Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
The only way I’d see her again was if Zach could forgive me for everything. I’d refused to listen to him, refused to believe that what he said might’ve been a cover. If I’d listened to him, he wouldn’t have been on his own, and he wouldn’t have been brought here.
I was surprised he even wanted to look at me today. It had nearly killed me to watch Lorenzo carry him away. Would he even want to see me?
37
ZACH
Hospitals always took away my sense of time, but it was even worse this time. I’d come from a location I didn’t know, having already been there an undisclosed amount of time. I didn’t have a phone. I wasn’t even where I could see a clock most of the time in the ER, but after what felt like forever, my broken ribs were taped, and my leg was set, which hurt as much, if not more, than when Ivanov had broken it. Now I was in a cast and not able to put any weight on it. Every part of my body hurt. If I tried to look at anything for more than a few minutes, my vision went blurry. I knew the concussion would heal, but I also knew it would take way too fucking long. They were saying I’d be in the cast for six weeks. Six fucking weeks.
Once I was admitted and in a room, I knew I should try to sleep, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to see Rafe, but I didn’t have a way to contact him. Lorenzo left me after I was settled, but he hadn’t known when Rafe would be there.
Somebody knocked on my door, and I called out, “Rafe?”
“No, it’s me,” Maria said. “Can I come in?”
“Sure. I didn’t expect you here.”
She frowned. “You thought I wouldn’t want to check on you?”
“I wasn’t sure you could. After what happened, I didn’t know if you needed to look like you’d cut all ties with me. Since I’d gone rogue, I thought you might have to shut me out.”
“No, I managed to make you look like at least a little bit of a hero, but there’s a downside to that.”
My head was swimming. Had I heard her right? There was no way she could make me look good from this, was there?
She smiled. “Don’t think about it too hard. I know you’ve got a concussion. Rafe testified as a witness, saying you killed Ivanov in self-defense. Your excessive use of force was clearly due to the fact that you’d been abused in captivity after the strain of an intense undercover investigation.”
“But that’s not—”
Maria shook her head. “That’s the story. It’s in a report. It’s been turned in. But to move that through channels and not have anyone ask more questions, you’re going to need to resign.”
“I was already going to.”
She sighed. “I kind of thought that might be the case.”
“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be bound by these rules and…”
“In love with Rafe?”
My pulse sped up. “How do you know that?”
“I don’t think anything else would’ve pushed you as far as you went.”
“How did you find me?”
She frowned. “I was hoping to avoid that confession.”
“Confession of what?”
“The day you met me at that stupid dive bar, I put a tracker in your shoe.”
I stared at her. “What? How?”
“I haven’t lost my sleight of hand despite the number of years I’ve been in the office instead of the field.”
“You… I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”
Maria smiled. “Honestly, neither can I, but I’m really glad you didn’t.”
“But how did Rafe know?”
“Because I told him.”
“What? Either this concussion is even worse than I thought, or you’re not making any sense.”
“Rafe went to look for you. He found your phone. He saw blood. He put the pieces together and realized you’d been taken. He called Xavier. Xavier called me, and I explained about the tracker.”
“Wait. You’re working with Xavier?” How had I missed all of this?
“Yes.”
“How? Why?”
She shrugged. “We both want to see evil people like Ivanov brought down.”
“But he’s also working with the Theriots.”
“Yes, and that is why—”
A piece clicked in place. “Why I couldn’t go after them.”
“Exactly.”
“Fuck, I had no idea.”
“I worked damn hard to make sure you didn’t.” She glanced around. “So where is Rafe?”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t been to see me, and I don’t have my phone or any way to call him.”
“He’ll be here,” she said. “Don’t worry about that.”
“I hope so.”
“Look, I’ve got to go and keep schmoozing with headquarters so there aren’t any repercussions. At least we don’t have to worry about Ivanov escaping or never getting to trial.”
“Thank God for that.”
She laid a hand on my arm. “Take care and keep in touch. Do you need me to bring you a phone?”
I shrugged, then winced. “I don’t know.”