“I did,” Max told her. “I knew you needed me. That you needed my help.”
The words tasted wrong, but he pushed past the feeling.
This wasn’t about him. This was about getting Hadley out of here alive.
Kendra’s expression softened, her shoulders easing. “I knew you would. I knew you wouldn’t leave me.”
Max took another step forward, keeping his movements slow and deliberate. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She smiled. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too.” The lie pressed against his conscience, but he kept his gaze steady.
“You just . . . you don’t understand,” Kendra went on, her voice tightening again as her attention flicked toward Hadley. “Everything was fine beforesheshowed up.”
Max shook his head, desperate to get Kendra’s attention off Hadley. “Hey, look at me.”
Her eyes snapped back to his, and she waited.
“Hadley’s not the problem,” he said. “She’s innocent in all of this. This is between you and me.”
Something shifted in Kendra’s expression. Doubt maybe. Resistance.
“I can’t let her go.” Her grip tightened on the gun. “She’ll ruin everything.”
“She won’t.” Max stepped closer, closing the distance by another foot. “I promise you—she won’t.”
Kendra shook her head, agitation rising in her voice again. “You don’t know that. You don’t know what she’s?—”
“It’s going to be okay. We can fix this. You and me. But we have to take this one step at a time.”
Her breath hitched.
Max held her gaze, willing her to stay with him, to focus on his voice instead of the chaos in her head. “Will you let Hadley go?”
The question hung there, heavy and fragile.
For a long moment, Kendra didn’t move.
Then she slowly nodded.
Relief surged through Max, but he didn’t let it show. Not yet.
He shifted his gaze toward Hadley, careful not to draw Kendra’s attention away from him.
He gave the smallest motion.Go.
Hadley didn’t move right away. Instead, she stared at him, searching his expression.
Max held her gaze just a second longer. Then he mouthed the word. “Go.”
Something in her gaze changed. The next instant, she turned and ran, disappearing into the darkness beyond the trees.
Max didn’t allow himself to look after her. Not yet.
But relief loosened some of the tension in his chest.
She was out. Safe. Or at least safer.
