Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“Once he’s out, what happens next?” I asked.
Eli looked to Griffen, then back to me. “This is outside the scope of the kind of thing Sinclair Security usually does, but they knew what they were getting when they bought our team from Silas.” He rolled his eyes. “We’re freezing Haywood’s accounts. All of them. He’s going to need money—even if he has some set aside somewhere, he’s going to need a big stack of cash to pay that bounty. We found all of his cards, all of his accounts, even the ones he thinks he’s hidden. He’s not going to be able to access a penny. We’ll start putting out the word that he can’t make good on the bounty.”
“And then what?” Paige asked. “He’s out and he doesn’t have any money—”
“He’ll know why,” Griffen said. “And he’ll come for Ford.”
I got it now. I was bait. It was diabolical, but I found I didn’t hate it. If it would make all this stop, I’d do anything.
“I changed my mind,” Paige said, her face sheet-white. “I’ll go to a safe house—if Ford comes with me.” She looked to me, her pale blue eyes wide and desperate.
I shook my head. “And then what? We stay there forever? This only works if I play bait, right?” I looked at Eli and Griffen, who nodded. “Then I’m in.”
The faster this was over and Haywood was out of the way, the faster I could focus on getting Paige to forgive me.
“We knew you would be,” Griffen said.
“And I don’t get a say?” Paige demanded.
“No,” all three of us answered.
She trembled for a moment as if fighting the urge to yank her arm out of Griffen’s hands and storm from the room. I thought I could feel the force of will it took for her to hold herself still and let him finish bandaging her. Through gritted teeth, she said to me, “Don’t think that when this is over, we’re just going to pick back up the way we were.”
“Paige.” I raised a hand to reach for her.
“No. You’re treating me like a chess piece, like I don’t have an opinion or any say in what happens. That’s not love. Love is a two-way street. It’s communicating and valuing the other person’s opinion, not just deciding how things are.”
“Well, maybe I love you enough to let you go—if it means you stay alive.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
PAIGE
Footsteps and voices sounded in the hall outside the kitchen.
Griffen fastened the last butterfly bandage on my arm and looked to the door. I followed his gaze and saw Wren poking her head in, a grin on her face, a lock of sandy hair falling out of her stubby ponytail.
“Got him,” she said cheerfully. “Ryder’s dragging him into your interrogation room.”
“We have an interrogation room?” Ford asked.
Griffen gave us a wry grin. “The interrogation room is otherwise known as the old storeroom. I’ll be there in a second,” he said to Wren.
“Cool,” she replied, leaning against the doorframe. “You get shot?” she asked me, raising an eyebrow. Her voice was casual, as if she was asking if I was hungry.
“No,” I said. “Glass.”
She nodded sagely. “Better than a bullet.”
“Are we going to talk to this guy?” Ford asked, looking to Griffen and Eli.
“Hawk and Ryder are securing him,” Wren said. “They’re waiting for the rest of you before they start asking questions.”
Ford looked to me. “You’re not going in there.”
“Fine,” I said, too furious to say more. I didn’t want to talk to the assassin. I wanted Ford to stop being an idiot, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen.
“I’ve got her,” Wren said easily. “I’ll check the rest of these wounds. You guys go ahead.”
Eli, Griffen, and Ford marched out of the room, headed, I guessed, for the storeroom. I knew it as a space lined with shelves filled with extra serving dishes and linens. Apparently, Hawk’s people put it to a different use when needed.
Wren picked up the bag of wipes off the center island and came closer, taking one of my hands in hers and efficiently scanning my arm for more cuts. “I think Griffen got everything,” she said. “So, what did I walk in on? Seemed tense in here.”
I didn’t want to talk about it, but I sensed an ally. And maybe I was too frustrated to keep my mouth shut. “Ford’s being an ass,” I said. “He thinks if I’m anywhere near him, I’m going to get killed. So, he dumped me.”
Wren rolled her eyes. “Men. I’m assuming he didn’t ask for your input?”
“Of course not,” I said, mollified that she got it so quickly. “He already decided how to solve the problem, so my thoughts weren’t necessary. Jackass.” Sarcasm and a friendly ear didn’t ease the ache in my heart, but it still felt better than staying quiet and doing what I was told.