Bren’s eyes go past me and straight to him.
I step in front of Bren, block her from seeing Hart. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Show her.” Hart again. He appears at my side, those shiny shoes quiet as cat feet on the carpet. “Be honest with her, Mrs. Callaway.”
Bren does as she’s told, but not before I see her wince. Was that “honest” dig supposed to hurt her? Because it did. I glare at Hart and Bren touches my arm.
“That boy you caught—the one who was trying to murder his father—he’s dead.” She passes me a police report. It’s pages and pages of tiny font, but two words stand out: Jason Baines. He was a rising star in my father’s drug ring and damn near killed me.
I shrug. “That’s horrible, but it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Good point,” Hart says. “I mean, people get shivved in jail all the time, right?”
I don’t look at him. Can’t. He put the slightest emphasis on “shivved” and now I know he knows about another shivving—one I helped make happen. I’m not ashamed I helped my father kill Joe Bender. I know what Joe did to my sister and what he was going to do to me when he was released from jail.
I am, however, scared for Bren to find this out.
“It isn’t just Jason who’s gone,” Hart continues and there’s the flutter of paper as he takes the report from Bren. “It’s every single person who worked for your father. They’re disappearing and—”
“Michael,” I say.
Hart’s brows twitch together. “I’m sorry?”
“Michael. I would prefer you call him Michael, not my father.”
Hart nods. “Fine. This is just the beginning. They will come for you, Wick.”
I flinch and Hart sees it. I hate that. Now he knows his words just climbed under my skin to simmer.
“‘They’?” I roll my eyes. “Could you be any more vague?”
“Stop it.” Bren thrusts herself between us and braces both hands on my shoulders. “I know, Wick. I know what you did to catch Todd was illegal and dangerous and—” Her voices catches and she has to swallow twice. “Mr. Hart says you’ve attracted some attention because of it. When your father went to jail, he left a vacuum. There are others who are going to take his place and they’ll want you to help them do it. Mr. Hart says that’s why Detective Carson kept coming around. He says you will be a target. He’s very sure you’re in danger.”
That’s because he’s lying. I’m not a target. I’m not in danger. No one knows what I did for Michael. And I start to say so, but Bren cuts me off.
“I forgive you, Wick. I understand. When it came to Todd, it was my fault. I didn’t protect you. You had to save yourself, but this time, I’m saving you.”
“Bren, I—”
“Just try, okay?”
I nod. Honestly, when it comes to Bren, it’s kind of automatic for me. I always agree because it’s easier than telling her the truth. She can’t even talk about the hacking I did to catch her husband, Todd, before he attacked another girl. And if she can’t say any of that, what would the rest of the truth do to her? Once you learn something about someone, you can’t unlearn it. And I’m not sure I want to find out what would happen. She’s giving me an opportunity here. We can cover this up, pretend it never happened. I’m good at that.
“The point is,” Hart says, rubbing one palm against his jaw, “you’re prey now. You can’t stay here. It’s not safe for you and it’s not safe for them.”
My stomach lurches sideways. Them. Bren and Lily.
“If you come with me,” Hart continues, “I’ll make sure they’re protected.”
“So I go away forever?”
“No!” Bren tugs me closer, eyes glassy and bright. “Just for right now. Just until we decide what to do.”
“Beyond the obvious benefits of keeping you alive, I’m offering you an opportunity.” Hart takes the duffel bag from Bren and slings it onto his shoulder. “You have so much potential. Let us help you reach it.”
Chills again. They crawl all over my body. Hart’s acting like a friend, but he can’t be. There’s no way. Hart gave me the videos of my mom, said he wanted to see what I could do with “proper motivation.”
Know what I did? In the course of six weeks, I brought down a pair of murderers, I discovered who my biological mother really was, and I saved my sister and myself.
I also helped kill someone.
Joe Bender was my father’s right hand and my once-upon-a-time handler. He would’ve killed me, my sister, maybe even Bren, but I got to him first. I used Michael to take him down and Hart knows it.
Thing is . . . to blow Hart’s cover, I’d have to destroy my own.
“Promise me you’ll try, Wick.” Bren’s eyes are huge and shining. Her fingers link in mine, squeeze. “Please? Just do what Mr. Hart says and then come home to us.”