“The only people I told where Yvonne and . . .” Jonathan.
“Who?”
“No one.”
His intense gaze drills through me. “I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know who I’m keeping you safe from.”
“I told Jonathan, but it was just a few minutes before we were run off the road. And he’s the one who got shot, so I think the chances he’s in on any big conspiracy are pretty minimal.”
“Well, someone’s obviously gotten word to Arroyo.”
“Ben’s in jail, right? So how could it have been him?”
Blake shakes his head. “Arroyo rarely does his own dirty work, and he’s got a long reach. If he decides you’re a threat, he’ll find a way to take you out. It’s his pattern.” His brow creases and he drops his gaze. “And whoever’s leaking information has a direct pipeline, because he knew you were out within minutes of your release.”
I feel that defensive knot rise in my chest. “It wasn’t Jonathan.”
“We’ll see.” He leans back in the chair, tenting his fingers and tapping his lips.
I lift my hand to rub my face and find a thick gauze bandage fixed to my right cheek. “How did you find us in that ditch?”
“I had a feeling.”
“A feeling?”
He hauls a deep breath and rubs the back of his neck. “People who cross Arroyo tend to go missing.” His eyes flick to mine. “Or show up dead in Dumpsters.”
“So you knew he’d come after me? Is that why you told me to be careful?”
A shadow of guilt passes over his face. “Just for the record, I didn’t want to let you go. As long as we had you in custody, you were safe.”
What if he really did this? What if Ben’s really trying to kill me? My lungs feel like blocks of ice and I’m having trouble getting a breath.
“Sam, you’re going to be all right. I’ll make sure of it.”
There’s something about the sudden softness in Blake’s voice that cuts through my panic like the sharpest blade. If he hadn’t arrested me, none of this would be happening.
I stuff back the panic and glare at him. “This is your fault. If anything happens to Jonathan, I swear to God, I’ll make sure everyone knows exactly what you did. I’ll go to every newspaper who will hear me and tell them what a douchebag you are and how you set me up and got my friend shot.”
His mouth presses into a line and he lowers his eyes from mine. “I suppose I deserve that.”
“Leave.”
His eyes lift and lock on mine. “If that’s what you want.”
“What I ‘want’ is to have never met you. What I ‘want’ is my job and my life and my friend back. What I ‘want’ is for you to die a slow, painful death a thousand times over. But I guess I’ll have to settle for never seeing you again.”
He winces. “Like it or not, you’re sort of stuck with me for now.”
“Get out!”
He stands and moves toward the door, but before he steps through, he turns back to me, and the almost-smile on his lips makes me madder than I already am. “Glad you’re feeling better.”
Chapter Sixteen
“RED? WAKE UP.”
I open my eyes and look down at Jonathan’s blurry form. “What?”
His image in the hospital bed sharpens as my eyes focus, and I realize I must have fallen asleep at his bedside. It’s been three days since we got run off the road, and my head is finally clear enough that they’re discharging me. There’s a bandage covering the gash over my right cheekbone, but it didn’t need stitches. What hurts more are the bruises across my right shoulder and left ribs where the seat belt was, and my right arm’s in a sling because my shoulder’s sprained. But I still came out of everything better off than Jonathan.
His eyes flick to the other side of the room and I follow his gaze to find Blake, leaning into the door frame with a gun strapped to the left side of his chest. I straighten up in my seat and wipe the drool off my chin with my sleeve.
“We’re ready to move you to the safe house,” he says, all business.
“Is Jonathan coming?”
Blake splits a glance between us. “No.”
“But . . .” I look at Jonathan. “You said you thought this was Ben.”
Jonathan’s eyes widen and shoot to Blake. “Seriously, man?”
For just an instant Blake’s jaw tightens, then he shrugs off the doorjamb and fixes me in his gaze. “As long as Jonathan is here, he’ll have our protection. But Arroyo wasn’t after Jonathan. He was after you. We need to get you somewhere safe.”
I’m stuck in Blake’s intense gaze until I feel Jonathan’s fingers thread into mine. “You need to go.”
I look down at him in the bed, then back at Blake. “Where am I going?”
He shakes his head. “I can’t tell you. If anyone knows,” he says with a glance at Jonathan, “it would defeat the purpose.”
It kills me that he still doesn’t trust Jonathan. “What about my family . . . my parents? Can I call them?”
“If there’s anyone you need to call, you have a few minutes now, before we go. You can use your cell, but you’ll be leaving it here when we leave.”
I feel my eyes widen. “You’re taking my phone?”
He shrugs. “Sorry. We need to take every precaution.”
“What about the rest of my stuff. All my clothes are at Jonathan’s.”
“We’ve taken care of it,” he says, his eyes catching mine before he lowers them.
“I’ll hold onto your stuff, Red. You’ll be home soon,” Jonathan says. He lifts a hand and touches my bandages. “Did I mention how hot a chick with scars is?”
I’ve been avoiding thinking about that. “Yeah,” I say, rolling my eyes. “They’re all over the fashion magazines.”
His eyes spark as he pokes at the ring through his lower lip with his tongue. “You think I’m joking? I’ll show you how hot when I get the fuck out of this hospital bed.”
I roll my eyes again. “One word, Jonathan. Ginger.”
He grins. “She’ll want one too. It’s gonna be the new thing. Plastic surgeons’ offices will be flooded with hot chicks wanting scars.”
You can question his methods all you want, but Jonathan’s heart is always in the right place. I squeeze his hand and turn to Blake. “I can call people now . . . before we go?”
“Anyone you want. But please don’t give them any details of your situation.” He lays a hand on the doorknob. “Do you need some privacy? There’s a room up the hall.”
“Give me a minute?”
Blake nods and slips through the door into the hall.
I wrap Jonathan in a one-armed hug. He squeezes me hard and it hurts my sprained shoulder, but I don’t let go.
“Listen,” he says in my ear, suddenly sounding uncharacteristically serious. “I don’t really think this was Ben, but I’ll see what I can find out. If I got you into this, I’m going to get you out.”
“You didn’t get me into anything but a job. A perfectly legal job,” I add with a glare at the door.
He gives me that cocky sideways smile and tweaks my chin. “There’s no way anything that hot is legal, Red. You’ve gotta know that.” I lean in to kiss his cheek, and he pulls me to his shoulder. “You’re gonna be okay,” he says into my hair.
“You too.”
I pull back and find him grinning. He pounds a fist into his chest, but then winces. “Indestructible, baby.” I stand and he reaches for my hand. “Stay in touch, Red.”
“I’ll try.” I start to the door, but then shiver as something cold fingers up my spine. I turn back to him. “Jonathan?”
He grins at me. “Are you going to profess your undying love? Because I already know.”
I smile despite myself, but it falters when dread that I can’t explain coils in my gut. “Stay away from Ben, okay?”