Page 83 of Second Chance Serenity

“I’ll be fine,” I tell him, then take his hands and press them to his injury. “Tell Michael I’ll be okay.”

“Let’s go!”

I stand and reach for my phone, just for show, and Liam shakes his head. “Leave it. You won’t need it. We’ll get you a new one when you can be trusted to see the truth. Come on.” He reaches forward and grabs my arm, then shoves me out the door, the gun pressed up against my side, hidden from view.

Blood coats my hands, so I fold my arms as we make our way out of the school. That way if anyone is passing by, they won’t stop and try to help.

I can’t risk Liam hurting anyone else.

Please, God, let Jaxson and Silas be all right, and send Michael to me. Please send me help. I need You.

CHAPTER 27

Michael

Ihaven’t been to many prisons stateside, though I spent quite a lot of time guarding and delivering criminals to detainment facilities overseas. However, despite their surface differences, they are very much the same.

Criminals with furious expressions glare at us from the other side of a chain-link and razor-wire barrier as we make our way toward the interrogation building. Some throw insults our way; others offer to show us a good time if we’d just step on the other side of the barrier.

More than five make threats at Carter.

He maintains his focus, though, not letting it seem like anything’s getting beneath his thick skin. Not even when they make vulgar threats about his family. I turn my head and glare at a bald man with black ink on the top of his head, and he grins back at me.

“Don’t let it get to you,” Carter says.

“How do you deal with it? How do you continue walking instead of losing your temper?”

“Losing my temper won’t do anything but land me on the other side with them. Which is exactly what they want.”

We step into the building, and a blast of AC hits me in the face. After turning in our weapons and signing in on the visitor’s log, we’re ushered back to a private room with a viewing window. Elijah and Lance step behind it, while Carter and I continue into the main room.

Carter sets his briefcase down and takes a seat at the table, while I remain standing in the corner. “Not planning to sit?”

“No.”

“Michael, you have to be careful with these guys.”

“I’m not worried, Carter.”

“They tried to kill you. It would be natural to be a bit apprehensive.”

“I’m angry,” I retort. “Not apprehensive. And it wasn’t just me they nearly killed.”

“I already apologized for not being forthcoming about what I was dealing with. I honestly didn’t realize the two could be linked. Can I not make a mistake?”

“You came to us to protect her. You honestly expect me to believe you had no idea the two situations could be connected?”

He remains silent, but I can see the answer written all over his face. The guilt. “I had my suspicions, but I trusted you to keep her safe.”

“Yet you didn’t bother giving us all the information we needed in order to keep her safe.”

“How could you have protected her differently?” he asks. “If you’d have known that I was dealing with death threats over putting Willy away, what would have changed?”

“We would have been looking for proof rather than searching for a needle in a haystack,” I snap. “Elijah could have spent time digging into the threats you received, finding a link, and taking care of it before she even could have been abducted. And had we known it was a threat of this magnitude, we never would have allowed her to attend that gala in the first place.”

He starts to respond, but the door opens, and two guards walk in, leading two inmates wearing bright orange jumpsuits. Since it was dark and I was focused on staying alive, I hadn’t had the chance to get a solid visualization of the men who attacked us outside of the banquet.

But now, I study them.

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