Текст книги "Falling for Danger"

Автор книги: Chanel Cleeton

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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

His mouth came down on my nipple, sucking hard, the scrape of his teeth sending another wave of desire through me.

“More,” I demanded.

“More what?” he asked, goading me on, an edge to his voice as he pushed me harder.

I threw my head back, rubbing myself over him, enjoying the hell out of the ride. “Everything. I just want to forget everything. Just for a little bit.”

His hand fisted in my hair, pulling my head back, offering my body up, and then his hand slid down, cupping my ass, pulling me closer to him, his hips rocking forward. He squeezed my hipbone, his fingers digging into my ass, a shiver sliding down my spine.

So good.

I reached between us, fumbling for the button of his jeans, dragging the zipper down. I stroked him through his boxers, freeing his cock through the slit in the fabric, pumping up and down while he jerked in my hand.

“Take off your thong.”

God. I loved when he got all growly like this, loved when he took control. I wasn’t exactly the kind of girl who let him get the upper hand very often, but considering how amazing Matt was in bed, in this instance I was happy to oblige.

I released him, the lace sliding down my hips until I was naked and exposed. I kicked my thong off and positioned my body over his again, biting down on my lip as my clit rubbed against his rock-hard cock. A tremor slid down my spine, my nipples tightening at the friction between my legs, a spark igniting inside me.

His fingers found me, stroking me, siding through all of my wetness until he’d slipped inside me, his fingers filling me, pumping in and out, dragging against my inner walls, each touch sending another shudder through my body, his thumb on my clit as I rode his hand.

My eyes slammed closed, my head falling back as I gave myself over completely to the pleasure, as he pulled my orgasm out of me, thread by thread, until I was wholly unraveled.

He groaned. “You look so hot like that. So fucking hot.”

I rubbed myself over him, again and again, the friction electric, and then I couldn’t take it anymore, the need to come overpowering all else. I gripped the base of his cock, settling myself over him, sliding down, the tip of him teasing my slit. I sank down, the movement slow, little by little, teasing him until he growled in frustration and his big hands settled on either side of my hips and yanked me down, filling me completely, stretching my body to accommodate his.

It was good. It was fast. It was hard.

He held on to my hips as I rode him, my dress bunched at the waist, feeling like I defiled the last stupid thing that tied me to the Reynolds name as I fucked the man I fought to keep alive, to keep safe from my father’s greed.

Suddenly, Matt’s hands left my hips, tangling in my hair, pulling my head down to his, our mouths connecting with a kiss, so that when I came, the words “I love you,” were lost somewhere between our lips.

Chapter Nineteen

Initial reports indicate that the explosion in Kate Reynolds’s apartment was the result of faulty wiring and not foul play. Luckily, no one was injured. While we’re relieved to hear that Kate is okay, rumor has it that the police would still like to speak with her. But where is she?

–Capital Confessions blog

Kate

We woke the next morning, our limbs tangled together, our hands and lips following. If not for the gun on the nightstand, we could have been a normal couple.

We stayed in bed for a little longer than we probably should have, as though we both wanted to cling to the remnants of our time together last night rather than facing all that had happened before. But eventually we couldn’t stall anymore, and we both got out of bed, showering and dressing quickly. I put the blue and white dress on again, doing the best I could with the meager toiletries.

I called in sick to work, leaving a message on my boss’s answering machine explaining that there had been a problem in my apartment and I needed the day off. It seemed stupid to worry about work now, but Matt suggested I cover all bases. I called Blair and Jackie, asking them to meet us at our hotel. I’d talked to both of them last night; they’d been frantic after reading about the explosion on Capital Confessions. I’d tried to keep Blair and Gray from coming down to D.C., figuring they’d had enough work absences due to my drama lately, but Blair had insisted. She’d promised to bring me some clothes to wear so I wouldn’t look ridiculous swimming in Matt’s shorts and T-shirt when the dress finally ran out of uses.

“You ready for this?” Matt asked, squeezing my shoulder.

“Do I have a choice? We’re here whether we want to be or not.”

“I know. Just remember that they love you; they’re worried about you. They just want to help. It’ll be okay.”

“I know. I just don’t want them to get hurt. This thing is already such a mess; I couldn’t live with myself if I put my sisters in danger.”

“They’ll be okay. No one ever needs to know they’re involved. I promise.”

I smiled despite the stress raging through my body, remembering how many times he’d promised me something, how many times I’d leaned on him throughout my life. When we were younger, he’d been my support, but while I’d loved him and tried to be everything I could to him, I realized that he had always been too old, too experienced, and I’d still been figuring out who I was. We hadn’t been equals; we’d been friends, but I’d always needed him in a way that he hadn’t needed me. But now, with the time that had passed between us, with the lives we’d lived in the interim, we’d become a team in a way we’d never been before. I liked knowing that it wasn’t just him taking care of me anymore, that we could take care of each other.

“I love you,” I whispered.

He smiled, his eyes going all melty and soft. “I love you, too.”

I’d never get tired of hearing that, never take for granted the fact that we’d found each other.

A knock sounded at the door. I tensed.

Matt released me with a reassuring squeeze, striding over and checking the peephole, his body poised for battle, gun in hand.

“It’s them.”

He opened the door and Blair and Jackie crossed over the threshold, Will and Gray in tow, worry etched all over their faces.

“How are you?” Blair asked, enfolding me in a tight hug, the familiar scent of Chanel wafting over me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “For the most part, yeah.”

Tears welled up in her eyes. “I can’t believe he would do this.”

“He’s pretty pissed at me. He drew a line in the sand, and I chose the other side.”

Blair’s gaze connected with Jackie. “Yeah, us too. We’re here for whatever you need.” She gestured to where Gray stood carrying two enormous suitcases. “We brought you clothes and some other stuff I thought you might want. And I wrote down anything I could remember from our childhood, anything that might help pinpoint his whereabouts in the past.”

“Thank you.”

“And I brought files,” Jackie announced, sliding in between Blair and me and giving me a quick hug. She waved a flash drive in the air in one hand and a file folder in another. “This is everything I’ve collected on him over the years—clippings, some of my old Capital Confessions posts.” She grinned. “I even got Mitch to spill some dirt.”

Mitch Anders had not only managed Will’s state senate campaign, but also my father’s campaigns in the early years.

“And yes, I realize this looks a little stalkerish,” Jackie continued, “but if you’re going to go to war, you have to be prepared.”

The expression on her face was bloodthirsty at best, and whatever guilt I’d felt at involving her abated a bit at the steely glint in her eyes.

Gray and Will came over, giving me hugs before exchanging some kind of man-greeting with Matt, which seemed to consist of communicating a lot without saying anything at all. I figured they were just as worried about all of this, their connection to my sisters thrusting them into a world I wasn’t sure you could be equipped to deal with if you hadn’t grown up in it. Will came from a background similar to ours, but his family genuinely seemed nice and supportive. We were something else entirely.

Matt stepped away from the group and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, holding me against him tightly. “Thank you guys for coming to help. We really appreciate it. We couldn’t do this without you.”

Blair tried to smile, but I could see the tension in her eyes, fear and worry etched all over her face. “It’s what sisters do.”

Jackie nodded. “He spawned all of us, didn’t he? No way you’re going through this alone.”

God, I loved my sisters.

I felt badly about what they were going through, but I had to believe that this was just temporary. That when this ended and Matt and I left, their lives would go back to normal. They’d both fought hard to get to where they were now, and they deserved to be free of this mess.

Everyone sat down, the look on Blair’s and Will’s faces priceless. I knew Jackie and Gray came from pretty humble backgrounds, so I figured the state of the hotel room wasn’t that shocking to them. But Blair and Will had definitely never roughed it in a place like this, and despite the seriousness of everything going on around us, I had to bite back a smile.

“So what’s the plan?” Blair asked after she’d dusted off the desk chair with a notepad, taking the lead as she had so many times throughout our childhood. She wasn’t loud by nature, and frequently people assumed that meant she was shy and thought they could walk all over her, but the reality was that Blair was way bossier than I was. She was just quiet about it, whereas I wasn’t quiet about much.

“First off, I didn’t exactly tell you everything before. Here’s what’s going on.”

I went through Matt’s ambush in Afghanistan—midway through the story he squeezed my hand and I knew he appreciated me telling the story rather than making him share his loss with everyone. I explained how I’d heard our fathers talking afterward and that I’d become suspicious that our father was involved.

Matt took over for a bit and talked about his life after he left Afghanistan, giving a brief overview without sharing too many details.

Then I brought them up to speed on the packages I’d begun receiving in the mail, the information they’d contained, and my own investigation into Matt’s death and our father’s potential involvement. Blair paled when I recounted the break-in and how Matt and I had been reunited, and as we went through the mugging and all the documents that had been lost. Matt told them about his trip back to Afghanistan and his source at Intech, explaining our suspicions about his father’s death, while I had the dubious honor of recounting my attempted larceny and subsequent showdown with our father.

We dined on a main course of death, treason, and betrayal. For dessert, we had explosives and attempted filicide.

“So now you’re up to speed,” I finished, four horrified faces staring back at me.

“What do you need?” Jackie asked.

“Proof. We need the kind of proof that can’t be swept under the rug, that he can’t evade. We have pieces, but we don’t have evidence; we don’t have anything that will tie him to the deaths and everything else. He has connections everywhere; we have to shine a light on what he’s done so that no matter who he calls in, it’s too big for even him to cover up.”

Gray frowned. “Okay, I get that, but let’s say you get proof. What’s next? Treason is extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible to prove. It’s not even prosecuted often. The burden is too high and in this case, I don’t see how you’ll meet it. Are you going after a murder charge? Several murder charges? What’s your endgame here?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “I don’t know how much proof will be enough, don’t exactly know what I’m looking for, I just know we need more. We need something to tie him to this.”

“Kate and I are going to meet with my father’s former employee tonight,” Matt added. “He’s the final link that I can think of. I’m going to press him harder, see if I can get him to turn over any proof or other details he might have.”

“Is that really safe?” Blair interjected.

“It’s not ideal, but I’m not leaving her by herself. She’s safer with me than she is on her own.”

I figured no one was going to argue with that point considering he looked scary intense right now. It was interesting to see him like this, utterly consumed by the mission. I’d seen so many versions of him throughout my life, and I loved each and every one of them. We’d grown up together, and even in the time when we’d been apart, we’d still become people who complemented each other, despite how much our experiences had differed.

“So let’s say you get proof. What happens then?” Blair asked, concern in her voice.

This was the hard part.

I took a deep breath. “We have to leave. We’ve talked about it, and even if we pin this to our father, this goes deeper than him. There will still be people out there who could be after us. We wouldn’t be safe. The world thinks Matt is dead, and right now it seems like the best thing is for him to stay that way.”

Blair’s gaze met mine. “And you?”

“Even if I wasn’t involved in this, even if I could get out, do you think I’d leave him?”

A moment passed between us and I waited for the fight, for Blair to try to convince me that I was making a mistake, for her to do her big-sister thing, but instead she just nodded, her hand finding Gray’s, and I realized that somewhere along the way, even through the rough patches, our relationship had changed. I’d been afraid that I’d ruined everything between us with my involvement in Capital Confessions, but I realized now that we’d both grown up and become better versions of ourselves. Sometimes it took some shaking up to realize what mattered most and who you should cling to.

“Where will you guys go?” Jackie asked.

“It’s probably better if you don’t know,” Matt answered, exchanging another one of those looks with Will and Gray. “We can work out a system to keep in touch—burner phones or something. I’ve used them before and they can be secure.”

“So we’ll never see each other again?” Blair asked. “This is just it?”

“I don’t know,” I answered, pain in my chest. “Maybe this will blow over. Maybe someone will nail him and everyone involved. But I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“We might be able to meet in neutral locations once this blows over,” Matt added. “We’re going to need to assume new identities. With Kate’s notoriety in D.C., coming back to town really isn’t an option anymore.” He grimaced. “And time is running out. Things are escalating dramatically with the explosion. The longer we stay in town, the more dangerous it becomes. I want to meet with this guy and then leave in the next couple of days.”

“Are you going to your father’s funeral?” Blair asked.

In all of the chaos, I hadn’t thought about the fact that his father’s funeral was today. It would be largely attended by the D.C. political elite, frequent inhabitants of the society pages, and the Forbes list. My father would be there, shaking hands. Hell, he’d probably deliver the eulogy.

Matt shook his head. “Wasn’t planning on it. Kind of hard to do when you’re dead.”

“You aren’t that recognizable with the beard.” Blair smiled. “Besides, I have a feeling you have some tricks up your sleeve when it comes to altering your appearance.”

“I said my good-byes a long time ago. There’s nothing left for me there anymore.”

“Your mother’s there.”

“I don’t exactly have anything to offer her, either. I’m not who I was and I can never be him again. She’ll be fine. She has friends, has her own life. She doesn’t need me.”

I was probably the only one who picked up on the way he ran the words together, as though he wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and his family. He had so many emotions swirling around inside of him, and his parents were yet another wound that wasn’t quite patched up.

“Let’s get started,” I interjected, wanting to save Matt from having to talk about this any longer. As much as I knew he hadn’t come to any kind of resolution or peace where his family was concerned, I wasn’t sure going to his father’s funeral was the answer either.

Sometimes you had to break ties with the people who had hurt you in order to find peace. Sometimes it wasn’t the family you were born to, but the one you created that carried you through the rough patches. So I sat with the five people I considered my family and somehow, despite the chaos surrounding us, we laughed as we plotted and schemed a way out of the life I’d been born into.

Chapter Twenty

A crime wave has taken Washington D.C. by storm. We’re shocked by the rash of muggings and murders hitting D.C.’s elite. Is the heat spiking the crime wave or are there more nefarious forces at work?

Police found the body of a man …

–Capital Confessions blog

Matt

Blair’s comment about my father’s funeral stayed with me throughout most of the day as we went through the research Jackie had done, as Blair and Kate brainstormed for anything they could remember from their childhood that would help connect their father to Afghanistan, as we all attempted to figure out what our next move should be. The comment stayed with me after they left, and Kate and I dressed for the meeting, as I armed her and went over gun safety with her.

My mind should have been entirely on the task at hand, but instead it kept drifting … to memories of my childhood, the few times my father and I had bonded over one of my soccer games, the first time he’d ever taken me to his office and I’d seen where he worked and declared that one day I wanted to be just like him.

Maybe I should have gone to his funeral. I could have slipped in like I’d slipped into the house the night he was killed, could have managed a disguise. But I hadn’t. I didn’t feel like I was Matt Ryan anymore, like his life was mine. There was Kate, the thread between the two versions of us, and then just … nothing. And at the same time, miraculously, I didn’t feel lost anymore. It was as though hanging on to her was enough for now.

I didn’t know what my future entailed, didn’t know what kind of job I’d settle into, couldn’t really see beyond getting out of this mess we were in. But I was happy. I loved her. And even though our future looked nothing like the future we’d imagined when we were kids, it felt right. As though just having her by my side was enough. I wished I could have given her the things we’d once had, but even as the thought entered my mind, I remembered that this was Kate. She’d never cared about that stuff before, and somehow I couldn’t imagine her caring now.

“You’re distracted,” she murmured, no judgment in her tone, just the gentle prodding she seemed to have adopted around me.

I parked the car near the Lincoln Memorial, checking my watch. I opened my mouth to tell her that I wasn’t, but the truth came out instead.

“Yeah, I am. A bit. Sorry.”

“Was it what Blair said about your father’s funeral?”

I nodded. She knew me too well to bother pretending otherwise.

“I’m sorry about that. I think it’s the older sister thing; she doesn’t mean to pry, but she can’t help wanting to make everyone’s lives better. I wouldn’t take it personally. You’re handling this the best way you can.”

“I’m not upset with Blair; I guess I just keep wondering if she was right—if I should have gone to my father’s funeral. I don’t know. I keep thinking about how he died, how he did try to do the right thing even if his methods were wrong and it was too little too late.”

“It’s okay to mourn him, to wish things had turned out differently.”

“I guess. I just feel like I don’t really know who I am anymore, like I really did die in Afghanistan. They’re my parents, but they’re basically strangers. I feel like a completely different person. The guy I was before wouldn’t have been able to live this life.”

“Maybe you became who you needed to be in order to get through the things that happened to you.”

“Maybe.” I squeezed her hand. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

We sat there for a moment, and then I checked my watch again, leaving my past where it belonged. “Ready to get some answers?”

“Let’s do it.”

We got out of the car, armed to the teeth beneath our clothes, heading toward the Lincoln Memorial. I kept an eye on our surroundings, my hand linked with Kate’s.

It was busy tonight, tourists clearly taking advantage of the warm weather. We sidestepped a group of kids playing on the sidewalk, our strides eating up the pavement. I didn’t like the crowds, didn’t like how difficult the space was to contain. I would have chosen a more private location, but our source was jittery as fuck so he’d only been willing to meet in public. I hoped that the patrols of the memorial would at least deter any attacks. We’d taken the most circuitous route possible to get here, doing everything we could to ensure that we weren’t being followed.

We neared the memorial, the building lit up against the D.C. night sky. Kate’s grip on my hand tightened.

We milled through the groups of people talking and laughing, my heart racing a bit each time they came too close. I fucking hated crowds.

Kate squeezed my hand, closing the distance between us, as though her presence could chase my demons away.

“So what does this guy look like?” she murmured, her gaze scanning the memorial much as mine did.

“He’s tall. Caucasian. Big. Forty-ish. Dark hair cropped close to his head. Dark eyes. He has a tattoo on his arm.”

“Where did you guys agree to meet?”

“Near the statue.”

We walked up the steps, my body tense.

“Do you feel okay?” Kate asked, and I knew what she was really asking was, “Does it feel like the last time?”

I jerked my head in a nod, sweeping the crowd, hoping he’d actually show. My gaze ran over a couple holding hands, a family—one of the kids crying—a group of friends taking pictures, a guy in jeans and a black T-shirt. I froze.

“He’s here.”

I glanced around again, my chest tightening at the clusters of people. Clusters were not good. Clusters meant hiding spots, opportunities to blend, motherfucking danger.

“It’s okay, Matt,” Kate murmured, her voice low, soothing. She tugged on my hand. “It’s going to be okay.”

I didn’t have it in me to be embarrassed by the fact that she could tell I was close to losing my shit. I was too grateful to her for calming me. I didn’t know how to explain it, but it was like she pulled me out of whatever hell I spiraled into, reminding me of the here and now, of the need to protect her and keep her safe at all costs.

We walked toward my father’s employee, his gaze drifting over the crowds much like mine had until he settled on us and he jerked his head in greeting, moving behind the statue of Lincoln. He was ex-military, and he moved with the methodical precision of someone who’d spent time in combat.

I followed him, Kate in tow, nervous energy coursing through my body. I was ready to end this and move on.

We faced off from each other.

“I told you I couldn’t help you,” he said, his expression angry. “I’m not going to the authorities, not going to the media. I gave you everything I had.”

I’d expected this.

“We need more.”

“No fucking way. I’ve been watching the news.” He jerked his head toward Kate. “I know who she is. I know how involved she is in all of this. I want no part of it.”

Kate made a frustrated noise in her throat that almost sounded like a growl. I positioned myself between them, not wanting him looking at her, talking about her, and more than a little concerned that if provoked, there was a good chance Kate would go for the fucking jugular. She might have been a tamer version of herself with me, but I knew her well enough to know that her temper was about to explode.

I opened my mouth to speak, when suddenly I saw a flash of light across his face. I froze, my gaze narrowing, everything tunneling to that red dot dancing on his forehead. There was a second when its presence seemed incongruous, and then I knew.

“Get down,” I shouted, my body connecting with Kate’s as I knocked her to the ground. I heard the gunshot and then the world exploded into chaos.

Kate

For the second time in as many days, I ended up on the ground, staring up at Matt’s face. This time he didn’t look scared or panicked, he looked like he was going to burn the house down.

“Are you okay? They didn’t hit you, did they?”

I shook my head, the feeling I was becoming all too familiar with—panic and terror and adrenaline—swirling inside me. I looked down at my body, running my hands over my torso, my palms coming away red and wet.

Oh god. Oh god.

It wasn’t mine.

“Were you hit?” I asked, panic in my voice.

Matt shook his head.

“What happened?”

“Sniper. We need to move. Now.”

“What happened to …”

Oh my god. The lifeless eyes of the man we’d just been talking to stared back at me. Nausea rose as I stared at the blood, the gaping wound, the parts of his body spilling out …

“Don’t look at him. Look at me,” Matt demanded.

Another shot rang out around us. Screams erupted around the memorial.

“Do exactly what I do,” Matt shouted.

I nodded, my breath hitching, heart racing.

“Kate.”

“Y—Yes?” My teeth chattered together, my limbs ice.

“You can do this. We have to run.”

He jerked me to my feet and I stumbled. His arms came around my body, steadying me, holding me up. We took off running, his hand pulling me along. Around us people screamed and cried, the pandemonium giving us the cover we needed. The police were on the scene, but for the moment the attention was definitely on the body lying on the ground, and capturing the shooter, rather than on us.

My muscles ached as we ran, my legs little more than wet noodles. I was so going to freak the fuck out whenever we stopped running.

“Where are we going?” I asked, my body doubling over to catch my breath as soon as we’d gotten far enough away. Matt might be in peak physical shape, but even though I worked out, there was running and then there was running for your life. Clearly one thing did not necessarily prepare you for the other.

“Metro. We need to leave the car.”

“Are we going back to the hotel?”

“Right now, I can’t think of a better place to go. We don’t have any evidence that they know where we were staying. They could have been following him.”

God, it was like I couldn’t breathe. I kept trying to drag in air, fire burning through my chest.

“Can you run a little longer? They’ll shut down the surrounding metro stations. We need to get farther away.”

I nodded, even though that was kind of a lie. If the fucking sniper didn’t kill me, Matt’s running might.

“Are you okay?” I asked, surprised he was keeping it together as well as he was. I was the one who was utterly terrified and ready to completely lose it.

“Yeah. I am. I’ll be a lot better when we’re somewhere safe. Ready?”

Fuck. Fine.

“Yes.”

We ran to the point where I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to walk tomorrow. I worried we looked suspicious, but no seemed to be paying us very much attention. Besides, I guessed by the way we were dressed we could have looked like a couple going out for a run at night. The blood blended in with my dark clothes, and if you didn’t look too closely—which, thank god, no one did—you wouldn’t spot it.

The image of that man’s dead body, his lifeless eyes, the blood pouring from him, kept flashing before my eyes until finally I couldn’t take it anymore.

I leaned over the sidewalk and heaved, the lunch we’d eaten in the hotel room with Blair, Gray, Jackie, and Will coming out all over the grass.

Matt was behind me immediately, pulling my hair away from my face, his arm wrapped around my waist, cradling me in the curve of his embrace. His hand stroked my back, his touch soothing.

“Sorry,” I gasped, feeling disgusting, tears threatening, my entire body nearing collapse.

He cupped my face, his gaze intent. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Your reaction is totally normal. We just need to get out of here. A little bit longer and then we’ll be safe back in the hotel,” he urged.

I nodded, my eyes welling up. “I’ve never seen someone die before,” I whispered, feeling like an asshole after everything he’d been through, but wanting to give him some explanation for why I was completely losing my shit. “His blood …” My voice broke, another wave of nausea threatening.

Matt didn’t answer me, he just put his arms around me, gathering me in his embrace, his hands in my hair, our bodies plastered against each other as he whispered in my ear, telling me he loved me, telling me it would be okay, giving me the support I needed to keep going.

I was shaking by the time we got back to the hotel, my tenuous grip on whatever strength had carried me this far failing me now.

I couldn’t imagine what I would have done without Matt. He ushered me into the room, his tone calm.

“Let’s get you into the shower, okay? You’ll feel better once you’re cleaned up.”

Considering I’d run in the August heat and thrown up, not to mention the blood on me, I figured it was all up from here.

I nodded, surprised to see that my hand trembled, my legs buckling beneath me.

Matt began taking off my clothes, his touch more soothing than sexual.

“The shock will wear off soon. I promise.”

When I was naked, he sat me down on the bed, stripping off his clothes and setting them in a heap on the floor. He led me into the bathroom, his hands on my shoulders guiding me toward the shower, giving me the support I needed to hold myself together.

Matt turned on the shower spray, and I walked in, lifting my face up to the falling water, closing my eyes, feeling clean for the first time all night. I felt him behind me, giving me the space I needed along with the reassurance I craved.

I saw a man die. He’d bled on me. We’d almost died. Again.

My body shook, my heart pounding as the first sob escaped, then the next one. Matt reached out and held me as I cried, comforting me, the water running down my body, washing away all of the ugliness that surrounded us. When I was finished, long after my tears had subsided and the water began to cool, he kissed me, his mouth replacing my pain with pleasure.

We came together, our bodies finding comfort in this moment, in the break from all of the craziness and fear. Our last lead was dead, we’d had two attempts on our lives, and it seemed more and more like getting out of town was our only option.