot, “I meant it.While I can protect her, I will.”
Wrapping her arms around herself, Erin smiled sadly.
“Why do you need to protect her, though?”Owen’s brow rose.“That’s what I’d like to know.”
“I was her tour guide.”That life seemed like a hundred years ago.“It was my job to look after her, but then a huge storm moved in and we were stranded in the snow…” My voice trailed away as I looked to see whether Erin wanted to pick up the story.
“Eli found somewhere safe for us to wait it out, but we ran out of food and wood.”She swallowed.“It was perilous.”
“And then my old associate came knocking.”My tone was dry.“He beat the shit out of me and took us both as hostages.”
“His disgusting men flew us away on a helicopter.”Her brow creased.“We were in hoods, so I couldn’t see what was going on, but honestly, Owen, it was terrifying.”
Owen’s eyes widened at her words.“What sort of an ‘associate’ would, one, behave that way, and two, have access to a bloody helicopter?”
“A low life.”My voice dropped at the thought of Hawkins.
“He was vile.”She shivered at the thought of him.
“Was he the one who shot you?”Owen’s gaze was on me again.
“No.”Shifting forward, I flinched at the searing pain.“One of his so-called cohorts did.”
“How did you get away?”Owen queried.
Staring at his face, I couldn’t tell if he was only genuinely concerned for his sister or probing for more information because he wanted to involve the authorities.
“We ran for it.”It was Erin who answered.“We stole that car and fled.If we hadn’t, I dread to think what would have happened.”
“Nothing good, that’s for sure,” I added.“Listen, I’m sorry I’ve embroiled your sister in all of this, but please know, I never intended to put her in danger.”
“You haven’t put me in danger.”Erin closed the distance to me and perched at my side.“It’s not your fault that those awful men showed up.”
Her desire to jump to my defense was warmly appreciated, but I wasn’t sure it was accurate.If I hadn’t sent the message to Baron, Hawkins would never have been able to intercept it and track our location, but she knew Hawkins was the real villain of the piece.Apparently, he’d harbored resentment for many years and had just been waiting for an opportunity to make Baron and me pay.I’d inadvertently handed it to him on a plate.
My head fell at the thought of my old boss, Baron.I had no way of knowing what had happened to him, and that dismal reality clawed at me.Either one of Hawkins’ men had shot him dead and he’d bled to death in the same suffocating hallways Erin and I had grappled our way out of, or he’d managed to eventually get out, only to find us already gone.Fresh hurt sliced at me at that possibility.What would he have been thinking had he got to the garage and found us gone?Would he ever be able to forgive me?
He knew how worried I was for Erin.The explanation echoed around my skull.He’d have understood.
Heaving in an agonized breath, I hoped I was right, but I was also doubtful.In his place, I suspected I’d have been less forgiving.
I’ll never know.
For the first time, I understood how Erin had felt in the aftermath of Chelle’s departure.It was the not knowing that stoked genuine torment, not the reality.
“It sounds like you two have quite the story.”Owen’s tone was a little more upbeat as he rose.“Let me clean this up and put the kettle on.We can talk more.”
“We should get going,” I countered, though the last thing I wanted to do was be forced back into a car again.
