Page 12 of Merciless Protector

I took out the burner phone Griff had left for me and dialed. I hadn’t asked the woman at the front desk for a charger for my phone because the FBI could track it. For now, I wanted off the radar. Though if my handler was any good, she’d made note of the model, make and license plate of the car I’d ditched her in. But Griff would have that covered. It would be a while before they found me.

“What up, player?” Griff greeted when he answered.

It was the second time I laughed in months, and it felt good. Born and bred Scotsman, Griff used a different accent all the time. Typically, he liked the Southern drawl.

“I’m here.”

“Good, give me the details,” he said, dropping whatever accent he’d been trying out for his Scottish brogue. He was all business now.

I explained everything from my meeting with the handler to court. He told me they’d watched by hacking into the court’s security feed. Then I explained the FBI’s plan to use me to make contact with Ruin.

“I’ve got ye. We spotted that too but didn’t act on it until we knew ye’d get out.”

“Can we get to him without the feds knowing?”

I’d worked several years for the FBI in a secret group after accidentally being roped into an op when I was in college. Only I couldn’t forget how easily they’d left me behind.

“I think so.” There was a pause. “Ruin might be home for a party in honor of his father. I’ve secured you an invitation.”

8

TAYLA

My luck in finding out about the man I’d begged to take my virginity had been zero. I couldn’t find any record of his arrest, which was weird. It was possible he was in WITSEC, otherwise known as the witness protection program. I didn’t have access to that as it was run by the US Marshals Service, not the FBI. But I kept looking.

In order to finish up my training for the FBI, I’d been required to undergo mandatory therapy. I couldn’t say it was a bad thing. What I’d been through had been fucked up at best. Talking about it helped a lot. Saying it out loud to my therapist, who didn’t judge, was a big piece of that. That didn’t mean I was over it. Occasionally, I still had nightmares. But things were getting better. I took it day by day.

Focusing my rage on putting Ruin behind bars was another driving factor in helping me get past the past. That was why I had to finish training and pass the final test to become an agent.

At night, when I’d wake up in a cold sweat, I’d picture Shawn and his earnest expression telling me to trust him. It soothed me in a way I didn’t understand. Above all, I had a mission. I planned to fulfill it by any means necessary.

“Tay.” I looked up from where I was sitting on my bed and saw my dad. Not my biological one, but the one who’d raised me when it mattered. He was a former cop, and it was his service that had inspired me to join the FBI.

“Hey,” I said.

He held out a hand, questioning if he could sit next to me. I nodded.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I’m good.”

He looked at me like a father who knew his daughter. “It’s okay if you aren’t ready yet.”

“I am.” I gave him a smile with all the warmth I felt for him. “I’ll be gone a few days and then I’ll be back.”

“You be safe, Tay. You’ll never know how grateful I am for what you sacrificed for Tabby.”

The shimmer of tears in the big man’s eyes struck me. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”

He took my hand in solidarity, as we both knew the same was true of him. “You don’t have to do this. You can come on vacation with us.”

Because I’d been impulsive in my previous decision to go confront Tabby’s predator, this time, I was honest with both of my parents about what I was doing.

“You know I can’t. Besides, Ruin knows my name, our names. Where we live. I‘ll never feel completely safe until he’s behind bars.” I could sleep better once I knew he was put away for good. Part of the reason my family was going on vacation was because I’d encouraged it to keep them out of harm’s way if anything went wrong.

“I believe in you,” he said and glanced down at his bum knee. The knee that forced him into early retirement. “I wish it could be me.”

I squeezed his hand. “You need to keep Mom and Tabby safe.”

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