Page 43 of Lethal Vengeance
“Your hair is too bright,” I explain tersely. “Turn around and I’ll braid it.” My eyes dart to Raider, who’s watching my fingers move. “Find a dark cloth. Something thin enough to tie into a headpiece.”
He disappears into their cell, reappearing seconds later with a piece of the dark grey lining from the mattress.
“Perfect, thank you,” I murmur, finishing the braid. Grabbing the extra hair tie I always carry on my wrist, I tie it off. The lining folds easily into a triangle. I place it over her head and tie it in the back to keep it in place. “There. Let’s go.”
I head out, taking the lead, and Margot slides in behind me. Raider brings up the rear.
We leave out the same door but turn left instead of right. A few seconds later, Zane soundlessly slides in a few feet behind Raider.
Margot pauses when she sees the old car waiting for us.
“It will get us where we need to go,” I assure her, opening the back door for her to get in.
Raider takes the front passenger seat, and I slide in the backseat behind Zane, who’s driving.
Fifteen minutes later, Zane parks the car in front of an older house and leads us on foot for the last mile. Expecting to see a house or apartment, I’m surprised when he opens the door to a shop in a rundown strip mall.
A very dirty tailor’s shop. Dust, at least an inch thick, coats everything. It’s obviously been closed for several years. I can’t imagine how Sterling even found this place, much less got a key.
My nose twitches, and I pinch the end, trying hard not to sneeze. It does little good. “Achoo!”
Margot immediately coughs. “Sorry.”
“I doubt anyone is up at this hour,” I say dryly. Maybe I should have offered one of my safe spaces.
Zane’s tall head is easy to follow, even in the dark. At the back of the shop, he takes a sharp right. “Careful, we’re heading upstairs.”
It’s not until I round the corner that I can see the steps. I turn around to let Margot know and notice Raider’s no longer behind her. I motion for her to follow Zane. When she starts up, I fall in to protect the rear.
A couple of steps from the top, a hand pulls me to a stop. I turn. The difference in steps brings his face almost even with mine.
Light blue eyes roam over me.
“What?” I ask.
“Trying to figure out how you’re doing. You look fine, but I know how easy it is for you to hide behind that mask of yours,” Raider comments, trailing his fingers down my face. “If I ask, will you tell me the truth?”
This man unnerves me with how much he sees. Is it because he went through something similar when his sister died? Or is it because the same shadow of death lives in us both? I’m not sure it really matters why. It just is. Like us.
Regardless, I don’t feel the need to hide myself from him. “Yes.”
His hand drops to my hip, and he pulls me closer. “I need to know.”
“Right now?” I murmur, dropping my hand to his shoulder to prevent myself from falling forward, even if it’s exactly what I want to do.
He nods.
It’s not the darkness that rises in me, but shame and anger. The shame burrows into the deepest parts of me, leaving the anger simmering on the surface. It’s easy to be angry.
“Resentful,” I whisper, ashamed to even say it out loud. “Rescuing people is supposed to make you feel good, right? I can barely stand to look at those girls. All this hate rises and boils inside me, and all I can think about is why didn’t someone rescue Sophia? Why am I rescuing these girls when I couldn’t even rescue my own sister? Because Armando deemed them worthy to save is not good enough.”
I search his eyes for any hint of disappointment or condemnation, but there isn’t any. Only acceptance and understanding.
His palm comes up and rests on my chest. “When I first came on board, I swore I’d never rescue any young girls. Zane worked around it. Until one day, he needed someone who could seamlessly join the staff and get inside.” He grunts. “He conveniently left out the part where I would be driving a ten-year-old girl back and forth to school every day for a week. I hated it.”
Riveted, I stare at Raider. “What happened?”
“The mission was successful. We rescued her and her mother from a very bad situation, and it was good work, but I didn’t care. I threatened to quit if Zane ever put me in a similar situation,” he says solemnly. “He asked me one question.”
