Page 76 of Burning Justice

“No? Well, too bad, because I wanted to see my father.” The phone vibrated in her pocket again. She shifted it in her pocket so it didn’t dig into her, but she was going to ignore it for now. “I’ve been looking for you for fifteen years.”

“I know.”

That was it? “You know? I watched them drag you away. I stood there while Mom bled out on the ground, and I had nothing left. They sent me to live with Aunt Leticia in Boston, where I’d never been before. I lost everything.”

“And I spent fifteen years as a captive, traded for what I know.”

“Now you’re out. Congratulations, you’re free.” But he was sitting here. “What are you waiting for?”

“The end.”

Maria frowned. “Explain it to me, because I’m trying to understand this, and I’m coming up blank.” She shifted, and her hand bumped the wall. Pain whipped through her fingers, and she sucked in a breath.

“I’m sorry you got caught up in it.”

“I’m not. I was looking for you.”

“I told you not to find me.”

“That note?” And a conversation with Kane she’d barely known about. “You should have come to me.” She slapped a hand on her front. “But you didn’t, because you’re a coward.”

He rose out of the chair. “I’m a lot of things, but a coward isn’t one of them.”

“No? Prove it.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “Tell me what you’re doing. Why you have a boat with Mom’s name on it, and why everyone is convinced you’re working with Redding and not doing everything you can to stop him.”

“You think I didn’t want to escape every single day? That I didn’t want to find you?”

“You managed one of those.”

“It took everything from me.”

She stared at him.

“I have to finish this, and it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“What are you talking about?” If he explained it, then she could help him. But he didn’t seem to want anything to do with her. Just like that day when her mother had been shot in front of her and her father dragged away, the foundation of her world shifted.

God, I need You.

And Kane. But God would always be enough, whether she had anything else or not.

“I’m going to destroy the canister. I’m going to take it where no one will find me, and end this once and for all.”

“Just destroy it now. Get rid of it. Or turn it over to the cops.”

“And then what?” His eyes flared with frustration. “I wait for the next person to snatch me from my life and kill someone I love? I get traded around again? They won’t let me live. I’ll always be a target for what I know and what I can create. No.” He shook his head. “This ends.”

“I’m not going to let you die. I already lost Mom.”

“You won’t dissuade me.”

Maria shifted her weight from one foot to the other, ready to argue. She could knock him out. Take the canister. Do this herself. Hide him somewhere no one would find him. Let him live his life. Protect him like the Trouble Boys had done for her. “I know people. I can protect you.”

She wasn’t going to ask them to spend their lives watching out for him. But she could figure some kind of situation where he went into hiding. Like witness protection.

“If you let me, I can help you. You can get your life back.”

He stared at her, hope blooming into a tiny flicker of life in his expression.

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