I lean back and look up at Rafe. There are tiny specks of blood all over him. “I don’t understand how you’re here or what happened.”
“Jayson and I had a disagreement. It’s handled now.”
“Handled?” I’m sure my eyes are wide, and I can feel my legs starting to shake, or maybe it’s my entire body.
“Rex!” I hear a man shout.
“I’ve got two with me, clear the house,” Rafe hollers back. “Get your friend,” he adds quietly, speaking to me. I look over my shoulder to see Gwen, red-faced and still crying.
“Gwen.” When I call her name, she flinches, but she doesn’t show any other sign of listening to me.
“Hey,” Rafe snaps, and she darts her eyes toward him. “You’re gonna leave with Lucy. If you keep your mouth shut, maybe I won’t come for you for your part in this.” His eyes are locked on her as he waits for a reply or a reaction of some sort, but she just starts to sob harder. “One word, and I will know,” he warns, and she finally nods.
After making Gwen agree to his demand, Rafe steps back from me. His hand with the gun aimed at the men never wavered, and from the looks of them, neither of the men have moved. I hear footsteps approaching before I see anyone.
“Coming in,” a voice announces. A familiar face breaches the door. Saddle dips his chin toward me but looks away hastily, focusing his attention on the two men held at gunpoint. “House is clear, Link is en route.”
“Check them for weapons,” Rafe orders. Saddle pats the men down efficiently, removes a concealed gun from one of the men’s lower legs, and slides it into the back of his waistband.
“Keys.” Rafe extends his palm toward Saddle, who pulls a fob from his pocket and hands it over without question. “Make sure these two are comfortable, I’ll be back.” Rafe ushers Gwen and me back toward the open doorway. I look at the two men, committing their faces to memory. They won’t be leaving this room alive, I’m certain of it. If I walk away, will I be able to live with myself knowing I did nothing to prevent it?
“Don’t ask me for the one thing I can’t give you,” Rafe murmurs as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking. I lower my gaze, feeling ashamed. I wasn’t going to ask him to release them. I’m selfish enough to know that wouldn’t go well for him or me, and ultimately, that’s who I care about. I just need to figure out how I’m going to rationalize it in my head later so I don’t end up hating myself for it.
“Come on, Gwen.” I sound tired, even to my own ears.
“What’s going to happen to them?” she questions.
“They’ll be going back to Ohio with their boss,” Saddle retorts with a smirk. Gwen looks around as if she expects to see Jayson. I wish I was as oblivious as her, but I don’t have that luxury, and she’s partly to blame for it. After all, she’s the one who handed me over to them. If she hadn’t done that, I would have no idea about any of this.
Chapter 30
My stomach is in knots when we drive away, not in Saddle’s car like Rafe wanted, but in Gwen’s. I’m behind the wheel, looking around for a cop to pop out and arrest me. The only sound in the car is Gwen’s sniffles until she mumbles, “I’m sorry, Lucy.”
All the fear I was feeling morphs into a hot spike of anger. “For what? Selling me out to your boyfriend or aiding and abetting my kidnapping?”
“I didn’t know what to do.” She tosses her hands up in the air. “Jay said he just wanted to talk to you, but Michael was pushing me around and threatening me.”
“How about you warn me, huh? Not lure me into your car to make it easier on them. Do you know what would have happened to us if Rafe weren’t there?” I want to shake her until she sees reason.
“He said he just wanted to talk,” she whines.
“Don’t tell me you are that dumb, Gwen! If you actually believed that garbage, you wouldn’t have been crying when you picked me up.” I snort. “I thought I was going to have to console you after a breakup, not fight for my freaking life.”
“I’m sorry, okay? Not all of us are as tough as you!” She’s getting mad now too.
“You must be right about that, because I would have done anything but hand you over to them.” My voice is low and calm. I don’t even bother looking over at her. At least I can thank her for something though. Remembering it was them or me makes me feel a whole lot better about walking away as a survivor. There’s no doubt in my mind I wouldn’t have made it out of there without Rafe. I would have been dead or wished I was.
I slam on the brakes when I reach the end of my driveway. Gwen is staring out the front window like she’s not even registering where we are. “Are they going to come after me?” she finally asks.
“They?” I lift my brow.
“Rafe,” she clarifies.
“No, you should be thanking him.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Rafe did you a favor. Jayson won’t be back to the city, or Michigan at all, I’m guessing.” I’m already protecting him, both of us really. I’m an accessory to the crime. If Gwen thinks nothing happened, she won’t have any reason to tell anyone about today. We can just pretend it was a fight that got out of hand, but nobody was seriously injured.
I’m betting Rafe will clean up the mess, because if this hits the news, I don’t think Gwen is strong enough to keep it a secret. “He said he would…come after me.”
“Then don’t tell anyone his business. And I mean it this time.” I glare at her.
