Page 53 of More Than A Boss

“You got that right. Especially since they were not in any immediate danger,” he replied.

“Why do you think she ratted them out?” Darcy wondered.

“Who knows, divided loyalty, protecting her babies, fear. Fear and paranoia will make you do strange things you wouldn’t normally even consider,” the officer said. “I’ve seen it all.”

“Poor Will!” Darcy said.

“When I just spoke with him, his only concern was for his family. He was ready to sacrifice himself and turn himself in to Santiago. I tried to reason with him. I’m not sure I convinced him though,” Zane said. “I hope I was successful. He doesn’t deserve this. His children deserve to grow up with their father.” He said thinking of his own unborn baby.

—

Will decided that his only option was to walk out the door and turn himself in. He couldn’t bear to think of his family suffering at the hands of these monsters. If it was the last thing he ever did, so be it. As he exited the bathroom, he was roughly grabbed, and a gun was jabbed into his ribcage, causing him to wince. “Now, remember, I will have a gun pointed at you the entire ride. I guess we’re going to discover Toledo together,” the man chuckled darkly.

“Where is your better half?” Will asked, showing a little gumption and sarcasm.

“We decided I could handle this on my own,” he said. “No need to waste time and money on an extra ticket since you were basically trapped on board. Let’s go take a seat. You have about four hours to think about your life and to pray for forgiveness for all of your sins,” he laughed, nudging Will forward.

With resignation, Will moved forward like a dead man walking. He was still pondering what the man had said about him not wanting to know who had given up their location. He was in denial, and he managed to tamp down the slight niggling at the tip of his consciousness. Taking a window seat, the man slid in next to him, effectively blocking Will’s exit.

—

Camilla let the police officer in after demanding to see his I.D. through the peephole. He entered and sat down on the couch, and her children, who had never met a stranger, proceeded to entertain their new friend.

“Have you ever played ‘I see something in the room’?” Daniel asked the officer. Isabella stared at him with her large brown eyes, nodding at everything her big brother said.

“Yes, I have, that is a great game,” the officer said.

“The other tall man and pretty lady taught us how to play when we were at the motel before.” Daniel smiled. “I won!”

“I too win,” Isabella said, with dimples showing.

“Well, that’s pretty special. I need to talk with your mom about some grown-up stuff right now. Can you watch your little sister while we go in the other room for a few minutes?” he asked Daniel.

“Sure, I can, because I’m a big boy,” Daniel said proudly.

“Yes, you are. We will be right back, big guy.”

The officer asked Camilla to sit at the dining room table, and he pulled up a chair close to her. “Tell me how it happened?” he asked.

“Will called and told me that when he approached our apartment building there were two men waiting for him. He fled to the train station and was boarded on a train getting ready to depart,” she said nervously.

“No, Camilla, tell me how they found your hideout?” he asked gently.

Wringing her hands, Camilla asked, “What do you mean?”

“Camilla, I think you know what I mean,” the officer answered.

She started crying silently, her shoulders shaking, and her head lowered. “They called me on my cellphone a week ago and told me that my brother wanted to give me a message. If I would tell him our location, my children and I would never be bothered again, and, in fact, Santiago would guarantee our protection for the rest of our lives. He told Christian to tell me that, if I didn’t turn Will over to them, he could no longer protect me or my babies. We would be on our own,” she said.

“I agonized for my husband. I love Will, I didn’t know what to do,” she said with a sob. “Christian said to make it easy on everyone. My choices were either to turn Will over to them or to know that my babies wouldn’t live to see their next birthday. They threatened me that if I told Will or anyone else that when they discovered our safe house, and it was only a matter of time before they would, we would all suffer.” She finally broke down completely, wailing with grief, guilt, and remorse.

The children, hearing their mother crying, came into the room with frightened eyes. Isabella ran to her mother and hugged her legs saying, “Mama cry. Why Mama cry?”

“Mama, are you sad?” Daniel asked, beginning to cry himself. Big tears welled in Isabella’s eyes as she watched her brother becoming upset.

Camilla opened her arms and gathered her children against her chest, burying her nose in their hair. Kissing them both on the tops of their heads, she said with desperation in her voice, “Mama loves her babies so much. You both know that, don’t you?”

“Mama, Mama, peese don’t kwy. We wuv you.” Isabella tried her best to communicate her worry, her chubby little arms squeezing her mother’s legs.

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