Page 91 of Matrix

“No. I’ll come to you, and I’m bringing Angie with me. She has information about the man who held her after she was kidnapped from the mall.”

“What man? Who?”

“I’ll tell you when we get to the office.”

“No. Stay put. I’ll drive down to get you myself.”

“I’m leaving the clubhouse. For good,” I add, barely able to get the words out.

“You’re goddamn right you are. Your undercover assignment ended when you went AWOL. The guys upstairs want to fire your ass, but I told them to wait until we heard from you. No one knew what the fuck was going on. My faith in you had better not be misplaced.”

“It’s not, sir. When you hear what Angie has to say, you’ll be giving me a promotion.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Can we come in today?”

“No. Why don’t we wait until next week?” he asks sarcastically.“Yes, get your ass in here. Now!”

“We’ll be there in an hour.”

“Fine.” He ends the call.

My heart’s beating so fast I feel a bit faint. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I look around the room I’ve been sharing with the man I love. I wish things were simpler between us. Everything’s always so complicated. Our relationship has been messy from day one because it was built on a lie. He knows the truth now, and he says he still loves me, but will he still feel that way a year from now? Will he actually be able to trust me long-term? I don’t think so. Eventually, he’ll start to have doubts, and then he’ll have no choice but to leave me.

However, I could be totally wrong about all of this. My mind’s such a mess that it’s hard to figure out what to do. I could be making a terrible mistake by abandoning him, but I think it’s the right choice. I just hope I don’t regret it. I could be throwing away the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

The bedroom door cracks open. Angie pokes her head in.“Did you call him?”

“Yes. He was furious, but I expected that.”

“Did you tell him about Blackstone?”

“Not yet. I want to wait until we’re in the office. Everything must be official. I don’t want any mistakes. Go pack your things. We’re leaving in fifteen minutes.”

“Are Mom and Dad meeting us there?” she asks.

“No.”

“Then why do I have to pack my stuff? Where are we going after I tell the FBI about Blackstone?”

“I’ll drive you to our parent’s house.”

“But … I won’t be safe there.” She eyes me warily.

“I’ll be with you. I can protect you.”

“There’s only one of you, but if we stay with Matrix and Talon and the other guys—”

“Stop!” I hold up my hand.“Look, we can’t hide out here forever. No one’s going to come looking for you. Blackstone won’t know who’s testifying against him until we’re in court. They won’t identify you by name on any of the documents. You’ll be known as‘Jane Doe’even when we go to trial.”

“No! He’ll find out. He knows everything.”

“Why do you say that?” I ask.

“He knew who you were. Not right away, but I overheard him yelling at someone for grabbing an FBI agent’s sister. We have to stay here. These guys have guns. They can keep Blackstone away from us.”

“Let’s just go to the office. We can talk about this after you make your statement.” There’s no point in arguing with her. I just need to get her out of the clubhouse and over to the FBI. We’ll figure out what’s next after that.

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