“You really didn’t know she was involved with this? I’m sorry if I find that hard to believe.” I’m seething.
Tyler stiffens and says, “I told you, he doesn’t tell me everything.”
“You really had no idea?”
He slams the filing cabinet drawer closed and says, “No. I saw her on your detail but I didn’t know she knew Thomas. I thought he killed her and left her in the woods. He let me believe that and I was okay with it. How sick is that?
“He told me he was overthrowing Vega. That he would be running the cartel. He promised me a place there. We would be together. Like a real family. But that’s not what he’s doing. He’s getting out. He said they never let you out when you work for the family so I guess this is how he’s doing it. It’s all a lie. All of it.”
Tyler stands up, shoves the envelope inside his jacket, then leaves the small room. I follow him out. There is so much rage in me that I’m afraid I can’t contain it. It sucked when I thought Hammond was the mole. That someone could get that close to my family and betray us at the same time is shocking, but for some reason finding out it’sheris even worse. It’s like a punch in the stomach. She had the nerve to go through the charade of making me change my appearance when all the time she was the one I should have been hiding from. How could she have shown up at my house after I got my journal back full of concern and worry?
What a bitch.
And then in the van. Her swollen eye and busted lip. That look of fear etched across her face. Her screams when he pulled her out of the back of the van. All a lie.
And that bitch cut my hair.
My knees buckle and I fall down a few of the steps. I drop my head in my hands. “I’ve never felt more stupid in my entire life.”
Tyler pulls me up. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
We make it to the bottom floor and back out on the street without incidence. I wonder what Tyler’s going to do with the envelope. Or what Thomas is going to do when he finds it missing. I should have brought the gun with me when we left, but I just wasn’t thinking straight.
“So what are we going to do now?” I ask as I scan the street for Agent Hammond. I don’t know where he was when I called, but hopefully it won’t take long to get here.
“We’re leaving town.” He stops walking and looks at me. “We’ll find a cab to take us out of the Quarter, then we’ll figure out where to go from there. It’s just you and me, now Anna. I will protect you.” And then he smiles.
Oh God. This is wrong. So wrong.
His forehead scrunches up. “You do want to come with me, right?”
It’s hard to find the words I need to make him stay on my side when obviously my face is showing the disgust I feel.
“We need to concentrate on getting away from Thomas before we make any long-term plans, okay?”
I reach for his arm to give a reassuring squeeze but he moves it just out of reach.
I walk slowly, giving Agent Hammond time to get here. The house and Ursuline are so close that it doesn’t take long before I can see the alley we came out of from earlier. Tyler scans the street for a cab and I pray one doesn’t show. I may just have to make a run for it. We’re both so focused on our personal goals that neither of us notices Thomas until he’s right in front of us. I jump the second I see him.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he says to Tyler. He’s got that really controlled voice thing going on and I know he’s pissed we left. And then he looks at my feet. Oh, crap. He probably tried to find me with the tracker and it didn’t work because I left it at the house. God, please let him think it broke.
“Anna needed a little air. We just took a walk so I could say good-bye to her. I didn’t see any harm in that.”
Tyler is different. Everything about him: his voice, his posture, his steady eye contact with Thomas. And if I’m picking up on it, I know Thomas is, too.
“It’s my fault,” I say. “I begged him to let me get out for a minute. I was going crazy in there.”
Thomas glances around the street then back at us. “We need to get back.” He extends his arm, gesturing for us to go first. We start walking and I hate that he’s behind us. Now, I’m scared for Agent Hammond to show. He doesn’t know what Thomas looks like but Thomas for sure will spot him.
Once we’re back in the courtyard, I turn to Tyler and pull him in for a hug so I can whisper in his ear. “You gotta act like you don’t know anything. He’ll know something’s different.” I pull away and say in a regular voice, “Thanks for the walk.”
He gives me a hard look and I’m afraid I’ve lost him.
I run up the stairs and back to my room.
What do I do now? What do I do now?runs through my head.
Grabbing the gun, I lock myself in the bathroom and turn the water on to help drown out the sound.
