Page 10 of Rhys

“Your guy? I didn’t realize you had a contact inside RPD.”

“I don’t.” One corner of Rhys’s lips curved slightly. “But you do.”

Greyson’s broad shoulders bounced with a knowing chuckle. “Oh, I see. So not only do you want me to do a deep dive into your girl and basically steal her shit from her car, but now I’m supposed to call in a favor tomyformer SEAL teammate to help cover up a shooting?” Greyson’s dark brows turned inward. “Are you sick, or have you finally fallen off the deep end?”

He knew the other man was just giving him shit, but Rhys couldn’t find it in himself to smile. “I wouldn’t put this on you if I didn’t think there was something to it. And I’m not asking your guy to cover it up. I just need him to give us a little more time before he moves on anything. Give you a chance to do some digging first.”

A full two seconds passed before a look of understanding flashed behind the man’s unique eyes. “You believe her story.”

Rhys thought back to everything Vanessa had told him. He also remembered the look on her face right after she’d been shot. He wanted her to be telling him the truth. Of course, that could have something to do with past heartache and all that shit.

Was what she’d said about Kenneth Austin true? He wasn’t sure. But one thing he did know…

“I believeshebelieves it.” He looked back at his friend. “But until I know more, I can’t make that call. And the first place we need to start is to find out her name—herrealname—and who she works for.”

He had his suspicions, but he wanted to be certain.

Tilting his head to the side only slightly, Greyson posed a valid question. “And if she it turns out she’s lying about being one of the good guys?”

Standing mere feet from where the woman he’d once dreamed of sharing a life with lay, Rhys looked his teammate square in the eye and vowed, “I’ll turn her ass in myself.”

2

A dull,persistent ache pulled Vanessa from the heavy fog. Slowly forcing her eyelids apart, she immediately squeezed them back together on reflex, the bright white light an unwelcomed intrusion she hadn’t been expecting. The telltale beeping of a nearby monitor combined with the scent of antiseptic gave away her location.

Hospital. I’m in the hospital.

Laying perfectly still, she began running through a mental checklist with the goal of categorizing whatever injuries she’d incurred. She had a slight headache, a sore and scratchy throat, and most prominently, an achy, burning sensation spread throughout her left shoulder and upper back.

No stranger to hospitals, Vanessa fought her way through the drug-induced haze in order to bring herself back to the land of the living.

What the hell did I do to myself now?

Whatever drugs were in her system—and this wasn’t her first rodeo in that arena—was making the retrieval of her most recent memories a difficult task. Difficult but not impossible.

Frame by frame, the events from the last several hours began playing out like her own private horror film.

The panicked phone call from Rose. Seeing the woman who’d sacrificed so much lying on the ground, bleeding and left for dead. The pure terror in her eyes the moment she realized she was about to die.

As for Vanessa, well…

She’d had no choice but to sit there, watching as the life slowly drained from the sweet woman’s eyes. A woman who’d died tonight because she’d agreed to help Vanessa.

A tear leaked from the corner of her eye, the guilt and shame worse than the actual physical pain she felt.

And then there was Rhys. Poor, unsuspecting Rhys who’d—despite all her secrets and lies—had shown up tonight just when she’d needed him most.

Sorry, baby. Gotta stop the bleeding.

Though she’d been in shock from having just been shot, Vanessa understood perfectly what had transpired. Someone had tried to kill her tonight, most likely the same person who’d taken out Rose. And instead of driving away to safety, Rhys had risked his own life to save hers.

He’d gotten her out of the line of fire and to the care she needed to survive. It was more than she deserved, and for that, she’d be forever grateful.

Don’t read into it, Ness. He didn’t do it because he gives a damn about you. He did it because that’s just the kind of man he is.

His obvious absence made that abundantly clear.

Not that she could blame him. Rhys Maddox was a good man. A loyal, honest man who put truth and justice above his own personal desires.

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