Broch didn’t know, but he had heard a comment about a son. That must be what she was talking about.
“I can help you if you stay, Christin.”
She turned to him, and her eyes were very direct. He thought of how she had gone toward him without a second thought. Maybe she was capable of murder, maybe more. There was a fire that was burning bright inside of her. He had an eerie feeling that there was way more to Christin than what met his eyes.
“Why would you help me?”
He shrugged his large shoulders, because he really didn’t know. “I am supposed to.”
Chapter 8
Christin
The next morning, Christin was told that all of her charges were dropped, and her name was cleared. She wanted to test the theory, but how would she do such a thing? She knew that she couldn’t call Phillip. He still knew what had happened, how he had set her up to take the fall. It was all on him and she had to lay low, so that Phillip didn’t find out. There would be no telling what he would do, if he found out that she was out and free. The benefit of surprise was all she had going for her at the current moment. Christin had to hold onto that at all costs.
She needed somewhere to lay low, until she figured out how she was going to make it all work. Christin was convinced that she was going to get her son back. None of the rest mattered. Sure, she would like to get revenge or even justice for what Phillip had done to her, but William was more important. What happened to him, mattered more than anything else did.
Broch offered her a place with them for a time. They were going to his other place, and she went with it, because she had no better idea. It was going to come to her, she was sure of it, but Christin was still trying to get her head around being free.
Broch wasn’t the exact man that she would choose to be her savior, but he was taking on the title pretty well. He had just showed up when she needed him most. Christin wasn’t going to forget it, but she wasn’t going to get too close either. She had too much baggage and though he might have read about her on the internet, it didn’t tell him much. It wasn’t like he really knew her, what she was. He was a nice guy who saw her as an innocent human girl. He was going to keep thinking that, if Christin had anything to do with it.
“Are you riding with me?”
Christin agreed, though she thought that she was going to have to ride in the back of the van with the rest of them again. They were all stacked in there like firewood, but he said that they had a different ride. He also had a few bags that had clothes in them.
Christin was thankful and overwhelmed that he had remembered everything. She was trying her best to come to terms with everything, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. It was a mess actually. She was free, but she still had to hide, at least until she had a plan of how in the world she was going to take out Phillip.
She rode with Broch in the back of a car. He had a driver, and his clothing was very different. The ones that he had picked for her were high-quality, as were his own. The car they were riding in was only the best and Christin was starting to realize that Broch wasn’t at all what she had first seen. If he was the leader of some criminal gang like she’d imagined, then he was very good at it. It was obvious that he had plenty of money. So why help her? The question kept swirling around in her mind and she didn’t seem any closer to an answer.
Not much else was said for the next thirty minutes. Christin was exhausted because she couldn’t fall back to sleep at the cabin and she woke up on his shoulder a while later. Christin was embarrassed, pushing the hair out of her face and apologizing to him for being in his space. He was ever so kind and told her that it wasn’t a big deal.
“I rather liked having you there. At least you don’t snore.”
Christin sat up and asked him where they were.
“We are here. I thought we could stay in the summer house, while everyone picks up the pieces. You are welcome to stay as long as you like. There are some rules to the manor, of course, but those can be gone over later. I have a few things I have to do. I will see you later, Christin. Marie will help you with anything that you need.”
The door opened, and Christin didn’t know what to say. She was still quite unsure about it all but knew that she could trust Broch. There was just something telling her that she could. Since she couldn’t contact her family yet, as they could be in danger if she did, Christin needed a hideout. She just hadn’t realized that it was going to be an actual mansion.
She turned around to say something to Broch, but the car was leaving, and she was standing in the circular driveway, looking up at one of the biggest houses that she had ever seen before.
“Well, okay then.”
Christin stared a few more minutes, counting windows, before she gave up and made her way to the door. She didn’t know what to expect, but the small, rotund woman who answered was nicer than anyone she had been around in a long time. Everything and everyone in her old life and marriage were cold and cruel. Marie was the opposite. She was warm and had a smile for Christin immediately. Christin was taken aback at first. She had forgotten how it was to be carefree and unencumbered by an oppressive force like Phillip. Her life was already so much different. She just needed William back and then Christin would be complete. She could never be complete, with half of her out in the world.
Marie showed her to her room after some lunch was served and Christin passed out. She was so tired, and it was probably the softest bed that she had laid in for years. She’d stayed on a cot back home and the prison didn’t have much better accommodations. She felt for once, like she had before, like a princess. A lot had changed for her, and for once, it wasn’t all bad.
Chapter 9
Broch
He rode to work, letting Ernest drive so that he could make a couple of phone calls. He was checking out the work that was done on Dennis and Brody. They needed a clear ticket, so that business could resume as usual. Broch had been gone for several days and business ran better when he was in-house.
The clan was trying to stay legit, but it was hard. Broch had put it all under the mask of a procurement company that had taken great strides in the last ten years, but something was going awry. They had been caught three times in the past two years, always for something else, but it was always some kind of set-up. Broch was sure that some other clan was gunning for him and though he had ideas, he didn’t know who it was.
Leonard called before he got to the office. He said that they had a lead and Broch gave him permission to follow it, no matter where it led. Sometimes, he had to make tough decisions, but finding out who had gotten his men arrested, some of them killed, was worth it.
Getting caught up kept him busy for the next few hours. Instead of worrying about anything going on at home, Broch was able to work through it all. He only stopped in the evening when he finally realized that he was hungry and that he had a woman waiting at home for him. He wondered if she would even be there and if she was, what in the world was he going to do with her?
