Page 51 of You Found Me

“No, he ain’t right. He’s full of shit.” Diggs knelt in front of her and took her hands in his. “You saying you want to fire me?”

“No. Of course not.” She looked at the big man with soft eyes. “Renic hired him because he’s good at this. I think we should do what he says.”

“Girl…you’re killing me.” Diggs rubbed at the back of his neck, but the anger had slipped away from him. “You sure this is what you want?”

Della bit her lip and nodded.

Diggs shook his head. “I don’t like it.”

“Me either,” Ms. Bellamy said. “I hate everything about this. But I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”

Diggs huffed out a breath, then glanced at Ward, his expression one of resignation. “I guess you win this one. What do you need me to do?”

It felt like a major breakthrough. Maybe the man’s friendship with his client would be an asset after all. “Get with Spencer and help him document the evidence before the cops get here. You know a lot of these people. Any background you have will help.”

Diggs nodded and patted his former principal’s shoulder. “You need me, you call. Got me?”

Ms. Bellamy offered him a soft, sad smile. “Thanks, Greg. It won’t be forever. Right?”

“Won’t even be a blink,” Diggs stalked out of the room.

Ward turned to the two women. “Did you bring the kit?”

Annie shot him a be-serious look. “Plan B?”

It really sucked that it had come to this, but Ward couldn’t see any way around it. “Plan B.”

“Fun.” Annie infused the word with so much hidden meaning that it caught Ms. Bellamy’s attention.

“Fun?” Ms. Bellamy glanced from him to Annie and back.

“I’ll be right back,” Annie said as she left the room.

“What kit?” Ms. Bellamy stood.

Since Annie pretended not to hear the question, Ward answered, “First, we give you a new look. Then we relocate.”

“Okay.” She bobbed her head up and down as if she were talking herself into the idea. “Okay. New look. That’s…okay. I guess. Where are we relocating to?”

His hometown of Wires Crossing, Pennsylvania, was a spec on the map about an hour and a half drive from both Philadelphia and New York. Population: 20,602. Home to the country’s first inn with electric lights, which was how they’d come up with the name. Despite the access to more exciting places, or maybe because of it, Wires Crossing stubbornly clung to the sleepy small town vibe and aggressively fended off urban sprawl. That made it the last place on earth anyone would hunt for Della Bellamy.

He knew every street, alley, nook and cranny intimately.

It was the right call. He knew that. He felt it deep in his gut where all of his best decisions were made.

He just wished he had another option.

“Somewhere nobody would expect you to be.”

Chapter Nine

Della huddled on the couch in the streaming room and tried to pretend nothing bad had happened, but it was impossible. She was surrounded by security people and police and flashing lights and reminders that something was mind numbingly wrong.

Her bedroom was a crime scene. A literal crime scene.

The second she’d seen the photos on her bed, everything had felt distorted and distant. Like a dream.

No.

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