I knew he was trying to be funny, but it wasn’t funny at all.
“If they find out I was here the whole time, you’ll go to jail.”
“First of all, how would they know?” he asked, pulling back to rub his thumbs over my cheekbones. “And second, what makes you think I’d ever allow myself to get caught?”
Something about the confidence in his words told me he was right.
“Why would you help me?”
He released me and took my hand, walking us toward the living room. “It’s like you said—this isn’t the life you would’ve chosen for yourself. Maybe now you can figure out a better life. Possibly in a non-extradition country.”
I stared back toward the hallway. “What are we going to do with the body?”
Rafferty pointed out the big picture window in the living room, which showed the snow already starting to melt. “It’s a deep lake, Jess, and it’s already dusk. I’lltake my grandfather’s outboard and drop him off in a random cove, far away from the dam.”
Rafferty walked to the front door and opened it. Water dripped from the roof as the chilled wind licked through the living room. The driveway, where his truck sat next to my cousin’s Jeep, had only a few traces of snow. Shivering, he shut the door and looked down at me.
“If your cousin could make it in, you can make it out.”
Before I could protest, he shook his head. “The snow last night covered up your tracks, and it’ll be days before they realize you’re not in the lake. The rain over the next few days should keep the dogs off your scent.”
“But—”
“He has a passport, right?” Rafferty asked, talking over me. “You both had to get one to go to Mexico, right?”
“Yes, but?—”
“We’re going to shave your head and you’re gonna take his Jeep, get every bit of documentation of his that you can get your hands on. The passport is critical, but if you can get his Social Security card, even better. His birth certificate, if you can swing it, would give you the most options.”
I nodded. “I think I know where he keeps everything.”
“Then drive up to Dallas tonight. Go straight to DFW and get the first flight to the first non-extradition, non-visa country you can find. You’re going to live a good life.”
I almost laughed. I had no credit cards to speak of. Hell, I didn’t even have a bank account anymore.
But Kyler does.
“Raff.” I held up my hands. “My father clearly knows where I am. If he doesn’t hear from Kyler in the next ten minutes, he’ll come out here and finish the job himself. It wouldn’t take him very long at all to figure out I was herewith you, and even less time to leverage that against you.”
“I know.”
“But—”
“I’m pretty sure my grandfather’s boat can handle two bodies,” he said, far too calm for what he was proposing.
“Why, though? Can you explain that to me?”
Complicated emotions crossed his face as he cupped my jaw.
“I investigated you for a long time, Jess. I know how you like your coffee. I know which shoes make you feel taller. And I know that you care, even when you shouldn’t. With this job I took at the beginning of the year…I thought about you. A lot.”
“Really?”
It was a relief, knowing we’d been on each other’s minds.
“I had hoped that if I could get in early enough, maybe I could prevent a young kid from being forced to go down the path you had to. But life doesn’t workthat way. So, this is my one opportunity to make something right. To give you a chance to start over as if you weren’t your father’s son. As if you were your own man. As if you weren’t staring down the barrel of your cousin’s fate.”
I swallowed thickly, surprised by the emotion welling up. It was as if he were peering into the part of my soul I hid from everyone. That he saw who I wanted to be, despite what time and circumstance had turned me into.
