Page 51 of Ultimate Freedom

“You don’t understand, Demi. I put my whole life in Tanner’s hands. My happiness, my future, even my baby, and he’s destroyed it all.”

“Okay, let’s get comfy then I’ll listen.” Demi piled the pillows behind Bella’s back, amazed to see just how swollen her belly was. Tentatively, she caressed the mound and laughed when Bella seemed shocked at her temerity.

Explaining, she said, “This country has changed me. I’m not that scared, shy girl you used to know.”

“I can see that. I like it. Go ahead and say hi to them.”

“What? You’re having twins?”

“No. It’s just that we don’t know whether it’s a boy or a girl, so we gave the baby a pronoun of them rather than referring to them as an it or a they.”

“Right.” Demi shook her head and decided to just leave well enough alone. Instead, she went to the little mini fridge and got a bottle of water for Bella, and then dampened afacecloth with hot water, hoping a wipe-up would help stop the waterworks. It was as if now that Demi was here, Bella couldn’t put on the brakes. Deciding the only thing that would help was for Bella to tell her why she’d run away, Demi got comfortable.

Settling beside her friend, she turned to her, gently held her hand, and said, “Tell me.”

“You’ve always stuck up for him but this time even you can’t find any excuses for what’s he’s done.”

“I’ll keep my mouth shut; I promise. Don’t glare at me like that. He’s a disgusting rotten piece of shit. Now tell me why.”

Bella turned her way, and her expression underwent changes from fury to a pathetic kind of regret and ended up being despondent. What surprised Demi was that the ultimate emotion seemed to be self-pity.

“I loved him so much, Bella. He made me feel like a princess, and even when I got fat or as he said, I bloomed, he made me happy. That’s why his betrayal hurts so much.”

“What happened? When you told me he cheated on you, I’ll tell you my first reaction… impossible.” She held up her hand to stop Bella’s arguments. “Okay, okay. He’s scum. Got it. But first of all, why is he in the field. When I left, he’d been in line for his boss’s desk job.”

Bella nodded. “Yeah. He stayed in the office for months, working to clean up the previous guy’s mess. And he was making a huge difference. The bigshots loved him, and he seemed happy. Then a few weeks ago, he got waylaid by another undercover agent warning him that a major crime boss who’d never found out he was FBI had begun putting out feelers for him.”

“You mean like he wanted Tanner to work with him?”

“Yeah. Last time they’d been together, Tanner worked undercover, and as far as Vincente knew, Tanner had been jailed in another state. The cops had led the bastard to believeCalifornia had jurisdiction over Tanner for earlier crimes he’d committed there.”

“So, as far as this Vincente was concerned, Tanner is the same as he is… a criminal.”

“Basically, yes. Even though this Vincente is bad news, and I mean the worst, they eventually had to release him on account of the prosecuting attorney’s lack of evidence.”

“Hold it. Why would he bring a case without sufficient evidence?”

“They figure someone got to the witnesses. A couple turned up dead, and the others refused to get on the stand. So, the case got thrown out. That’s when the prick started putting out feelers to learn what happened to Tanner. They let it be known that because of a rich defense attorney scumbag who’d gotten him off on technicalities, Tanner was a free man too.”

“And Tanner was willing to go back undercover now?”

“Not really. In fact, because of me and the baby, he refused to even contemplate the idea. Not until he found out that Vincente had switched from the drug trade to human trafficking, and he’s freaking killing it.”

“Sweet Jesus. No wonder I ran away from city life.”

“It’s pretty brutal out there now. This creep has become a real nuisance. None of the law enforcement agencies can get any evidence on him. They approached Tanner, working on his humanity. You know what a pussycat he is inside, especially when it comes to kids. Well, they had leads that Vincente was running some of his cargos with children under the age of twelve. The sick fuck. We’re talking babies… ten, eleven-year-olds.”

“Oh, no. I can see why Tanner would have agreed to try and catch the son of a bitch. You’re right. He has a particular sympathy for young ones. Always has.”

“And we discussed it. I pretty much forced him into doing what only he could. He finally agreed he’d be the best person to get the evidence they needed. And by doing so, he’d bring Vicente down for good. But… that meant he’d be undercover for possibly months, and it wasn’t a good time for us.”

Demi looked at Bella whose head had slipped down to lean on her shoulder, and she laid her own head over the top. Bella seemed to have run out of words. Demi waited, knowing she was remembering those times.

“He didn’t want to leave me. I knew it. So, I made him believe I had it all under control… that I was strong.” She started sniffling and the tears welled up. When she looked into Demi’s face, a brokenhearted vision, Demi hugged her closer.

“You bullshitted.”

“Oh, yeah. I wanted him so bad some nights, I thought I’d go crazy. Then dealing with all the body changes a person goes through during pregnancy, rotten morning sickness, swollen boobs, the constant peeing, and to top it all off, I got a case of shingles. Christ, I was… am miserable.”

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