is what would’ve happened if we had stuck around a minute longer,” he corrected her sharply and she blinked back angry tears.
Why couldn’t someone else have been her savior? Anyone but him! She knew she owed him her life but she was fairly choking on the gratitude she was supposed to feel.
But then a fleeting expression of remorse passed over his features as he added, “Jaci...if I could have saved your friend, I would have.” And she knew she was being harsh.
She looked away, acknowledging. “I know,” she whispered but she could almost taste the bitterness in her tone. “I can’t believe she’s gone. She always had my back. Always. No matter what. She agreed to walk down that alley because I didn’t want anyone to see me throw up. She was the best friend a girl could ever want.”
He sighed. “I made some calls and your friend’s murder is currently on the desk of a detective who is known for closing cases. The nature of the case is enough to stir interest—young woman with no criminal record with a single bullet wound to the head—because it’s not as if she were connected to any kind of criminal element that might’ve put her there. Not to mention, the second body of the thug, which won’t make sense at all.”
“So, won’t the investigation lead to your organization at some point?”
“No. As far as the government is concerned, we don’t exist. The investigation will fall short of leads and eventually get thrown into the cold case file.”
Jaci stared, not happy with his explanation. “Sonia’s family deserves some kind of closure. Not knowing why their daughter died will kill them.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t do anything about that.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He held her accusatory stare. “In this, I have no reason to lie. If there was something I could do, I would. If it helps any, Sonia’s death was quick. She felt no pain.”
“It doesn’t,” she snapped, wiping at the tears that escaped to roll down her cheeks. “Nothing helps.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” Jaci’s shoulders bowed as another wave of pain rocked her body as Nathan watched. He didn’t have the right to gather her into his arms and hold her tightly, murmuring words of comfort against her hair, but for one second she wished he would ignore all that and just pull her to him. Jaci wiped away her tears, drawing a halting breath. “Thank you for at least making the call to find out,” she said grudgingly, but then added, “When this is all over, I will explain to Sonia’s parents what really happened. I won’t let them suffer for the rest of their days. It’s bad enough they lost their daughter.” Nathan opened his mouth, looking intent on shutting her down, but he let it ride. Some of the tension left her shoulders and she no longer felt as if someone’s hands were around her throat. She rolled her neck, ready to focus and said, “At some point you’re going to have to level with me. I have to know what’s going on.”
“When I feel it’s safe to share more information I will.”
She accepted his answer. She supposed that was the best she could get at the moment. Everything felt surreal. Was she really sitting in the passenger side of Nathan’s truck, running for her life? Twenty-four hours ago she’d been a normal girl, someone who dreamed of a home and family. Someone who dreamed of meeting the one person who would love her above all else.
After Nathan, she wasn’t sure that person existed. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She’d been so positive that Nathan had been The One for her. She hadn’t wanted anyone else. She hadn’t been open to finding a replacement, either. All of the blind dates, endless dinners and soulless quickies that’d only satisfied a physical need but hadn’t come close to satisfying the emotional void that existed in her heart—they’d all been her desperate attempt to erase the one person who had done so much damage.
And now he was here again. Saving her life, supposedly. How did she know that he wasn’t simply a psycho who enjoyed playing with her mind and heart? There were people like that out there; she’d watched an episode of Law and Order where this guy pretended to be someone he wasn’t simply because he got off messing with other people’s lives.
Oh, God. Now she was considering conspiracy theories. Maybe she just needed food so she could start thinking rationally again. “I’m starving,” she announced. “Is food on your agenda today?”
“There was food back at the cabin.”
She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him.
He sighed. “Yeah, we can pick up some food.”
Good. Apparently she didn’t need to remind him how peckish she became when her blood sugar plummeted. She thanked him with the tiniest pinch of gratitude necessary for his concession and returned her gaze to the dense forest surrounding them. He’d been right; she would’ve been lost and tumbling into a ravine if she’d struck out on her own. Damn. She hated how directionally challenged she was. Right about now she was wishing she’d paid more attention in school.
Silence filled the cab as neither seemed interested in attempting small talk. Not that she would’ve been capable of rambling on about nothing in particular. Her mind was a fractured landscape as her thoughts bounced from one thought to the other. Jaci didn’t know what was safe to think about, as each memory seemed suspect, or worse, painful.
Maybe she should’ve asked Nathan to drug her again. Blissful oblivion might’ve been a better option than this agonizing reality. She closed her eyes.
Please let this be over soon.
Chapter 5
“Hey man, what’s going on? It’s like the whole world’s been turned upside down and suddenly you’re the main characters in an Alias episode.”
Nathan edged past his friend George, not interested in having this conversation in the hallway. “What have you heard?” he asked, once George, a weapons expert who dabbled in conspiracy theories, closed the door and began the laborious process of flipping the intricate locking system he had in place. “What kind of chatter is there?”
George shook his head as he flopped into his swiveling chair that looked a lot like a throne encased in black leather, and immediately appeared distressed. “Something’s going down, man. Something big. When you told me to start nosing around I said, yeah, hey man, that’s cool. I don’t mind poking my nose where it don’t belong. But I think I’ve uncovered some serious shit. I’m talking movie-plot, James Cameron–grade, Hollywood-type espionage. Bourne-Identity—”
“I get the point,” Nathan interrupted, moving George along. “What’d you find?”
“You know that kill order you intercepted for your lady...”
“I’m not his lady,” Jaci corrected George stiffly, shooting Nathan a dark look. “We aren’t together. Haven’t been for two months.”
“Right. Whatever. Anyway, the kill order for your ex, well, it was supposed to go deeper than that.”
“What do you mean?” Jaci asked before Nathan could. “Deeper than what?”
“And that’s the question, isn’t it?” George
