Her eyes are somber, sad, as she looks up at me.
“Mad at me for…for being alive.”
Fucking sicko, I think.
It guts me to hear her say that shit. It also makes my fists very, very anxious to meet Ray Gerard’s pompous face.
Kneeling down, I take her hand, reassuring her with my grip where words won’t do.
I consider saying he wouldn’t be pissed at her for that, nobody in their right mind would, but I know the bitter truth. People are mad she’s not in a watery grave.
Shaking her head, she whispers, “I don’t want to see him, Flint.”
“Then you don’t have to. I said Aiea because you can get there in an hour from most anywhere on the island.” I set the phone on the chair next to her. “He can’t trace the call. He can’t come here without an exact address. That phone’s ironclad.”
“It is? You’re totally sure?”
“Yeah.” I stand up.
She grabs my hand. “You’re going, aren’t you? To the coffee shop.”
I nod. “I have to feel him out, babe. We’ve played defense too long. Need to see if he’s alone, or if he’s got backup. It ends if we get a good idea what we’re truly dealing with.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“Bull. You already said you don’t want to see him.”
“I don’t, but I have to.” She stands up. “I have to know what’s going on.”
I mull it over. The place isn’t far from the beach; I’ve been there a few times.
Honu Wind is popular, always crowded, so nothing traumatic can happen in broad daylight. Cornaro’s men only make their moves in the shadows, and Ray Gerard would be insane to operate any differently.
I’m also impressed with her backbone. She’s been through pure hell, yet keeps on trucking.
“Fine, you’ll come with. It’s evening, plenty of daylight left, and there’ll be tons of people around. He’ll never see us. Hell, we can even bring Bryce just to throw them off more. They’re looking for a lone wolf, not a woman out and about with her family.”
She goes quiet and flushes bright pink. “That’s sweet, but I mean, you’re not really my—”
“They don’t know that. It’s cover. You take some basic precautions, they’ll never tell you apart from any lady out with her man and kid.” I tell her. “But you do as I say, Val. Deal?”
“Absolutely.”
Nodding, my thoughts turn to my boy. If I wasn’t a hundred percent sure of this, I wouldn’t take him with.
Keeping him with us feels like the safer bet. Even though the house is secure, under full surveillance, I’m uncomfortable leaving Bryce home alone.
The place where his little buddy Louie lives down the street wouldn’t be as solid as home. Cash is tied up with his own business, and with Ma out of town, already in Maui, there’s not another option.
He’s safer in broad daylight with his old man, where the assholes after Val wouldn’t dare make a move.
Valerie stops in front of me as soon as we step inside the house. “Do you have a hat?”
“A hat?”
“One that I can wear. If I throw it on with some shades and we’re in your car, our chances of anybody noticing me go way down. I don’t want Ray to recognize me.”
Nice. I’d planned to get her in some kind of disguise, but she’s already ahead of me.
“I’ve got one. Nothing much to look at, but it’ll do the trick. And I have an old pair of sunglasses around here too.”
I grab a baseball cap, sunglasses, and one of my button-up shirts for her and then holler upstairs to tell Bryce we’re leaving soon.
“Where are we going?” he asks, running down the steps.
“Just out for a drive. Maybe we’ll swing by and pick something up for dinner.”
“Cool!” He jumps off the bottom step. So does the cat. “Can Savanny come with us?”
“No,” both Valerie and I say at the same time.
The cat would be a dead giveaway, and even if it’s damn near becoming closer than his own shadow, I’m not ready to take a half-wild feline on joyrides.
“Okay.” Bryce scratches the beast’s head. “Sorry, Savanny. I’ll see you later, dude.”
Then he runs to the garage door I’m holding open for him.
I wait for Val to walk through first, then pull the door shut and walk around the truck, noting how cute she looks with a hat on.
What the hell?
Adorable or not, someone’s trying to kill her. That’s the only reason I’m doing this. Once this King Heron crap gets settled, odds are I’ll never see her again.
She’s not my wife. She’s not my girl. She shouldn’t even be my eye candy.
As I start the engine, I make a silent vow.
I’ll keep denying every last hard-on this chick gives me.
Part of keeping her safe from the Cornaro Outfit and her own fucked up brother means saving her from my stupidity.