“How?”
“We’ll stage it to look like the actual killer kidnapped you. You’ll have to go along with the story, of course, but?—”
An unwelcome thought creeps in. But I can’t ignore it. “If you want to go back now, Bea, we can arrange it. I know I didn’t give you a choice before. And maybe that was wrong of me. But you have a choice now. We can bring you back. Arrange it to look likea hospital mix-up. Or that you were taken by some freak who read the article online and wanted to take matters into his own hands. We’ll figure something out, Bea. If you want us to.”
If she says yes, she wants to go back, I’ll make it happen. Even if it’s the last thing I want to do.
But I desperately want her to stay.
To let me make things right.
“No,” Bea finally says. “It would be too risky. And if what you say about your company is true…”
“It is.” I slide my phone from my pocket and set it on the mattress beside her. “You can look it up. My branch isn’t listed, but the others are.”
“Why not yours?”
“We’re called the Shadow Team. So we take care of more… undercover cases. We take referrals, but we don’t advertise our services like the other branches do.”
Bea glances at the phone. Her fingers creep towards it. “What about my parents? They must know by now. And if I’m missing, they must be so worried.”
Shit. Her parents. Of course she’d want to talk to them. But it’s a risk…
“You can’t talk to them yet.” As she opens her mouth to argue, I hurry to add, “We’ll make it happen. I promise. Tyler, he’s the computer expert on the team, I’ll talk to him about it. We can have someone local—they’re still in Pittsburgh, right?”
Bea nods.
“Okay. So we have contacts all over the country. We’ll have someone get in touch with your parents. Let them know you’re okay, but that they can’t tell anyone. And we’ll get them a secure phone so you can call them. It might take a day or two, but we’ll get it done.”
When she doesn’t immediately respond, I ask, “Can you wait? If not, I’ll try to figure something else out.”
Her hand moves back to her lap. “Indy.”
There’s something in her eyes that makes my heart jolt. “What?”
“Why did you do this? Go all the way to DC. Smuggle me out of the hospital so I won’t go to jail. Risk getting in trouble yourself.”
“Do you think I had an ulterior motive?”
“No.” Her expression is unreadable. “Maybe I don’t know everything about you. But I know enough.”
“What do you know?”
“That you have honor. That you dedicated your life to protecting people. That you’re a good person.”
Oh.
Eden’s told me things like that before. But hearing it from Bea…
“I’ll never hurt you. I swear.”
“But why?” Bea touches my arm. Her hand looks so fragile. So small. And for some reason, I ache to take it in mine. “Why did you do all that? When you haven’t seen me in years?”
At first, I’m not sure how to answer.
How to voice all the thoughts spinning in my head.
How to express feelings I don’t even want to admit to myself.
