Page 3 of In Hiding

“His legal team?”

“The best money could buy.” Erik glanced up at the sky as a breeze shifted his ponytail over his shoulder. “You may not believe me, young Jake, but I was a different man back then. Seeing what that brute did to my Kat...” He shook his head. His nostrils flared and one corner of his lip lifted in a sneer. “I saw red. Everything in here,” he tapped his temple, “went blank. Before I knew it, his blood was on my hands. I’m not proud of what I did. I wouldn’t blame you for thinking otherwise.”

Jake swallowed the tightness in his throat. For a little over a year, he’d come to know Erik as a stand-over man who used his brawn and strength to maintain an uneasy peace within the prison. He usually spoke in monosyllabic phrases. He was mostly gruff and short tempered. At first, it had scared the hell out of Jake. He’d lost count how many times the Dane boasted of his physical prowess.

Had it all been for show?

To maintain a fearsome façade to keep Mitchell under control?

The Dane chuckled, the sound menacing. Maybe not all for show. “I was fast and strong back then, not big and bulky like I am now, but when you’re convicted of aggravated assault causing serious injury, there’s a certain challenge in that. Others want to see if they can get the better of you.”

“So, kill or be killed?”

“Something like that. If he gets out,” Erik continued, “he’ll go after Kat. I know it. She will never see him coming. She won’t be able to defend against him.”

Jake felt his eyes pull wide. “And you think I can stop him?”

“I don’t think, kid. I know. It’s true, I’ve hidden things from you, but you’ve done the same. You don’t think you came to be my cellmate by accident, do you?”

Stopping, Jake turned to face the Dane. A good six inches taller, Erik outweighed him by more than a hundred pounds. Those biceps were like vices, those shoulders like hammers and there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. He’d always known Erik to be a man of influence, but this went beyond that.

“What do you know?”

Erik smiled and patted his shoulder. “Enough to be sure that you are a better man than you think. You mean well but when you drink too much, you make stupid decisions.”

Not untrue.

“I know you handed yourself in to the police and almost begged them to throw you in jail.”

Jake’s cheeks heated with the memory. The guilt over what he’d done had eaten away at him and though there hadn’t been a warrant for his arrest, he knew he’d done wrong. Why Lucy never snitched, was beyond him. She had every right to see his ass locked up for good. It took an ultimatum for him to finally do the right thing.

And as for the Sergeant...even during his arrest he had the power to send Jake to maximum security. Was that how he ended up here?

“Aw, come on kid,” Erik slapped his arm and knocked him sideways. “Your crimes didn’t deserve this. Community service. Hell, minimum security at most. Not this. Not thrown in with the scum of society. But you’ve paid penance and now you owe me.” Erik stepped closer. “Find my sister. Protect her.”

You owe me.

Fuck.

Here we go again.

“If you can’t find her, what makes you think I can?”

The knowing glint in Erik Christensen’s eye made Jake want to take a step backward, but the hand on his shoulder kept him steady. “I believe you know a private eye.”

Jake closed his eyes. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Even if that was a door he wanted to open, he was certain he’d find it deadlocked and bolted shut.

“No.”

“Then find Kat yourself. I don’t care how you do it, only that you do it. I will hold you personally responsible for my sister’s life, Jake Langley. I know you won’t let me down.”

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