Page 98 of Renegade

How would he know that?

Elizabeth placed her hand on his. “You did something, didn’t you?”

He used his free hand to stroke her hair before replying, “I took care of my family. That’s all you need to know, baby.”

She thanked him, but I sat silent in shock. David killed someone. It didn’t make sense. There was no way a construction worker could kill someone in this day and age without the police finding out.

Unless the police were in on it.

Oh, Jesus.

“Excuse me,” I mumbled as I slid out of the bed and toward the door.

“Lauren, wait,” David called after me, but I ran around a corner, losing him by the nurse’s station.

Oh my god.

Oh my god.

I pressed the down button on the elevator frantically, each breath more labored than the last. The doors finally opened and I jumped inside before hitting the close button. I couldn’t get my thoughts straight.

If it were me, would I have made the same decision?I leaned my back against the cold metallic wall as the car descended, fighting with my morality. It wasn’t right, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t the right thing.

Halfway across the parking lot and I knew why my boyfriend had gone MIA. He’d crossed a line that he knew he couldn’t come back from. As I started my car and let it heat up, I wondered if I was capable of crossing over to join him.

I’d just come to accept the fact that my mother was cozied up with an outlaw biker. I didn’t know if I could fit a crooked cop into the mix too though.

If it came right down to it, was I even capable of walking away from him?

I told him I loved him.Did that love have an expiration date? Or was it covered under a lifetime warranty?When it came to transactions of the heart, what was the return policy?

I pulled down the familiar dirt driveway a little after midnight. That’s how long it took me to decide. I paced my apartment and played the ‘what if’ game.

In the end though, it came down to raw emotion. Mike had been the only man for the last four and half years. After that night in Galveston, he was it for me, flaws and all.

I parked and zipped up my jacket before stepping out onto what had become a skating rink as the snow had melted and then frozen again over the past few days. Thirty harrowing seconds later, I made it onto the porch and knocked softly at the door.

Two minutes after that, I realized that I was going to be dead and frozen by the time he decided to let me in. I tried the door handle and felt like jumping up and down in excitement when it opened into a warm house.

“Mike?” I called softly, but the house remained dark and silent. I half expected Betsy to jump out at me with steri-strips in her hands. That was a sight guaranteed to send me to an early grave.

I knew he was home. His truck was parked outside. I crept silently from the dining room into the living room, both were empty. I found him in the kitchen, hunched over the table with a bottle of tequila in his fist.

“Mike?”

His head shot up and he instinctively reached for his gun.

“It’s me!” I shouted and he relaxed before dropping his head back down.

“I know why you’re here.” He looked wretched and the resignation in his voice damn near broke me.

“Are you drunk?” I gestured toward the bottle, but he shook his head.

“No, and not for lack of trying either. David told me you knew.”

I slipped my jacket off before pulling a chair out and joining him at the table. “I do and I'm not going to lie to you—it threw me.” His eyes dropped back down to the tequila bottle. “But, I would’ve made the same call.”

Mike looked up at me in surprise. “You would've? Well, Darlin’, that shocks the shit out of me.”

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