“So does she or does she not know I’m alive?”
“She doesn’t, but Blake’s telling her tonight.”
“No. No, you can’t let him tell her.”
“She knows Alvarez is alive. She figured out I’m undercover in his operation and showed up here yesterday.”
“Here? Right here?”
“Yes. We quickly got her out of Texas, but if she starts feeling out of the loop, she’ll come back. The best way to keep her safe is to keep her informed.”
“Kara won’t stand down if she knows I’m alive. You can’t know her and not know that.”
“Kara knows how to stay alive and she wants you alive,” I say. “She won’t do anything to endanger any of us. And Blake won’t let her out of that hotel room if he thinks any differently. Look. Sweetheart, I can make sense out of any question you have if you let me. The question is, can I let you up to talk without us having a problem?”
“Yes. We can. Please let me up.”
“And I can do this without you going for the gun and shooting me for real this time?”
“I’ll shoot if my sister ends up dead.”
“Well, then, I’m safe, because that’s not going to happen.” I ease off of her, and help her sit, snagging my shirt from the end of the couch and pulling it over her head. She shoves her hands through the sleeves, immediately facing forward, her feet on the floor, her arms folding in front of herself, everything about her body language defensive, withdrawn. Forcing myself to give her space, I move away from her, but I don’t let her escape fully, choosing to sit on the coffee table directly in front on her.
“I would never risk Kara’s life,” I promise her. “I need you to know that. I love her like a sister. And her husband, Blake, he and his entire family are family to me.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”
“For starters, I was taken off guard that you were here at all. I had no way of knowing you were the person I was guarding. Once I did, I had no way of knowing, if you were really aligned with Alvarez, or even brainwashed to support him, which is not uncommon in captive situations. Once I knew you weren’t, it was clear that you’d sacrificed yourself to protect Kara. It also became clear to me that she could truly be in danger. I damn sure wasn’t going to tell you who I was until I knew she was safe. I wanted you to have that peace of mind and frankly, I wasn’t sure what you’d do to protect her if I hadn’t.”
“And she really is safe?”
“One hundred percent. Like I said. Blake took her to Seattle, and he has a plane on standby to get her out of the country if needed. There’s also a plane on standby a few miles away to do the same for us.”
“There is?”
“Yes. There is.”
Her chest rises and falls, a thunderstorm of emotions raging in her green eyes before they gloss over. “I can’t believe this is really happening.” Her hands cover her face for several seconds before they flatten on the couch at her hips, her arms no longer sheltering her body, her eyes, still glistening, searching my face. “You’re really one of the good guys?”
“I’m no Boy Scout, sweetheart. Call me an “almost” Boy Scout, but yes. I like to think I’m one of the good guys.” I dare to lean forward and settle my hands on her knees, relieved when she doesn’t push them away. “You’ve done an amazing job of taking care of yourself and your sister,” I say, true admiration in my voice, which I hope she hears. “I’ve seen trained agents crack under lesser circumstances. But now, I’m going to get you out of here. And those women Alvarez kidnapped, who you’re worried about. We’re going to get them, too. That’s always been the plan.”
“You are? We can?” She grabs my hand, the walls of moments before fully falling away. “What plan? Can you tell me?”
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know and probably more, but let’s move to the other room where I can check the security footage.” I sit up and reach into my pocket, pulling out my phone.
“What are you doing?” Myla asks, grabbing my hand. “You aren’t calling Kara, right?”
“No,” I say. “I’m not calling Kara. I don’t know if she knows you’re alive yet, and even if I did, we won’t talk to Kara until you want to talk to Kara.”
Relief visibly washes over her. “Thank you,” she says, but she doesn’t let go of my hand. “I’m just not ready. I need to hear your plans first. I need to know more than I do right now.”
“Understood.” I glance down at her hand holding mine, and then back up. “If you let me go, I’ll order the pizza I was about to order and we can move to the other room.”
Her eyes go wide. “Pizza? That was the call you were going to make?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. I mean, you just told me that you know my sister.”
“And…that makes us both less hungry?”