“He could kill you for that.”
“I can handle me. Let’s get a plan that gets her out of here safely and I’ll frame my exit plan. And if that means I need to get out of the country for a while to ensure I don’t lead Alvarez to the team, so be it.”
“We aren’t throwing you into a black hole.”
“Someone will need to acclimate Myla to a new life. It makes sense for me to disappear with her, at least for a while. And…” I consider a moment. “Kara leaving the country right now, at the same time Myla disappears, might be suspicious and bring attention to her.”
A beat passes before Royce concedes, “You’re right. I’ll talk to Luke and between us, we’ll come up with a plan for handling Blake and Kara.”
“If you tell them-”
“They’ll want to be involved,” he says. “I know that, but I’ll be damned if I want to lie to them anymore than I know you do. Let me talk to Luke.”
“Don’t tell Blake and Kara anything until you talk to me.”
“Agreed. I’ll get with Asher and Jacob tonight, and we’ll put together several extraction options, but I can tell you, we’re going to need more information. Who is around you both? What is she doing in the next eight weeks?”
“I won’t know those things for a few days.”
“What can you tell me?”
I update him on the little I know. The business I kick myself for knowing nothing about when I should. Juan. And finally the recording devices and camera I removed. “Myla is terrified of Alvarez creating a worse version of what he can’t see on film.”
“Maybe he’ll have to come see for himself,” Royce says.
“Exactly,” I say. “But that means we need to be ready for him immediately, and at this point, I can’t be sure Myla would leave of her own free will, should we decide to extract her. And Royce, man. I don’t know if I can let him touch her again.”
“I get it, man. I haven’t met her like you have, but I feel like I know her. I feel the same. But if you move too fast-”
“All the women he’s forced into his sex trade operation are lost unless she can help us get to them. I know. Stay the course as long as I can.”
“And if you reveal yourself to her too soon, and you’re wrong about her-”
“I might end up dead. I got it. Not the outcome I’m looking for, but if it’s my judgment that I have to extract her without her prior agreement, I’ll make it.”
“Understood and we’ll be right there with you.” He pauses a moment. “It’s eight-fifteen. We’ll have eyes on you, but give me a verbal every ten to twelve hours so I know you’re safe. If you hit thirteen, I’m going to assume you have a problem. And try to contact me at a time and place where we can discuss plans.”
“Copy that,” I say.
We end the call and I flip over the phone, remove the chip and destroy it, before my gaze lands on the empty hallway, but I don’t see the empty space. I see that year-old security footage, and Myla’s green eyes looking into the camera, with a plea for help in their depths that I fully intend to answer.
***
Myla
Time seems to stand still as I pace the master suite, trying to get my head around everything that has happened in the past hour, and how it impacts my plans, if Kyle will impact them in a good or bad way, if at all. Whichever it might be, Kyle is a reminder that Michael trusts no one, not even me, completely, and I cannot ever forget that.
Dragging my hand through my hair, I ignore the bed, and walk to the window framing the living area in the far right corner of the room, staring out at the Dallas skyline without really seeing it. Instead, I think of the one year, two months, and four days I’ve been with Michael Alvarez. That’s how long it took for him to allow me any freedom and even that is a fa?ade. And now, Kyle is here, and the very fact that he’s not Juan is a huge relief, but I don’t know his motives, and he’s just…I don’t know what he is, besides really overwhelming. And intense. And appealing in ways that make him very, very dangerous, especially since he has this crazy way of making me feel safe just by existing, but he could be part of this trap Michael is setting for me.