Jay looked almost bored when he and Simmo arrived back at the old hospital, but inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. And it wasn’t just because he would get Isla to safety. As far as she knew, he’d betrayed her. He could see on her face that she’d fallen for his ruse as much as Simmo had.

  But it had been his intent for her to believe it. If she got any sense he was faking, he couldn’t be sure she’d be able to play along with the ploy herself, and he couldn’t risk that. So, he’d gone in hard, and she’d believed every word he’d said. But soon, he’d be able to reveal what his true motives had been—to protect her. He’d do anything to make sure she was safe.

  “I told Sharpe about your part in all of this, by the way,” Jay said when they got out of the car.

  “Yeah?” he said. “Thanks for that.”

  “No problem.”

  “How do you want to do this? You think she’ll go with you?”

  “Not ’cause she wants to.” He laughed, and Simmo joined in.

  “What are you going to do with her once you leave here?”

  “Sharpe didn’t tell you what I’m using her for?”

  “No, he said to let you have her. That’s all.”

  “I’ll let him tell you then. I don’t want to step on any toes.”

  “Ah, come on. Can’t you give me a hint?”

  “I’m using her as bait.”

  Simmo’s eyes widened in glee. “You need any help? You always get the best jobs.”

  “Sorry. This is a one-man show, but I’ll keep you in mind for future projects.”

  “I’d appreciate that, man.”

  Jay followed Simmo down the hall to the lockup, but they both ran when they heard the yelling.

  Simmo reached the door first. “Hulk, what’re you doing!” He raced into the cell where a big man stood over Isla’s unconscious body. Jay noticed another man lying against the wall outside the cell who was beginning to stir.

  “Get off her,” Simmo yelled at Hulk but didn’t engage.

  “Aren’t you going to stop him?” Jay said. “He’ll kill her.”

  “No way, man. Not my job.”

  Jay pushed past him and locked his arm around Hulk’s neck, dragging him backward.

  “What’re you doing?” Simmo said, tripping out of the way as Jay removed the big man from the cell.

  “I need her alive,” Jay said, wrenching his head out of the way of Hulk’s flailing arms.

  “You’re gonna kill him.”

  “No, I’m not,” Jay grunted as Hulk dropped to his knee. When he was on all fours, Jay released him and leapt out of the way, hurrying so Simmo was between them.

  Hulk jumped to his feet, roaring, and Simmo pulled a gun. His hands were shaking, but he kept it pointed at the big guy. “You can’t touch him.”

  “Out of my way.”

  “No. Mr. Sharpe’s cleared him. You can’t hurt him.”

  “He almost killed me.”

  “He needs the girl alive. Now stand down.”

  Hulk growled. “She tried to escape. Look what she did to Tag.”

  “What do you mean, she tried to escape? What was Tag doing opening the cell?”

  “He didn’t. I did.”

  “How’d she hurt Tag if she was locked in there?”

  “How should I know? When I came in, I found him like that.”

  Simmo looked at Jay. “If she’s dead, will your plan still work?”

  “If she’s dead—” Jay clenched his teeth from saying what he wanted to. “Let’s just say she better not be or Sharpe’s not gonna be happy.” He went to check Isla for a pulse. “She’s alive. What’d you do to her?”

  “What I needed to.”

  “Simmo, I’m gonna get her out of here. You keep the gorilla where I can see him.”

  “You sure Mr. Sharpe knows what he’s doing?” Hulk said as Jay carried Isla to the door.

  “If you have a problem with me, you can take it up with him.”

  Isla moaned as Jay carried her toward the front door, glad he didn’t have to sneak her out.

  “What…” She blinked, but her eyes looked at nothing.

  “It’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

  He carried her around the block to where he’d parked the car.

  She moaned again, and this time, when she blinked, she looked at him. “Jay?”

  “You were locked up, but I got you out of there. Unfortunately, the big guy got to you before I did. Try not to move. I haven’t checked you over yet, but I’d say you got a nasty bump on the head.”

  “Where are we?”

  “We’re at the car. I’m gonna put you down for a second, okay?”

  He dropped her legs to the ground but continued to take all of her weight as he opened the door. Then, he set her as gently as he could onto the seat.

  When he lifted her legs to put them in, she stopped him.

  “No.” Her eyes were wide in fear.

  “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “Let me go.” She tried to push him away, but she had little strength. “Don’t. Please.”

  “Isla, you have to believe me. I’m helping you.”

  “No. Leave me alone.” She pushed him in the chest, and he backed off.

  “I had to let them think I was on their side. But I wasn’t. I was only trying to protect you.”

  He crouched down so he wasn’t towering over her but kept his distance.

  “Please. I can explain. But we need to get out of here first. I’ll take you back to Peter’s, then tell you everything. You have to trust me.”

  “I don’t.” She kicked her leg, catching him in the chin.

  When he fell back, she dove from the car but ended up on her hands and knees.

  He spit blood. “You made me bite my tongue. Come on, Isla. You’re not well. You can’t fight me on this, and I don’t want to force you.”

  He lifted her, but when she got to her feet, she thrashed to get away from him. “Let me go.”

  She’d hurt herself worse than she already had if he kept pushing, so he did as she asked and stepped back.

  She stumbled sideways into a brick wall and stood still, breathing hard. “Don’t touch me.”

  “I won’t.”

  After a minute, she looked at him. “Why are you still here?”

  “If I was your enemy, I would have forced you into the car or killed you.”

  “You are my enemy.”

  “I told you, I had to make it look like I was working for them—otherwise, we’d both be dead.”

  “I may have hit my head, but I remember what you did.”

  “It was my only option. There was no other way for me to keep us safe.”

  “Maybe it kept you safe. But not me. You pointed a gun at me.”

  “I heard someone coming. I knew we would be found. I had to do something.”

  “What about when that guy Simmo came at me in the office? I could have taken him. You stopped it from happening.”

  “I couldn’t be sure it would work. I didn’t know who else was around. I made a split-second decision to reinforce my position so Simmo believed I was really on his side.”

  “It was very convincing.”

  “It had to be. I couldn’t risk you blowing my cover.”

  “Then how do I know you’re not still playing me?”

  “You don’t. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

  “No.”

  He threw his hands up in the air. “Well, I guess nothing has changed.”

  “If you’re really on my side, why’d they let me go with you?”

  “Because I met with John Sharpe.”

  “How’d you get him to agree to meet with you?”

  “He wanted to meet the man who’d brought him his missing DEA agent.”

  “Why would he let me go?”

  “I told him I could use you to get him Whitlock.”

  “He wants Whitlock?”

  “He didn’t think he did, but when I told him I could get the AG for him, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. That’s when I told him I needed you to do it. And it’s a good thing too, because Hulk was going to kill you.”

  “Hulk?”

  “You don’t remember?”

  “I was trying to escape.”

  “That’s what he said. How’d you take the skinny guy out while you were locked in the cell?”

  “I asked him to get me a drink. When he passed it through the bars, I smashed his head into them. Hulk found me before I could get the keys.”

  “Really? You did that?”

  “You’d know if I was lying.”

  “How?”

  “Did my mouth twitch?” She stared him down with a cold, hard look.

  His lips tightened to hold back the smile. “I made that up.”

  “What?”

  “I was building camaraderie with Simmo.”

  “But he said he saw it.”

  “Suggestion can be a very powerful tool.”

  “So that thing about the kiss? You couldn’t really tell I was lying?”

  “I didn’t need to. I knew you’d lie.”

  “If you don’t get that self-satisfied look off your face, I definitely won’t come with you.”

  “Sorry.” He kept the smile but reached out a hand toward her. This time, she took it.

  “You’d better not be lying to me.”

  “I’m not. I’m sorry for deceiving you.”

  “You were probably right to,” she said as he helped her to the car. “I would have blown your cover if I’d known.”

  “But it sounds like you did all right fooling that guy back in the cell.”

  “Yeah, him, but not Hulk, unfortunately. I wasn’t quick enough to come up with a plausible reason for Tag’s nap.”

  “Good thing I turned up when I did.” He waited until she was settled in her seat before he got in. “Let me know if you need to throw up,” he said as he started the car.

  “I’m not going to.”

  “It’s a side effect of concussion.”

  “I know. I’m fine.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

  “It would be better if you stayed awake,” he said as he pulled onto the road.

  “I’m really tired.”

  He turned on the radio, then buzzed down her window. “You can sleep later. Once the doctor gives you the all-clear.”

  After glancing into his rearview mirror, he took the next left. “Get that seatbelt on, would you?”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s the law.”

  “Since when do you care about the law?”

  He played along with her insult. “I don’t. I said that for your benefit. What I do care about is physics.”

  “What?”

  “We’ve got a tail, and I need to lose him. Physics says that, if you don’t have your seatbelt on, you’ll get hurt.”

  “So does the law.”

  “Two sides of the same coin. An interesting point of philosophy that we can talk about later. Right now, I have to focus.”

  “Are you sure we’re being followed?”

  “Would it make you feel better if you had a look for yourself?”

  “Actually, yes.” She shifted enough in her seat to look behind them. After turning another corner, she righted herself in the seat. “I’ll take your word for it.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Looking backward while you’re driving makes me queasy.”

  He reached behind the seat and pulled out an empty plastic bag. “Here. I can’t stop until I lose this guy and my driving is about to make you queasy.”

  Chapter 20

  “How’s Isla?” Jay said when Peter came back into the living room.

  “The doctor said she’ll be fine. Just needs to rest.”

  “Thanks for calling in that favor.”

  “Dr. Phillips is always happy to help. And I wouldn’t trust anyone else under the circumstances.”

  “He’s good at discretion?”

  “He understands the delicacy of the situation. Especially when I call him for help. I have a tendency to need discreet help. Do you want to go in and see her?”

  “No. It would be better if she rested.”

  “You sure?”

  “If you say she’s okay, I can see her later.”

  “Hmm.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I didn’t ask how you were doing.”

  “I’m not the one who’s injured.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Oh.” Jay rubbed his hands over his face. “You’re checking on my head space.”

  “A lot has happened for you in a small space of time.”

  “I had no idea what I was in for when I agreed to get into your car at the beach.”

  “Do you regret it?”

  “I should. I’m crazy not to.”

  “This can’t be the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done.”

  “It’s not.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “I don’t really know. This job is different. It’s a lot more consuming. I tend to be quite disengaged from my work. Maybe because I usually get paid.”

  “You can send me an invoice once this is all over if you want.”

  Jay laughed. “You don’t mean that.”

  “I do if it’s a paycheck you’re looking for.”

  “It’s not. I don’t choose my jobs based on how much money I’m going to make. I don’t think I told you, but I’ve done work for different agencies like the FBI. They don’t pay as well as the others.”

  “You did mention it. And I’m not surprised. You have a specific set of skills that would be valuable to many different organizations. And not just the crime ones.”

  “But I’ve never worked for someone like you.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know if I can explain it. When I came out of the ocean, I didn’t comprehend how much everything had changed for me. I’m not the same man who went into that water. And when I came back out, the last thing I expected to find was someone to show me the way. But it’s not just that. I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

  “Thanks for saying that. Sometimes, when you’re following God’s leading, you don’t always get to understand the full impact you have on people. But that’s not really down to me. God did something profound for you in a short space of time. It doesn’t always happen that way.”

  “But He was waiting for me, wasn’t He? He had to wait for me to be ready.”

  “Yeah. A long time.”

  “If only I’d gotten there sooner.”

  “I don’t think that matters so much to God. He just kept at you your whole life until it was time. That’s not to say you didn’t have other opportunities to reach out to him, but it looks like you were stubborn enough that He had to take you to the very bottom in order to lift you back out.”

  “That’s crazy to think that God’s been chasing me this whole time. I don’t understand how Isla can’t see that stuff. She thinks God is so far away. You’d think after being a Christian for so long, she’d get the hang of it.”

  “I’ve been a Christian longer than her, and I’m still learning things all the time. But one thing I have figured out is that the longer you’re in it, the more boxed in you can become. Or the more boxed in God can become.”

  “You ever try telling her that?”

  Peter laughed. “You ever try telling her that? Look, it’s not up to us to fix her for God. He’s on her case as much as He’s on yours. And don’t forget, she’s got her weaknesses, but she also has her strengths, same as the rest of us.”

  “But I want—never mind.”

  “What?”

  “It’s stupid.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “I want her to have that joy that I’ve found knowing God is close to me.”

  “You care about her.”

  Jay leaned his head onto the back of the couch and looked up at the ceiling, following the swirl of the plaster with his eyes. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t really know how it did. She drives me nuts a lot of the time.”

  “The best ones usually do. But is it such a bad thing?”

  “I don’t know. You know her better than I do.”

  “You’re worried she’ll only ever see you as a criminal?”

  “I know she will.”

  “It takes her time to change her mind, which isn’t always a bad thing. She sticks to what she knows is right until she’s convinced otherwise. It can be an asset. But it means you have to be patient and persistent.”

  “But what if she never changes her mind?”

  “She may not. None of us is perfect. Sometimes, we get it wrong and we miss out.”

  “I thought you were trying to make me feel better.”

  “How would that be helpful? What I’m trying to do is speak the truth to you. Neither one of us can make Isla do or feel anything she doesn’t want to. You’ve got to trust that God will do what’s best for the both of you. And what’s best for us is not always what we think we want.”

  “So, you’re saying I need to get over her?”

  “I’m not saying anything. I won’t be culpable for you two either getting together or not. That is way too much responsibility. I love my wife, and I have no doubt that God brought us together. I know how amazing it is when you get to spend your life with the right person. But it’s hard enough when God’s been involved. I’ve seen too many people get married for the wrong reasons. It doesn’t mean they can’t eventually be happy, but it’s a much longer and harder road.”

  “How do you know if it’s right?”

  “Man, you do have it bad.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m even asking you all this. It’s not the best time to be talking about relationships.”

  “It’s never the right time. If you want to know what God thinks, then you’re going to have to ask Him.”

  “And He’ll tell me?”

  “If you’re listening, yeah.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “It means, if you ask God, but you only want to hear one response, you may not hear him. If you want to hear him properly, then you need to be willing to give up whatever He requires, including Isla, if that’s what He needs you to do.”

 

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