Page 14 of His Reluctant Savior

His father stood there, watching the boy as he pulled back the strands from his son’s face.

With that, we left and closed the door behind us.

As soon as we reached downstairs, I said, “I needto get us some—”

The right hook came out of nowhere as Dalton clocked me on my left cheek. He hissed and shook out his hand. “Bastard!”

I rubbed my face as anger filled me, wanting to lash out on instinct. All those memories of when I used to hate him washed through me, but I reined it all in. “Nice right hook,” I quipped, though there was no humor in my voice. The simmering rage was clear in my tone.

Dalton scoffed and shook his head. “Fuck you!” He lunged at me, fisting my hoodie and shoving me against the wall. I could have stopped him, but I let him have his temper tantrum.

“Who sent you?” he growled.

I shrugged. “Probably your government. We don’t know who our clients are to maintain anonymity.”

“Who do you work for?”

“You know I can’t tell you that.”

“Fuck you!” he snapped again. “You were sent to kill me. You may have saved our lives, but you’re not fucking innocent. When should I expect the knife in my back? When you’ve gained my trust?”

Tired of this game, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it and his body around until I had him face-first into the wall with his arm pinned tightly behind him enough to hurt. I pressed my mouth to his ear and said in a low but forceful tone, “If I wanted you dead, you would already be dead. You would never see me coming. You would never have known it was me who did it. I’m a fucking ghost. That I allowed you to see me means you get to live another day. I’m not the one out to hurt you, but my familyis. I know how they think, how they work, and how to handle them and anyone else who comes after you. Understood?”

When he didn’t nod or say yes, I pulled his arm back tighter, making him groan. “Understood?” I asked again.

“Yes,” he gritted.

“I’ve fucking risked everything to protect you and Owen.Everything. My family is not only hunting you, but they’re going to come after me for my betrayal. I’m on the run as much as you are. Understood?” I said one more time, just so we were clear.

Dalton nodded.

“And never fucking punch me again. That was a freebie.”

With that, I let him go. Dalton scowled at me and rubbed his shoulder, but he said nothing. I tugged on his arm and brought him to my bedroom, where I kept the first aid kit.

“Sit and take off your shirt,” I ordered.

Dalton did as he was told, sitting there, bare-chested. He didn’t have a single tattoo and only had a smattering of dark hair on his chest. He was tight and had muscle, but he wasn’t built like I was.

I opened the red box and pulled out some alcohol wipes to clean the flesh wound on his side. He winced, but didn’t complain. It was more of a burn, so there wasn’t a lot of blood.

“Who’s this person you’re taking Owen to? I need to know so I can get your relationship with them scrubbed as much as possible to lessen the risk of discovery. It’s not foolproof, but it will buy us time.”

“You can do that? Never mind. Of course you can.” Dalton let out a long sigh. “She’s an old girlfriend from college before I came out. Her name is Savannah Duvall—Savannah McNeil before she married Mason. They have three kids, aged twelve, nine, and three. She came to my wedding and attended Matt’s funeral,but we sort of drifted apart over the years, busy with our own lives.”

After I was sure he wouldn’t get an infection, I applied someNeosporinsalve on the wound before bandaging it up.

“Thanks,” he said, moving his torso around before putting his shirt back on.

“I’ll see what my guy can do. Now, I’m going to leave for about an hour to get us groceries and supplies. When I come back, I’ll show you the security room and where I keep the guns. For your own protection, please do not leave. Feel free to look around and pick out a bedroom for yourself. We’re staying the night, then we move on in the morning to get Owen to your Savannah’s house.”

After giving Dalton the codes to the house, I left, locked up, and headed to the garage, where I removed the battery cables from his car, just in case he decided to run. I didn’t trust him to stay.

I hopped into my Bronco and drove to the local grocery store in town. I made a call to Veil using one of my several burner phones.

“Yo,” he said when he answered.

“Savannah and Mason Duvall. Poolesville, Maryland. See if you can dig up information on her relationship with Dalton Reed. If you find anything, please scrub as much as you can.”

---