Page 18 of Black Bay Protector
“We have the files, Paige,” he murmured against her hair. “If your brother is in there, we can find out what happened, what was done to him, and get him out.”
With one last shaky breath, she seemed to pull herself together. Pushing back from him just far enough so she could look into his eyes, she asked, “You can do that?”
“We can, and if we find out your brother didn’t volunteer for this, the ones responsible will be punished.” The last was what Jace was looking forward to. Doctor Dietrich would finally get her due. No more deals. Not if he had anything to say about it.
Paige released a long, shuddering breath and nodded. “I need to call my parents.”
Jace handed her the phone and she stared at it for several minutes before she whispered. “What do I even say to them?”
“Just let them know you’re all right. The shit with your brother can wait until we know more. For now, tell them you’re okay.”
Chapter Nine
“Pumpkin,”herfathercheerfullygreeted her when the call went through. “Did you just get out of work?”
The question threw her.He didn’t know. She’d thought he would have been tearing his hair out with worry as news reports came through of dead bodies found in her apartment and a massive manhunt underway.
“Pumpkin?”
“Sorry, I…” she glanced at Jace, not sure what to say.
“Are you all right? Did something happen?”
Shit. If he wasn’t worried before she was doing a damn good job of making him worry now. “Sorry,” she repeated. “I, er. I just wanted to let you know that I’m traveling for a work thing.” She cringed at the lame excuse but she’d never been very good at lying to her father. Crossing her fingers, she hoped he didn’t ask what sort of work thing.
“Oh? Where are you off to?”
That she could handle. “Virginia.”
“Training? Near DC?”
That was as good a place as any. “Yup.”
“Well, hopefully, they give you some time to explore. Be sure to check out the Mall. You’ve got the Vietnam Memorial, the World War II, and Korean War Memorial.”
“I will, Dad. If I have time.” She cleared her throat as tears suddenly blurred her vision. “I love you. And tell Mom I love her.”
“Aw, honey. We love you too. You have fun.”
Paige said goodbye, hung up the phone, and just stared at it for several minutes. “We didn’t make the news.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“How is that possible though? Someone should have heard. Someone should have called the police. Those bodies…”
“The people we’re dealing with would have sent a crew to clean things up and handle any fallout.”
They would have made those bodies disappear. Just like they’d made her brother disappear. Like they’d make her and Jace disappear if they caught up with them. How would they explain it? Car accident? Enough of them happened every day and no one would question it. Her parents would never know the truth and maybe that was for the best. It would keep them safe.
As if Jace read her thoughts, he took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. “We’re going to get through this. We got the tracker out and where we’re going no one can get to us.”
Paige nodded and drew strength from his assurance.
Jace managed to find a relatively well-known motel chain that was right next door to a steak house. Just the thought of a steak had her mouth watering for a taste, and when they drove by, she could even smell it. Her stomach growled loudly.
Hearing it, Jace chuckled. “Food first or shower?”
She was hungry, but the thought of a hot shower nearly brought tears to her eyes she wanted one so badly. She felt disgusting and any deodorant she’d had on had probably long since stopped working. When was the last time she’d showered? The morning before Jace… Shit. Had he really only come into her life yesterday? So much had happened. It felt like weeks, months, years…
