“I’m sorry about that. Your parents were already gone when you were at school, right?”
“Yeah.” His flat voice reminded her of reciting telephone numbers. “I thought my friends had my back. When the world was empty of anyone who gave one jack shit about me, they were supposed to be there. I’ve ridden to their rescues financially and literally so many times, and they to mine, and now they’re gone.”
“You don’t suppose it was a misunderstanding somehow, do you?” she asked, hoping to take this heaviness from him.
Blaze shook his head. “They were holdinggunson us. Twist confirmed he hacked my bank accounts, and Micah and Logan were going to kill you.”
Sarah laid her hand on top of his. “I’m sorry Logan betrayed you. I really am, but it means you don’t owe him anything. You don’t have to stay here and protect me. I’m on my own. It’s okay. Your debt to Logan is done.”
He glanced up at her out of the corners of his eyes. “It hasn’t been about Logan for a long time, Sarah. I won’t leaveyouhere to face them alone.”
“I have my friends here. You don’t have to stay.”
“Everyone else in this world is corrupted.You can’t die.The world would be so much worse if something happened to you.”
That’s when Blaze turned and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his broad chest.
He bent and rested his chin on top of her head. “If I can’t convince you to go somewhere safe, kitten, I’ll stay here and defend you.”
“But you have a house and your counseling work over in Chicago,” she said, pushing a little because he didn’t have to do this. “This isn’tyourfarm. It’smine,so it’s my problem.”
“Andyouaremyproblem.”
She snorted at him. Horses snorted when humans did something preposterous, and she wasn’t too ladylike to emulate. “And what if something happens to you?”
The dry humor in his tone was an improvement from the wistfulness when he’d been talking about his friends. “I am aUS Navy SEAL.I made my peace with my eventual end during Basic Underwater Demolition School when I was twenty. If anything, it’s been delayed longer than I’d thought. I’m staying, and we’ll see this through together.”
11
THE BILLIONAIRE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM
BLAZE
Navy SEALs are team players, not lone wolves.
Contemplating his solo status on Sarah’s remote farm dredged up the African proverb: If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.
Blaze and Sarah needed to go far, metaphorically, if not literally. Safety for her wouldn’t be simple or nearby.
Thus, Blaze spun his virtual Rolodex and tugged on his connections.
Approaching people in the correct order was crucial. His asks would create ripples in the billionaires’ space-time continuum, gossip and repercussions, and thus he had to leap from contact to contact in the correct sequence.
He stood beside Sarah’s kitchen table, staring at the glowing screen of his phone and contemplating strategy.
Sarah was twisting freshly churned butter in a red-checked kitchen towel. “Your cell phone’s cord is still plugged in. You know they make those things with batteries now.”
“I’m going to talk to dozens of people today,” Blaze said, mentally flipping through his contacts. He’d signed into his usual phone account, doubtlessly allowing Twist to track him, not that it mattered anymore. “Mary Varvara Bell is coming. We need to be prepared. You have your community here in Kalona, but now it’s time to call inmycommunity.”
While the phone rang next to his ear, Blaze watched through the dining room window, surveilling the tall corn and road outside.
The wind tiptoed over the corn tops, and the dirt road behind them was vacant, no dust clouds marring the clear air.
No intruders.
Not yet.
The first call he made was to the owner of Rogue Security, an old acquaintance who’d served in the Swiss Special Forces Command when Blaze had commanded DEVGRU, and they had a long conversation about logistics.
