Page 34 of Callen's Captive
Kate shook her head. “You don’t get it, Callen. If she’d stayed out of it, they would have beaten me, sure, but she’d be alive.”
“You don’t know that.” He put his hands on her cheeks. Those intense eyes of his held her. “You can’t punish yourself for what they did.”
“I know what you’re saying, but sometimes it’s hard not to think of how different things would be if I had done something more. It’s too late for Janie, but there are others out there in bad situations like we were. That’s why I’m not going to let the WSSO win. They killed her. Brad railed against shifters all the time. I-I think he found out about Janie.”
“This is about revenge then? Trying to take down the fucking WSSO by yourself is crazy. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
She shrugged. “Perhaps, but I have to try. For Janie.”
“Do you trust me, Kate?” he asked, his voice suddenly low and very controlled.
It was crazy given how she hadn’t known him long, but every instinct in her body said she trusted him, at least as much as anyone could be trusted.
“I think you need some time away from your vendetta, to learn to forgive yourself for something that wasn’t your fault. You can’t do that while you’re on the run. Come back with me to my pack, even for a little while. No one will bother you there, including me. Anna’s there now, at least I hope she is.”
“You hope?”
“When I came to look for you, I left her with Blade and Frank, but Blade wasn’t well. He was going feral, and there are only two ways to stop a feral wolf. I’m hoping he didn’t turn feral on their way back, because if he did. . .” Callen’s face turned dark, and he stopped talking.
She cupped his cheek. “Where’d you go? You kind of zoned out for a minute.”
“No place. Sorry.”
“It’s sweet of you to offer, but—”
“You can’t stay in Riverview.” Callen’s fists clenched at his side and he had that focused look he had when he’d gone after the men shooting at them in the street.
She got it. She understood his frustration, even his worry for her, but she wasn’t going anywhere. Once he understood that, he’d return to his pack and let her continue her work.
“I spent a lot of years teaching myself how to program and hack. I’ve had a few close calls along the way, but the first time I made it into the WSSO’s funds, I paid to have Janie dug up from that dank disgusting hole in the backyard. Brad had buried her like she was some squirrel that had been run over in the street. I gave her a proper burial here, with a gravestone, so the world couldn’t forget her, continue treating her as if she were a nobody. That’s when I realized I could do more than bury a friend. I could help others, fight the WSSO using their own money, the ultimate revenge in a way.”
She stared at the crumbling stone wall, already feeling a world away from Janie. “The authorities knew Janie had been murdered, but they didn’t care. Someone has to care, Callen.”
He stared at her like she was talking another language. He didn’t get it; he hadn’t grown up enduring the abuse and fear Brad and Paula had instilled in her and Janie.
“I can’t go with you because there are more Janies out there that will get hurt if I don’t stop the WSSO.”
“Where are they now, your foster parents?”
“They died several years ago. Heart attack and cancer. I didn’t even have a chance to make them pay for what they did to her. I couldn’t watch out for Janie when we were kids, but I can watch out for people like Anna now.”
“Who watches out for you, Kate?”
“No one. Orphan, remember? No one will miss me when I’m gone.”
“I will.”
She leaned forward and placed a slight kiss on his lips. “Thank you, but once you leave here and get back to your life, you’ll forget all about me.”
There was a low and dangerous growl coming from him that made her shudder, but in a good way for once, because it was Callen and she had nothing to fear from him.
“Come with me, Kate. There’s a whole pack, three packs in fact, already planning to take down the WSSO. We could use your expertise in ways we never dreamed, and you’d have real numbers on your side, an army on the ground. We can make a difference together.”
He really knew how to tempt a girl. “For the most part, I’m a sole operator. I don’t play well with others.”
He interlaced his fingers with hers making her swallow hard. His touch, that show of solidarity meant a lot to her. She hadn’t had anyone on her side since Janie.
“You play well with me,” he said, lowering his voice.
