Page 94 of Lethal Weakness

He watches me warily as I stand stiffly and hobble to the door. “Packed what we could in the truck. I’ll replace everything else.”

I glance outside and exhale in surprise. The car that I left abandoned at the mansion is sitting in my driveway.

“Her car seat is installed in the backseat of my truck already. Your car is staying behind,” he says cautiously, seeing where my line of sight has gone.

“I know you’re heartbroken about that,” I mutter, and turn just in time to see a quiet smirk cross his serious face.

“We goin bye-bye?” Avery asks, clutching Jack’s leg.

I look at Jack fully this time, needing to hear him say it, and he looks back at me with nothing but certainty on his face.

“Yeah, we’re going. I need to check on one last thing, but I’ll get you settled in the truck first.” He doesn’t take his eyes off of my face as he talks, having a private conversation just between us two.

He’s searching for something… How I’m feeling, or maybe he can see all of the questions swirling in my head. All the things I won’t ask him in front of Avery.

“We have to go,” he whispers this time, telling me one thing for sure. It’s not safe here anymore.

With all of their money and resources, I’m afraid of what lengths Merrill will go to take my daughter from me.

I nod stiffly, and he picks Avery up to take her to the truck, but while he’s buckling her in, movement catches my eye.

A man at the edge of the yard walks along the property line before doubling back and disappearing. Another man with a mask.

“They’re Ghosts,” Jack says suddenly from beside me, making me flinch. “I’m a Ghost. We’re privately contracted operators. I sent out a distress signal last night, and anyone near this vicinity came to my aid.”

I look at the bandage wrapped around his bicep. “Because you got shot?”

He glances at his arm like he forgot it was there. “No, this is just a graze. I called for help as soon as I saw Avery alone in the pasture. I knew something terrible had happened if you two were separated… and I wanted all the help I could get.”

My throat feels too tight to swallow.

“And you trust them?”

“My boss only hires operators with strict tactical requirements. I know they are qualified, and they follow a code. But they also came in blind and without hesitation when I called… When I wasn’t sure if I would find you alive or dead… So yeah, I trust them.”

I can’t focus on the way he speaks about that moment. The sadness I hear in his voice feels too raw when I’m struggling to make it through the next minute.

“What code?”

“Eliminate evil. Protect the innocent.”

I search his eyes, and he lets me see everything. He doesn’t move away from me or shift his gaze like he’s done so many times in the past. “What happened at the mansion when you left here?”

He sighs, shifting uncomfortably. “I’m not sure you’re ready for the details.”

I scoff. “I thought we were past lame excuses.”

“I’m not making excuses. It was bad. Really fucking bad, Linden.” I can see the truth in his deep, emotion-filled eyes. He’s not lying.

“I need to know.”

“The Scotts were gone.”

“And?”

He looks at the ground and then at the sky. Whatever it is… He really doesn’t want to say it.

“Tell me, Jack.”