Page 97 of Buried Too Deep

Either way, he’d have to silence Sage, too. It was always going to end this way. He could see it now.

This will kill me.

But his life’s work was important. He couldn’t let it be tarnished. People would suffer.

He thought about his Anna, slumped in her chair, her blood and brains covering the paisley fabric. Anna had suffered.

So did I.

So had others. But if Alan was exposed, so many more would be hurt. His followers could lose their faith. He couldn’t allow that to happen.

Sometimes the needs of the many really did outweigh the needs of the few.

Abraham had been prepared to sacrifice his only son, after all.

Sage would be Alan’s sacrifice.

The Caulfields would have to be collateral damage.

Alan returned to his desk, placing his head in his hands. How did he present this to Sage in a way that the boy would agree?

He wished he’d eliminated the Caulfields years ago when he’d still had his independence, but he hadn’t. Now he had to depend on someone else to finish the job.

He thought about the face in the photo. Ashley was innocent in all of this. In every single thing.

How was he supposed to package the murder of an innocent as a necessary evil? How could he frame it so that Sage would actually obey him?

I’ll find a way.

He had to, because if Cora Winslow got to the Caulfields first, nothing would be salvageable.

The Garden District, New Orleans, Louisiana

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1:00 A.M.

Phin hadn’t lied to Cora. He really had slept on more uncomfortable surfaces than the floor outside her bedroom door.

But this floor was cold. Luckily SodaPop was warm. She lay curled up against his thigh as he sat with his back against the wall and his legs stretched out toward Cora’s door.

Cora had given him a blanket and that helped.

It also smelled like her, which was a bonus.

He had no idea why she’d chosen him to guard her door tonight, but he’d gladly accept the responsibility. He thought that she’d be fragile, given all she’d lost. And a part of her was. A part of her had raised walls to keep from getting hurt again. She held herself aloof. As if allowing anyone too close would be more than she could tolerate without breaking down.

But she was not a fragile woman. Not by a long shot.

His heart had nearly stopped when she’d dropped her body onto that thug’s legs. She could have been hurt in so many different ways, but he didn’t think she’d even considered the risk to herself.

But he wasn’t foolish enough to mention it again. Molly had scolded her and received the frostiest glare he’d seen in a long time.

No way did he want to be on the receiving end of that glare.

No, he wanted the warmth he saw in her brandy-colored eyes. The trust. He’d planned to camp out exactly where he was before she’d asked him to stay with her.

That she had asked was satisfying in ways that he couldn’t explain.

Sure you can. You like her. You want to protect her.

---