Fifty
August 27, Thursday
Emory
Enoch closed the laptop and wheeled the table away from over my bed. I stared at my hands in my lap, trying to decide if I really believed what I’d seen. If I could trust it, trust that Carlos, thateveryone of them, including Kit Walsh, were all dead. Enoch said that the FBI had been monitoring the gang activity and there had been no word about me. Just that they had been raided by the FBI.
If that was true, then maybe Carlos hadn't lied. Maybe the other jefes didn't know that I was alive.
It didn’t feel real.
But neither did the fact that I was here.
That I’d survived.
That Enoch was here with me.
That his family knew about me.
“Do…” Enoch cleared his throat, adjusting his position in the reclining chair beside my bed. “Do you feel safer now?”
“Maybe,” I said, unsure whether I’d ever truly feel safe again. “Why did they kill everyone? There…there were a few people who weren’t even holding a weapon.”
Enoch took a deep breath before answering, “That would be Bradley. He…well, he knew that keeping them alive wouldn’t do you any favors, so he told the team, the one we had hired, to kill on sight everyone they came across that wasn’t you or another potential innocent person.”
I blinked, unsure I had heard him right. “And they just listened to him? They killed them without question?”
“They knew what they were getting into, Shy. They were hired to do a job, and they did it.”
I nodded slowly.
“And your family…they’re safe too, right?”
“Yes,” Enoch said, squeezing my arm gently. “Everyone is safe. A few of the guys from the team are staying on until we figure out where you want to go when you get out.”
“Out?”
“Of the hospital. The doctor said maybe three more days and you’ll be discharged.”
My mind went to Anchorage. My friends.
I gasped.
“My friends!”
Enoch shook his head, “It’s okay. I told them we found you.”
“Found me?”
“Well…they were there when we realized you were missing. I told them it was your family that had found you but that I was handling it. They were a little hard to convince to not go to the police, but Jae made it sink in and I’ve let them know that you’ve been found and you’re safe and you’ll speak to them when you’re ready.”
I sighed with relief.
“Where…where will I go after this?”
“Um…well, you can come back to Anchorage with me or my family has offered their home. Babushka has already filled the deep freezer with food for you once you’re home.”
My mouth twitched with a smile at her generosity.
