Page 94 of Fast Vengeance

Her pulse thudded as she watched him, worry creeping into her brain. Please let Brock be okay. Please let Brock be okay.

“Fernando Diaz wasn’t el Escorpion.”

The unease fell away, replaced by shock. “He wasn’t?”

Carruthers shook his head. “No. And as of this moment, we have no idea who is. The head of the cartel is still out there, very much alive, and running business as usual.”

“That’s the bad news?”

“Yes.”

Okay. It didn’t sound so terrible to her. Unless she was missing something. “So what’s the good news?”

He studied her for a long moment, until she had to stem the urge to fidget. “We’ve analyzed your case to death over the past couple of weeks. Going over intel, combing through recent chatter. Looking for possible connections to existing cartel members, trying to figure out the threat level against you.”

“And?”

“And we can’t find one.”

She blinked. “Pardon?”

One side of his mouth twitched in amusement. “As far as we can see, there’s no longer any credible threat against you from anyone inside the cartel. And though el Escorpion might not have been captured, again, as far as we can tell, whoever it is has no reason to target you now that Ruiz, Nieto and Montoya are all dead.”

Blood pulsed in her ears, disbelief holding her immobile. “So you’re saying…what exactly?”

“I’m saying that the risk to your safety is over. You don’t need to be in the program anymore.”

WITSEC. She could leave without worrying? Stop looking over her shoulder all the time? Reclaim what remained of her real life? Could this actually be happening?

“So I’m…free?” she asked, needing him to spell it out.

He nodded, his eyes kind as he smiled at her. “You’re free. Tony wanted to be the one to tell you, but since he couldn’t, I told him I’d come in his place. Hope you don’t mind.”

“No, of course I don’t mind…” She stood, raked her hands through her hair and faced him, a tremulous smile quivering on her lips. “So that’s it. Once I’m out I can leave here anytime and go anywhere I want.” See anyone I want.

Brock. Oh God, Brock… A twisting sensation squeezed her heart.

“Anywhere you want. Although I would stay out of Mexico if I were you, just to play it safe.”

She snorted. “If I never stepped foot on Mexican soil again, it would be too soon.”

Carruthers got to his feet. “Something else you should know.”

There was more? She wasn’t sure if she could take more.

“Oceane Nieto is out of the program too.”

Her eyes widened. But it made sense if Ruiz, Montoya and Nieto were all gone. “She is? Do you know where she went?”

“She’s still in the D.C. area, I believe. Last I heard, government’s fast tracking her citizenship.” He opened his mouth to say something else, stopped when his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, glanced at her. “Sorry, I have to take this.” He started for the hallway, finger hovering over the accept button. “Tony will call you when he’s able to, probably sometime tonight. You can let him know what you decide if you’ve made up your mind by then.”

Oh, she’d made it up already. She had lined up a life for herself here, but it meant nothing without Brock, and she could write her book anywhere. All she needed was him. “Sure. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The moment she let him out and locked the door behind him, she spun back around and let out a laugh of pure joy. “I’m free.” It sounded so strange. Seemed surreal after everything she’d been through.

She couldn’t wait to tell Brock. Couldn’t wait to simply hear his voice again. She missed him so much it hurt.

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