I smile and move into his arms.
He wraps them around me, and I breathe him in.
Oh yes.
I’ll sleep.
I could sleep here forever.
“WE’RE GOING TO SET him up?” I repeat, staring at Rhett as we eat breakfast the next morning.
We’re all at the restaurant, but they’ve pulled me down to the end of the table to discuss their plans when it comes to Joel. I’m not certain, however, I’ve heard them correctly. They’re going to set him up in a way that’ll make sure he goes to prison for life. I have no idea how exactly they’re going to do that, but I’m intrigued.
“Yeah,” Rhett answers. “The man is already walkin’ a fine line, won’t take much to put him away for life. We know people. People who are willin’ to help, we just need you to get him to come to the party, so to speak.”
“You’re going to need to give me a little more information,” I say, staring at Enzo briefly before looking back to Rhett.
“I can’t give you much, but I’ll tell you this. We’re goin’ for your little girls’ night in town tomorrow, he’s goin’ to follow us in there because he will see the chance to get at you. We’ve got people, people who are.... setting something up for us. They’re goin’ to make sure he’s caught not only within a hundred yards of you, breaking the protection order, but he’s goin’ to be found with a fuck load of illegal drugs, and he’ll be with people they’ve been tryin’ to get hold of for years.”
I shake my head.
“How in the hell are you going to plant drugs on him at the same time as having him with a group of people the police are after?”
“That’s where the people we know come into play. They’re organizing a deal, but they’re not goin’ to show. We just need all of those people in the parking lot thinkin’ they’re there to make a drug deal. You’re goin’ to walk outside, your man is goin’ to follow you, and the police are goin’ to arrive seconds after. We’ll get you out unscathed.”
This seems dangerous.
“What if I don’t get out? What if he doesn’t follow me? What if he just grabs me and runs before the police? What if someone starts shooting when the police come?”
Rhett puts a hand up. “Slow down, we’ve got it covered. Know people in the police force who are wantin’ these guys. They’re not goin’ to come in lights blaring, they’re already going to be there. Trust me, will you? You won’t get hurt. I promise you.”
God.
How deep did these guys go before they started the retreat? I’m starting to think a lot deeper than any of us could begin to understand.
“You gotta trust us,” Enzo tells me. “You will not get hurt, but he will go down for this. I promise you that. And when he’s down, we’ll ensure he never contacts you or your son again.”
I’m not about to ask how they’re going to do that.
“So my fun night on the town is now a scary plan to trap a heap of criminals and my ex?”
Enzo grins. “We’ll have fun after, I promise.”
I purse my lips.
Their plan is quite good, if they can pull it off.
“I’ll do whatever I have to to protect Hudson,” I say.
Rhett nods.
Enzo reaches over and squeezes my hand.
I continue eating, praying to god that they’re sure of what they’re doing right now, because if they aren’t, this could go really bad.
I can’t afford it to go really bad.
My son needs me.
We finish up with breakfast and our task for the day is to go for a ride with the guys and move some cows from one paddock to another. I’m actually super excited about this because I’ve wanted to ride a horse since we got here, and I love the idea of being outside and doing some work.
We head to the large barn where three of the stable hands have saddled up a bunch of horses. Diablo is front and center of course, snorting and stomping as he waits for Rhett to come over and make a real man out of him. I giggle at my thought and fall in step beside Faye, who is staring at the horses with a little smile on her face. Alice is behind us, telling Chev how she doesn’t do horses and she’s not at all excited about it.
“Hey,” Lei tells off the raging black stallion as she goes to a short, round horse beside him. “That’s enough from you.”
He nuzzles her.
Aw. He likes her.
“Okay, everyone, we’ll section you off depending on riding skill. If you’ve ridden a horse before and feel confident moving at a faster pace than a walk, raise your hand.”
I put my hand up.
I didn’t come here to walk.