“I should’ve had the guts to talk to you, but I didn’t,” I whispered. “You were the last person in the world I expected to see.” Before I knew it, instead of his voice filling the room, it was mine. “I wasn’t immediately transported to Canada. Agent Masters and her team took me to a hospital, where I stayed for about a month. There, I was told that I was being relocated to Canada under their witness protection program. There was one FBI agent who didn’t want me going out of the country, but in the end, it was the safest option for me.”
His hands dropped, and he leaned back on his haunches, putting his hands on my knees. “They did what was best for you.”
I straightened, staring at him for some time before I continued. “Alan and the people connected to him were all over the country.”
He grunted, nodding.
“You know everything, don’t you?”
His throat worked. “Not everything.”
“You couldn’t find me because Red Snake was left out of the loop,” I surmised.
“Red Snake was never meant to be in the loop. When Benson hired us, we had no idea he was under investigation. We don’t work with criminals.”
“I know.”
He looked away. “Tomorrow, I’m sure Grayson and Jake will have more answers.”
“I’m sorry that his case was why you couldn’t find me.”
“There were a number of reasons why I couldn’t. My time in Devil’s Den being one of them. I was there too long, and it was the perfect opportunity for Benson to go underground. When I was healed, my team and I did everything we could, but we didn’t have much to go on. I only remembered your face. I didn’t have your name, and when I went down to Texas, Benson’s church was shut down. Everything was working in his favor. He’d disappeared off the face of the earth, and I’d given him a head start to do so.” He dropped his head and rubbed the back of his neck, blowing out a breath. “I wanted to go back into Devil’s Den, but…”
“Your team wouldn’t let you?” I guessed.
His eyes slid over to mine. “No, they wouldn’t. Every single lead I had on you ended up being a dead end.”
My eyes dropped to his hands, and I began tracing his fingers. “How long did it take to find him when you left that summer?”
“Two weeks.”
My head snapped up. “Wh-what? But you were gone for over a year and a half.”
He leaned forward, his hands going higher up my thighs before wrapping around my hips, towering over me once more. “I called in a favor with an old friend.”
My chest tightened. “What kind of old friend?”
“If I had just called him years ago, I would’ve been able to find you sooner,” he whispered, pushing some of my hair back.
“So he found Benson?”
“He helped me, yes.” He paused. “After I found him, I decided to take them all out, leaving him for last. They thought they were safe. Enough time had passed, and they were ready to begin again.”
“What?” I breathed, my chest deflating.
“It was stupid of them, really. To assume that I was never coming,” he murmured, more so to himself than to me. “I left him where he was, on that private island, and went back to Texas. Then to South Carolina. Then to Boston. I took care of them.All of them.Saved that bastard Benson for last, and trust me, gorgeous, he knew I was coming. Word had spread.”
My voice was breathless, quiet. “You killed for me?” The question lingered in the air. I waited for fear to dig its claws into my back and crawl up my spine, but it never did. The little voice in the back of my mind sang out, defying my logic.
You’re safe here.
He is your protector.
“No one harms you and lives.”
It should have scared me, his nonexistent hesitation regarding violence. “Do you…” I couldn’t muster up the words.
Instantly, he knew what I was trying—failing—to ask. He shook his head. “I won’t lie to you and say I didn’t enjoy watching the light go out of his eyes, Angel. I did. He tortured you, and I returned the favor.”
