“I tried! I—”
“No, you weretherefor him, Peyton. While everyone else stood around in shock, you stayed with him, and held him in your arms. You gave him whatever sense of peace you could, right up until his dying breath.”
Again, I got the sense that heknew.That somewhere, in some faceless, nameless place, he’d had to endure this same extraordinary burden.
“He was so damned young,” I finished, bitterly. “Just a kid, really. He begged me to do something, and all I could do was go home with his blood in my hair.”
Colson hugged me tightly, enveloping me in his arms. The warmth and comfort of his chest pressed against my face was overwhelming. Somehow, it drove back the screams.
The sound of a throat being cleared brought us both back to reality. The woman held up the pressure bandages for my inspection, and I nodded. They had built-in windlasses, just as I’d hoped.
“Do me a favor?” I whispered, as Colson paid the bill.
“What?”
“Promise me we won’t need any of this stuff?”
The big marine looked down on me, his expression solemn as he stiffened to his full, formidable height. I was asking for an impossible vow. I didn’t expect him to give it.
“I can promise you that Donovan and his men are going to need this stuff way before us,” he growled, stowing it away.
I smiled, wanly. “Good enough.”
Back outside, we walked the streets some more. Arm in arm, we kept a low profile. And that’s when I saw him.
A man, across the street, near a busy coffee stall. He wasn’t holding a coffee, though.
He was lowering his phone.
“Shit. Your sunglasses…”
I dropped my hat forward quickly, and used it as a shield while I slipped them on. I’d completely forgotten I’d taken them off!
When I risked looking up again, the man was still there. Only now, he was murmuring something into his phone.
“Move,” Colson urged. “Now.”
We moved. Casually at first, but then at a faster pace. The burner phone buzzed, with a message from Ripley. Colson held the screen out so I could see it.
Captain’s in. Boat’s ready on short notice.
Also, heads up. I think we’re being felt out.
My stomach sank. Colson’s hand on my hip urged me sideways, and down the nearest side-street.
“Ripley’s at the car,” he said, looking down at the phone. “Coast is clear for now. We need to get back to the villa, before we pick up a tail.”
I moved even more quickly, pinning my floppy hat down with one hand. The disquieting sense of being noticed hadn’t left me yet.
“I’m sorry,” I exhaled. “You were right. I shouldn’t have come.”
I thought about the beach, the villa, the wonderful sense of protection and comfort I’d felt, wrapped in three strong pairs of arms. More than anything, I just wanted to be back in the safety of our little, temporary home.
“What’s done is done,” Colson said, shaking his head.
He went to pull me even harder, but he didn’t have to.I was already running.
“I just hope Theo cracked that locket,” he murmured. “We’re running out of time.”
