Page 119 of Ruthless Cross

"No. I'll see her in the morning. I want to tell her everything in person."

"Everything?" he queried, a gleam in his eyes.

"I don't think I can keep the truth from her. It's going to come out, right? Every last sordid detail."

"I would expect so. There will be a trial. The investigation into Arthur's life will reveal every secret."

"That's what I think as well. I'd rather my mom know all that while she's in close contact with her doctor. Speaking of parents…I did tell Savannah that Sam was at the warehouse, that he tried to get the gun away from Victoria, and that he might have saved our lives, but in the chaos that followed, I never saw him leave. She didn't press for anything else."

"No, she wouldn't. Others might. But I said the same thing."

"It's true. I never saw him leave the building." She gave him a thoughtful look. "How do you feel about it, Flynn? Are you angry with yourself for letting him go?"

"I made him a deal. Your life for his freedom. It was worth it."

"How did you even know where I was?"

"That was my father. On the photo Marcus sent, my dad recognized the pattern of light falling over your body as coming from a stained-glass window. He put that together with the edge of a frame by your foot and guessed you were in a former art co-op that had been used for stained-glass art classes and later as a warehouse. Apparently, my father had actually broken into the building several years ago to retrieve a painting that was in transport."

"That's…lucky," she said slowly, in search of the right word.

He gave her a cynical smile. "I guess you could say that. It seemed too easy to me. I thought he might be part of it all, luring me into a trap, so that I couldn't rescue you."

"I can see why you'd think that."

"But he was persuasive, and my back was against the wall. I had less than two hours to find you before the meet, and the best time for me to get you out safely was before that. I had to take a leap of faith."

"You trusted him. That must have been extremely difficult."

"I didn't have another option. I had to save you."

Her heart swelled with love at his words. "I wanted to save you, too, Flynn. I probably messed things up when I threw that wrench. You were about to take her down. I'm responsible for Marcus and your dad getting shot."

"Who cares about Marcus? And my dad's injury was nothing. You had no idea I was in the building. You did what you needed to do. You created a distraction, which gave everyone a chance to escape, including yourself. I'm more than a little impressed. I guess that softball you played came in handy."

"I can thank my dad for that. I never knew it was a skill that could save my life."

Flynn moved forward, sliding his arms around her waist, pulling her up against his chest. She let her head rest on his shoulder for a long minute, as he kissed the top of her head, and they just held each other.

In the circle of his arms, she felt loved, protected, safe from everything, and right now, that's exactly what she needed. She had no idea what tomorrow would bring. Actually, she was afraid of what tomorrow might bring—not in terms of the case or her mom but with Flynn. She'd fallen for him hard and fast, but it was during an adrenaline-fueled situation where they'd been spending every second together.

"Callie, stop thinking," he said.

She lifted her head. "How do you know I'm thinking?"

"Because you stiffened. What are you worrying about?"

"Nothing," she lied. "Everything is good now. We should eat dinner." She slipped out of his arms, determined not to think about the future just yet. She still had tonight, and tomorrow could wait a little longer.

* * *

Flynn drove to his office on Wednesday morning in a bad mood. He shouldn't have been surprised Callie was gone when he woke up. In retrospect, she'd been saying goodbye to him all night. They'd made love with passion and tenderness and so much feeling that he'd felt like he'd ridden a rollercoaster upside down and backward, until he was physically and emotionally spent but also amazingly content.

He'd slept dreamlessly, not waking up until after nine, when his phone had started buzzing with texts. That's when he'd seen the empty side of the bed, when he'd heard the intense quiet that he'd always liked about his home…until this morning.

She hadn't left a note, either. But the few things she'd had at his place were gone. She must have called a car to take her home.

He'd wanted to drive her there, maybe take her to see her mom. But it was too late now.

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