Page 26 of Mine to Protect

“No. I don’t believe that. Knowledge is power. Besides, Rhett and his family could keep you and Jackie protected from whatever you’re running from.”

“Maybe Rhett, but his mom is the chief of police. Right now, she’d be a dangerous person for me to be around, and I’m not going to get into why. I just need you to trust me.”

“I trust Rhett,” she said firmly. “You can, too. Please. He’s in the kitchen. Let me go get him, and you can talk to him about whatever’s going on. I’m begging you.”

“I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, sis.” Her brother’s voice was laced with thick emotion. “His family is duty-bound to bring me in for questioning, I’m sure of it. However, I do believe he’ll take care of you.”

“Duty-bound based on what? The counterfeit bill in your room? Even they said that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. You could have gotten that anywhere, right?”

“But I didn’t. And bad people are after me and Jackie. Right now, the cops are not my friends. I wish they were, but they’re not. I need to know where that key is.”

“Do you want me to ask Rhett flat-out? Because I have no problem doing that.”

Chris let out a nervous laugh. “No. That’s not going to help me. To be honest, if the bad guys have the key, I’ll know by the end of the day.”

“And then what?”

“I’ll come to Rhett’s place. Because then I’ll really need his protection.”

“Give me a time so I know when to freak out, and he’ll know when to expect you.”

“If you don’t hear from me, or if I’m not there by seven, you can tell him everything. Text me the address at the number I’m about to text you. Then delete the string. You can keep the number as long as you put it in your contacts as something else. Someone that he won’t know—or suspect.”

“He wants to look at the messages between us.”

“Let him.”

“But I just told him this was a call from work. I can’t delete it.”

“Shit,” Chris said. “Okay. Tell me a number from work, and I’ll call you right back.”

“You can do that?” She plopped down on the edge of the bed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Yes, now hurry.”

“904-561-7563.”

The phone went dead. Two seconds later, it vibrated in her hands.

“Hey,” she said softly, surprised that it came over as a work line.

“We should stay on the line for a few minutes,” Chris said. “Delete the other call. You can text me the address on this number but remember to delete that text.”

“I’ll do that now.” Quickly, she sent him the pin to her location. Once she saw that it was delivered and read, she deleted it. “This is so crazy, Chris. Why is this happening?”

“We’ll talk more tonight. I promise.”

“Where are you?”

“Based on your location, I’m about forty minutes away.”

She tried to take a deep breath but couldn’t fill her lungs. She tapped her chest. She wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or not. But it did make her feel somewhat connected to her brother, and that was something.

“I love you, Chris.”

“I love you, too, sis.” Once again, the cell went dead.

Tears stung the corners of her eyes. She sniffled and raced to the bathroom. Thank God his guest room had its own because she needed a moment before she faced Rhett.

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