“It’ll only stophimsnatching the evidence. Just because we’re refusing to gun down the bank staff, it doesn’t mean anybody else will be so polite. Not everyone has Dante’s moral compass.”
“But if Dad retrieves the evidence first and hands it over in exchange for... me.”
Carter swears under his breath. “No way.”
“Why? It’s the perfect backup plan. Just think about it.”
“I have and the answer isno.”
“Why the hell not?! You went through all this fucking trouble with me to find the evidence and now it might be in the palm of your hand you’re refusing to close your fist?”
He spins, the turmoil of emotions raging inside him crackling in his dark eyes. “If getting the evidence means losing you, it’s not fucking worth it.” He combs his fingers through hishair. “And don’t fucking swear, Hailey. It sounds farcical when you’re dressed like a schoolgirl.”
My eyebrows meet in the middle. I don’t understand. Why doesn’t he like this outfit...? It’s cute. It’s girly. It’s... a long way away from what Nash loved. My cute dresses used to set his teeth on edge.
I chew my cheek... maybe he really wasn’t pretending to be someone else when we were at Lakeside.
“That’d be plausible if you had any idea what’s really in this evidence,” Ryder says, eyes darting between everyone in the room before settling on Carter. “You don’t know how much Alex gathered. What if Aalyiah dug deep enough to bury you, us,Dante... what then?”
“Getting it means keeping Hailey safe, out of the line of fire,” Broadway adds, stroking Carter’s overprotective side.
“No,” he clips again, staring right at me as a muscle feathers his jaw. “I’m not using you. Not again.” He rises to his feet, dropping a napkin onto his plate. “We leave on Sunday.”
“Where are we going?” I ask at the same time as Broadway jumps to his feet, clearly unappeased.
“Sunday? That’s five days away, Boss. We might not last five days here. Rhett hit the Oregon safe house last night.”
“And thanks to the bug on Apollo’s phone, we knew about it forty-eight hours ahead. We can’t half-ass the planning for this job, so we’ll need until Sunday to square it.” He looks over his shoulder, halfway up the stairs already. “Don’t pack a bag just yet, Hailey. For now, you’re staying right here. Koby will keep you company while we go check that fucking bank.”
My mouth goes dry, words turning to dust on my tongue. I don’t want to stay here without him. Swallowing hard, I shepherd the unease tumbling my stomach. “You said I was there with Alex. Don’t you think I’d be useful? Maybe I’ll get a flashback and remember how to access the evidence?”
“Not bad,” Ryder praises with a cunning smirk.
“Ifwe get confirmation the evidence is there but we can’t access it without you, Koby will bring you to me,” Carter says, and cutting the conversation, he disappears upstairs, every one of his steps radiating tension.
“Why do you get to stay?” Broadway huffs, glaring at Koby. “I’m a way better shot than you.”
“You wish.”
“I’m his second.Ishould stay with Hailey.”
“If he told you to stay, you’d whine about him leaving you behind. Now he’s taking you, you’re whining about not staying. There’s no pleasing you, is there?”
Using their bickering and inattention as cover, I slide off the stool and follow Carter. His bedroom door is cracked open. He sits on the bed, checking his phone.
“Don’t lurk outside,” he says, without looking up. “What’s wrong, pretty girl?”
I enter the bedroom, leaning against the door as it closes behind me. “How long will you be gone?”
“Two, maybe three days. Once I have a plan in place, I need to stop in Chicago to get the green light.”
“Green light? From Dante?”
“That’s how it works. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Many things: for one, I wonder how safe I’ll be here without him. Rationally, I know the entire property is wired. The house is bulletproof and probably bomb-proof when it’s locked down, but... all of that doesn’t make me feel as safe as Carter does.
But I just ask, “Will I be okay here?”
