“In fifteen minutes, Pistol will show up and take Briar’s place.”
Again my father manages to take my breath away. How does he know Skull’s men? How does he know their names? Worse, how does he know what’s about to happen?
“How do you—”
“That’s not important right now. Listen closely. When Pistol gets there, he will escort you down to the cafeteria. You will follow him and not alert anyone to what is about to happen. When you get there, excuse yourself to the restroom. Once you’re there, there’s a small hall off to the right. Pistol will lead you to it. That goes to the kitchen. Someone will be waiting for you there. Don’t mess this up, Elizabeth. I’m trying to save lives here, but if you don’t cooperate, that won’t be possible.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because you don’t have a choice, sunshine. I’ll be waiting,” he says, then hangs up.
My hand is shaking when I put the receiver back into the cradle. My heart is slamming against my chest. I’ve imagined seeing my father in a million different ways, and none of them included this one. The door opens and I look up to see Briar. My first instinct is to ask what’s going on, but right behind him comes Pistol—just like my father said.
“Beth, are you okay?” Briar asks. I can’t stop my eyes from going to Pistol. He looks at me impassively, but his hands are on the gun he keeps in a holster just beneath his leather cut. He makes sure I see it. The bastard knows exactly what he’s doing. I take a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves and look back at Briar. I can’t risk him getting hurt.
“I’m fine,” I insist. “Just worried about Beast. The surgery seems to be taking a while.”
“That’s why I’m late. The doctor tracked me down at the nurse’s desk. Beast pulled through and the surgeon was encouraged by the results.”
“That’s great,” I tell him, genuinely relieved.
“Yeah, it is. I’m going back to report to Skull and do a few things. Pistol here will be taking over for me. K-Rex is going to stand guard over our vehicles because one of Cade’s men got sick. If you need me, all you have to do is call.”
“Sounds good. I’m actually getting a little hungry now that I know Beast is going to be okay. Could you take me down to the cafeteria, Pistol?”
He clears his throat and his disgusting voice has a tinge of joy in it. I want to hit him in the balls. “Sure thing. Getting a little hungry myself.”
“Great. I’ll ride down the elevator with you two, then,” Briar adds.
We all go out and I’m doing my best to walk and keep my shaky legs from giving out on me. I manage to laugh or respond where it’s needed as Briar talks. We part ways when the elevator stops on the first floor, then Pistol puts his hand to my back and leads me to the cafeteria. When we get there, right away I recognize one of Cade’s men. Skull made sure he introduced me to every one of them so I’d know who they were if I needed help. Ironically, I think it’s these men who may be helping to hurt me. Well, them and Pistol, obviously.
“I need to go to the restroom,” I announce, loud enough so Cade’s man can hear me. He starts to come forward, but Pistol waves him off.
“I got this. Come on Beth, I’ll escort you.”
Asshole.
I follow him. As soon as we’re out of the other’s vision, I jerk away from him. “Skull will have your head,” I hiss.
“He won’t ever know.”
“You’re disgusting. Skull thinks of you as his brother. Don’t you have any ethics?”
“I’m not dying over some fucking whore of a woman. Now hurry up. Daddy waits,” he says. I really seriously hate him. If I survive this, I need to make sure Skull knows he can’t trust him.
We walk from the hall into the kitchen and there, surrounded by the silver counters and lunchroom equipment, is the one person I never thought I would see again in my life.
“Hello, sunshine.”
My fucking father.
I look at my daughter, and she’s beautiful. I’ve missed both her and Katie. They might be twins, but they’re as different as night and day. Beth was always the one who had the more innocent personality. That only grew stronger as they aged. I know she hates me. Why wouldn’t she? I’ve done everything wrong with them from the beginning, including their mother. How I ever got ensnared by that bitch Isabel is beyond me. She cost me everything. I can’t let emotion get involved here, though. I have to protect my daughter, even if she hates me. That’s the only thing that’s important. I lost my chance at being a father a long time ago.
“I’m here. What do you want?” she asks me, and I doubt she realizes how much like Katie she actually sounds in this moment.
“I know you’re upset with me, sunshine, but I really am trying to save you here.”