“Leduc spooked you,” he said softly.
“He would have done it, Edward.”
“I’ll be there in six hours or less,” he said.
“Sounds like a plan,” I said.
“It is, but if things go south while I’m in the air trying to get to you and your choice is dead before I land or calling for more backup, promise me you’ll call for the backup.”
“No, Edward.”
“Anita, if you’re in the hospital or dead before I can get to you, I will be pissed.”
“I’ve never worked with Olaf without you there to help keep the distance or the peace between us.”
“I know, and it’s not my favorite idea either, but he’s a good man in a fight.”
“He’s evil.”
“Sometimes evil will keep you alive.”
“Being alive isn’t always enough, Edward. You’ve got to live with yourself afterward.”
“Promise me, Anita.”
“Damn it, Edward.”
“If the situations were reversed and you knew Olaf was close enough to save me, what would you want me to do?”
“That’s not fair. He doesn’t want you to be his serial killer girlfriend.”
“Just answer my question, Anita.”
“You told me once if I saw him to just shoot him dead and not to wait for him to hurt me, that you’d rather I be on trial than dead at his hands.”
“I remember what I said.”
“Then how can you want me to promise this?”
“Because I think you can negotiate the emotional baggage that Olaf has with you for six hours, but you can’t outrun a bullet. He acquitted himself well last time both professionally and with you.”
“I won’t give up my guns again, not to Leduc or his people. I’ll just wait for you.”
“Anita, just promise me you’ll do it. I don’t want to have to explain to Jean-Claude, or Micah, or Nathaniel, or any of your people that you died because you were too stubborn to take the closest help.”
“It’s not stubbornness, Edward, and you know it.”
“If we let our fear master us, Anita, then we’re already dead.”
“You’re afraid of the big guy, too.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t, and the thought of him being near you when I’m not there scares the shit out of me.”
That stopped me. He almost never admitted out loud that he was personally afraid of anything. “Okay, okay, I promise that if things get so dangerous that Newman and I can’t handle them, I’ll put out a general call for help, even if that means Marshal Otto Jeffries is the help.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome,” I said.