“Patience, I’ve been a lot of people over the years. I’ve lied to a lot of people, changed my name, who I am, my past, and my present. One thing I’ve never told anyone, not since before I lost my family, is I love you. And I do Patience, I do love you. Thethought of losing you makes me sick. Leaving you unprotected and alone scares the shit out of me, but knowing when I come home—that I’ll come home to you—keeps me going. I love you, Patience. Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” I smiled and kissed him, putting all the love I felt for him into it. “I love you, too, Tucker. So much it hurts.”
Chapter 14
TUCKER
Ten minutes. I had ten minutes with my wife before I had to get on the road.
My stomach was in knots over leaving her behind. I knew she was in pain and hurting because I had to walk away, but I was praying I would make it back to her. The only comfort was that at least I knew she would be taken care of if I didn’t make it out of this alive. A quick conversation with Noah, Carson, and Griffin before the small living room ceremony made sure of it.
I pulled into the parking garage across the street from the courthouse. The trial wouldn’t be in session for another three hours. If anyone wanted to take me out, it would be when I entered or exited the courthouse. I grabbed the custodial uniform Delaney slipped me when we were picking out the dog. He was the only one who knew my plan, the only one I trusted enough to tell, and he also got instructions should anything go wrong.
I grabbed one of the burner phones from the bag to call Patience. I needed to hear her voice and tell her that I loved her again. When she picked up, I could tell she was a mess and had been crying since I left.
“I’m here.” I assured her softly.
“You’re in the courthouse?”
“No. Not yet, but I wanted to tell you that I love you, wife. I’ll be home as soon as I can be and keep Laylah close.”
“She’s not the only one staying close.” Patience chuckled as she sniffed back the tears. “Mom’s been baking like crazy and is crying off and on. She doesn’t even know you like I do, but because I love you, she does, too. Griffin, Noah, and Carson haveworked out their work schedules, so someone is here all the time with me, and when they can’t be, Addison or Dad are here.”
“Did you move back into the main house?”
“No. I wanted to be where you were—to feel close to you.” She sighed and audibly swallowed.
“I’ll try to call again when I can. I love you, Patience.”
“I love you, too.”
I hung up with Patience, and it had to be one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. I pulled on the uniform before I got out of the truck. There were a few people on the streets and some were heading into the courthouse. I stood in the shadows of the buildings as I searched the rooftops around the courthouse.
I didn’t see anything, so I kept my head down and walked toward the side entrance. Once I was inside, I let out a sigh of relief. The directions Delany gave me were burned into my memory, so I followed them up to the janitor’s closet on the second floor. The key hidden in my pocket let me inside, and all that was left to do was wait and be patient.
***
Three days.
I was ready to go back to Patience, but I couldn’t, not yet.
I was waiting for my next day in court. The janitor’s closet was my hideaway from everything, so I wasn’t out in the open. I’d been diligent about coming in at different times, with different disguises, different doors, parking in different places. The day before, I rode in on a bike, carrying an envelope and wearing a helmet and sunglasses, like a messenger.
This had to be the final day for me. Once I was done here, I could go home to my wife. God, that word. I never thought I would love someone like I did Patience. I missed her every damn second of every day since I’d been here. It took less than three days for me to fall in love. I used to think love at first sight wassomething stupid in fairytales. I’d never been a believer until it came up and smacked me in the face.
I heard a key in the lock of the closet. My whole body tensed and I prepared to go on the attack if needed. When the door opened, I relaxed when I saw Delaney standing on the other side.
“They’re ready for you.”
“I’m going home today, so they better finish all the questions they have.” My head was on a swivel as I walked toward the main courtroom. “They can’t ask questions from a dead man,” I mumbled to my friend.
“No, they can’t. They should have enough today so you can go.”
I nodded. “Is the package ready?”
“Yeah. Everything is set.”
“Good. Let’s get this shit done.” I walked into the courtroom and felt the glares from two of the men I was about to put away. Carnage was the president of the Evil Fuckers MC, and the man beside him was the other man known for getting these drugs on the streets—my father, the mayor.
