Page 60 of Hunted

“I’ll have to find someone to stay with Ralph,” Toni said. “But that won’t be hard. He has a dog-sitter waiting list.”

Connor and Lexi were in a hotel room in Washington D.C. It wasn’t where he’d wanted to bring her. Everything in him, every cell in his body was urging him to take her home.

Home, since the explosion that had taken his family, was a houseboat, bobbing serenely off a tiny island in St. Lawrence County, on the New York/Canada border. It was an easy place to isolate himself. But he found he didn’t want to be alone anymore. He wanted to be with Lexi.

Hell, that idea had been taking shape in his mind for hours now. He wanted to take her into his home, into his life … and he wanted to ask her to stay. He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t sure he could ever be a whole human being again, but being near her made it feel possible.

Maybe it wouldn’t be fair to ask her to stick around. He didn’t think he’d be able to get past the loss of his little boys. Not ever. There was a huge part of him that had died with Justin and Jackson. He didn’t think he’d ever get that part of him back. But there was another part of him, a vital part, that was beginning to heal, and he knew that was because of Lexi. Selfishly, he wanted that healing to go on. He wanted to keep her close. He wanted to try … God, he wanted to try to love her.

Sometime during their flight, he’d seen the possibility of a future for him; a future that included Lexi. It hovered in the distance like a glimmering beacon of light at the end of a black, lifeless tunnel.

That glimpse of light, of hope, had only lasted for a short time. It was shattered when he answered his phone and heard Darren Wade’s three clipped words. “White is here.”

His grip on the receiver tightened painfully. His gaze followed Lexi as she sat in front of a mirror and ran a brush through her long hair.

“Did you hear what I said, Romano? He’s here, in Washington. He must have followed you.”

“I hear you, Darren.” Romano’s voice was strained. He tried clearing his throat while his ideas about trying to make a future for himself and Lexi dissolved like sugar in hot coffee.

“You still have the formula? It’s safe and in your possession?”

"I have it.” He’d texted his boss as soon as they’d got off the plane to let him know he was back, but no details had been discussed. He’d been waiting for and expecting this call.

“What about the Doctors Stoltz?” Darren went on. “We need to take them into custody, and it?—”

“No.” At the force he put into the single word, Lexi turned from the mirror to stare at him, searching his face. He shifted in his chair but couldn’t break the hold of her gaze. “Elliot Stoltz is dead," he explained, more calmly. “And his daughter had no knowledge of his crimes.”

“No investigation. I want it clear, right now, Darren. No charges against Lexi Stoltz. Give me your word, as a friend, or I won’t bother bringing in the damned formula at all.”

“We shouldn’t bring it anyway,” Lexi said, loud enough so Darren could hear her too. “We should destroy it.”

“Romano, we need the formula in order to create the antidote. We don’t know who else might already have it.”

“If anyone else had it, White wouldn’t be wasting his time chasing me. Anyone else would be an easier target.”

“We can’t be sure of that.” Darren swallowed hard, then took a long, slow breath. “All right, okay. You say the daughter’s innocent, she’s innocent.”

“She is.”

Lexi laid her brush on the dresser and stood up. She came to him while Darren was still speaking, and the sight of her slow approach made him lose his hearing for a moment. Darren’s voice faded to nothingness as she ran one palm over the side of his face and mouthed the words “thank you,” her eyes brimming.

He closed his eyes at the emotions her touch evoked. And even then, couldn’t stop himself from turning until his lips touched her palm.

Her smile was tremulous, maybe uncertain. She mouthed the word “Shower,” and then went into the bathroom and closed the door.

“—if she’s that important to you, you’re not going to want her at risk,” Darren was saying. “I want her in custody.”

Connor shook himself. “Risk of what?”

“Try listening this time, Romano, this is vital. White is here. He obviously knows you still have the formula. He’ll try to get to you before you have the chance to turn it in. And that means tonight. We need to take some precautions. If we don’t, you and the Stoltz woman might both end up dead, and that formula in the worst possible hands.”

It was true. If White was in D.C., then he must be planning another attempt. And he’d kill them outright this time. He wouldn’t risk being bested again.

“I can bring it in right now,” Connor suggested.

“White knows enough to have the building staked out. He might try to take you before you get inside. But it shouldn’t be hard for me to slip out of here unnoticed. You can turn over the formula, and then you and the woman come in with me. We stick you in a safehouse with armed guards?—”

“Protective custody.” Connor grimaced at the thought.

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