Page 40 of Countdown

“And you used your personal cell phone?”

“I did.” She pressed a hand to her eyes. “I should have gotten a burner. I know better, but that would have taken time. Time I didn’t want to waste, so I risked it.” She knew she shouldn’t have, but that child ...Please protect him, Lord.“I messed up. For the first time in almost fourteen years, I acted on impulse.”

“Panic?”

“Impulse driven by panic, I guess, and it was an unnecessary risk. You were the one who found the family and warned them off.” She closed her eyes and wished she could go back in time to make different decisions. But she couldn’t. She’d just have to figure out how to live with the current circumstances. Emphasis onlive.

A knock on the door interrupted them, and Penny and Holly stepped inside. Julianna followed. “Surprise,” she said, her voice low and serious.

“Jules!” Raina held her arms out and her friend stepped closer to hug her with a gentle squeeze.

When she leaned back, Julianna shook her head. “You, my friend, had a close call from what I hear.”

“I know. I’m grateful it happened in a hospital and that Vince was right there to get help.”

Julianna turned to Vince. “And?”

“And they’re looking for the guy,” he said. “A PI out of California did the deed.”

She drew in a deep breath and nodded before turning back to Raina. “Any idea who you’ve made so mad?”

“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?”

Her phone rang and she snagged it from the end table where someone had been so thoughtful to put it. She frowned at the strange number. “Hello?”

A throat cleared. “Hello, Brianne.”

She froze at the sound of the voice—and the name—she hadn’t heard in a little over thirteen years and the breathwhooshed from her lungs. “Dad? What are you doing calling me? How’d you get this number?”

Penny, Holly, Julianna, and Vince all looked at her, then one another. One by one they started to slip out of the room, and while she was grateful for the privacy, she didn’t want to be alone. As Vince passed her bed, she wanted to grab his hand, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. She’d handled things solo for so long, the thought of asking him to do more than he already had made her queasy.

“Brianne? Are you there?”

“I ... yes ... I am. I...” And there went her voice. Plugged up and cut off with tears that she refused to shed.

“I don’t want to talk too long. This is one of those burner phones that supposedly can’t be traced, but these days who knows? But I need to let you know that Trent ... Trent is...”

“What? What about Trent?” She forced the hoarse words out, dread curling in her stomach, a bad feeling that she knew what was coming.

“He was found dead, Brianne. Murdered. Shot in the head. It happened yesterday.”

She gasped. A low, wheezing sound she couldn’t stop. “No, please, God, no.”

“I’m sorry, but his office was ransacked, his computer stolen. He was mostly working from home but went into the office a couple of days a week. That’s why he ... wasn’t found right away. I don’t know if Kevin was behind it or not, but it’s very possible they could have found something in his office—or he could have told them something before they killed him. I’m just worried he may be coming after you, hon, so I had to call you as soon as I heard.”

“Oh Dad,” she whispered. “What do I do?”

“Come home.” His instant answer wrapped warmth around her like nothing else had in a very long time. “Let us protect you.”

If only she could. “No,” she whispered. “I can’t. Not while he’s still out there. Watching. Listening. If he killed Trent, then we both know the minute I turned up, you would all be in more danger than ever.”

He sighed. “I know that tone. I’ll never convince you. So, you have to run again.”

“What about you and Mom?” She’d give anything to talk to her mother, just for a few seconds.

“She’s fine. Missing you. We’ve increased security and have personal protection officers—bodyguards—with us twenty-four-seven. I’m just worried about you.”

“I’ve been so careful for so long.” She’d gotten slack, fallen into a comfort zone. And royally messed up everything that had been pounded into her head by the US Marshal who’d helped her go into hiding.

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