Shadow Of Betrayal (Margot Harris 4)

“Yeah? Last I checked, you were working for the people you claim you’re protecting me from.”

“I was doing that for you. If you’d let me do what needed to be done, all this would be over.”

“Did you say, ‘Do what needed to be done’?”

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you say what that was? You were going to execute a man for the cartel.”

“It’s not like they gave me a lot of choice.”

Margot could see that the bruises on his wrists from when then had handcuffed him and hung him from the ceiling had healed. He had never said what happened, but she figured they didn’t just ask him politely once they had him chained up.

“I know. But you need to know I didn’t feel like I had a choice either.”

“That’s not true. You did have a choice, but I forgive you.”

“Forgive me? Let me ask you this: What you were planning to do with the witnesses after you put a bullet in Dean Stone’s face?”

“I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“What about Rick?”

“You mean Radcliff? I made sure he didn’t see shit.”

“He would have known. You don’t think he wouldn’t put together Stone getting shot and you tasing him? What were you going to do about him?”

“I was trying to save you.”

“It would have worked out great then, wouldn’t it? You get to be the hero and kill my boyfriend. Did you figure we’d be a couple after that?”

“I wasn’t thinking about any of that. I just wanted to keep you safe.”

“Just me?”

“No, I wanted to keep me safe too.”

“You know what? Why don’t you keep your efforts focused on that from now on?”

“Look, I’m sorry the way this played out but—”

“—No, there is no ‘but’. Maybe someday we can put this behind us, but today is not the day. Stay away from me.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Yeah, Mal, I do.”

“You need me.”

“To do what?”

“Keep you alive.”

“Really? Because it seems to me that your strength is making people dead.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Life’s not fair. You could have at least told me what happened, what they told you to do.”