Page 12 of His Reluctant Savior

When I looked behind us, we seemed to be free of bad guys, except for the police in the distance, who were quickly gaining on us. Someone must have called them.

Fuck! I got first-hand experience of the old idiom, ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire.’

I dropped into my seat and buckled up before checking on Owen, who was still crying, with a blotchy red face, and clinging to Danny for dear life.

“We’re going to be okay, Little Man. I swear.”

He nodded with a pouty and trembling lip, wanting to believe me, trusting his father. I calmed the boiling rage at the people who would want to harm something so precious and innocent. They were uncaring that I had a child with me.

“Get us out of here, Sid. The cops are on our tail.”

“Tell me something I don’t fucking know.”

I maneuvered around a winding country road after finally losing the cops, which wasn’t easy. There was a reason you didn’t run from the police. You almost always get caught. They probably got Dalton’s license plate, and would then send a helicopter searching for his car, which was the very reason we needed to ditch it pronto.

Not only do you not run from cops, but they would hunt you down, especially after bullets went flying during a high-speed chase. We were running out of time, but we weren’t far from where Iwanted to go.

“Woo, that was dicey,” I said.

Dalton turned his head to me, gaping at me, before he scowled and scoffed. “Dicey?! Jesus. Do you make a joke about everything? Do you not care what just happened?”

True, this was nothing to me. I was used to this sort of lifestyle, although it’d been quite some time since I’d gone through a car chase or run from cops. It was strangely thrilling and nostalgic. Yet, the boldness of the killers worried me.

“I do care. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. And these killersaretroubling. If it were me, I’d make it look like a suicide or an accident. Chasing you, risking the cops… it’s careless and leads to too many questions and more cover-ups. Either they were amateurs, desperate, or they were given specific orders to do whatever it takes to take you out.”

“Does that mean I can expect more people to come after me?”

I nodded and gripped the steering wheel tighter. “They must have put out a general hit on the dark web. I thought they’d just hired my organization, and maybe another professional, but sending out a hit like that for anyone to claim is going to lead to carelessness and more death. Not everyone is an expert like myself.”

I winked at him just to see his eyes roll up in his head again.

“Gee, I feelsomuch better. I not only have to worry about your organization, but countless others, including the police. Fucking Joy. I’m sure, on top of everything else, my own people will try to brand me as some traitor if I don’t die soon enough.” He sighed and rubbed his face before running his fingers throughhis dark hair. “We’re not going to make it, are we? Is this all for nothing?”

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure nothing bad happens and to fix this shit.”

Dalton turned his body to check on his son, who’d fallen asleep after that harrowing chase. He’d cried the entire time and eventually wore himself out. A pang of guilt hit me as a flash of my own childhood, steeped in violence, coursed through my mind. It could really fuck up a kid.

Dalton sighed and rubbed his face again before staring out at the hills and farmland. “I supposed I should thank you. You really did keep us alive.”

A quip hit my lips, but I kept it to myself. “You’re welcome.”

I glanced at him again, seeing the face that looked so familiar to me, yet had changed so much. His jaw was more refined and angular, with a dusting of dark scruff. There were harder lines from age around his eyes, and he had some white threaded through his neatly cropped dark brown hair.

I knew right then I would do what I could to protect him and his son. My family would come after me, but they could take care of themselves. They didn’t need me. Malik wouldn’t understand. He’d try to listen, but he wouldn’t get it.

Perhaps I was underestimating him, though. Malik had protected Sully, going against his nature and his job when he should’ve put him down. He helped create Sully, turning him into the psychopath he was. It hadn’t been intentional, but still, the guilt lay heavy in Malik’s soul enough to take care of the boy and train him until he grew to be an adult. After seventeen years, they finally committed to each other. Malik fought Sully’s sexual desire for along time, but eventually, he gave in. Maybe Malikwouldunderstand.

Fuck,Ididn’t even understand. It’d been twenty-seven years since I’d seen Dalton. There shouldn’t be any residual feelings for him whatsoever. But seeing him in that file, knowing our government wanted him dead, something clicked inside of me, and I knew I needed to find a way to protect him, even if reluctantly, because I was risking everything.

I’d been so cruel to him, and then I stole his kisses. But it wasn’t the kiss that did me in and made me fall for him. It was his willingness to forgive and forget all that I’d done, the willingness to give me a chance if I bettered myself. I took that to heart and took back control over my life. My life changed forever that night. I ended my pain and torment because of Dalton.

“I’ve got a safe house in Poolesville, Maryland. We’ll be good there for a couple of days before we have to move on.”

“No, I need a safe place for my son. We’re going to Middletown, Maryland. After which, I need to find a way to get my life back.”

“It’s not safe to drop him off with someone you know. If I found you, others will, too.”

He looked at me with an unreadable face. “If that’s true, do you know who I have in mind? Because I was careful not to choose someone obvious.”

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