“Nothing. Everything has been silent,” I reported. “Everyone is staying quiet. I don’t like it.”
Kimble was quiet. I knew he was thinking. “I’m still in the States. I can fly back tonight and cancel the flight to Paris.”
“Yes. I think that’s best. I need you to find Crew. The same way you found me.”
“All right. I’m turning around for the airport now.”
“Where are you?” I thought he would be waiting to catch his connecting flight inside the airport.
“Philadelphia.”
“What?” My mind raced. “What are you doing there?” We lived in Philadelphia until I was twenty-two. It was where my family was. It was where I was raised. It was home until I claimed New Orleans for myself.
“I don’t have time to get into it now. I’ve got to get a ticket and start making some calls.”
“Kimble,” I warned, but I was too exhausted to lecture. Too tired to tell him to put this investigation into Knight’s past, away. It was costly. Look at what happened to Crew.
“Yes?”
“Let me know the minute you touch down in New Orleans.” Knight was waiting for me. “I’m not sure where I’ll be.” I didn’t want to disclose the meeting with Seraphina yet.
“I will. I’ll text with my ETA.”
“Thank you. And be safe.” I hung up and rested my palms on the counter. My mouth felt dry and my head hurt. The sliver of skin where Kimble had removed my tracker stung from the shower. Should I have left it in? My mind reeled. I couldn’t keep one steady thought.
“Everything okay?”
I turned around when I heard Knight’s voice over my shoulder. I wanted to cling to him. Hold him and be held. We could figure it out. Let our souls thread together and dissolve the pain. Any space was too much, too wide. I didn’t want distance between us anymore. Never again. But I couldn’t take the first step toward him. I was still Kennedy Martin. And she could be very stubborn.
Knight checked his phone as often as I did on the ride out of the city. I had been reluctant to pack a bag, but I did it anyway. The next few days were uncertain. I included a separate bin with files from my office. I wasn’t going to stop working. Renee had given me piles of contracts to read over and sign.
“As soon as we arrive, I want to take you somewhere,” he announced. He turned onto a rural road. It was more dirt than pavement.
“What kind of somewhere?” I asked.
“It’s not the Vieux Carre or anything, but there are a couple of cabins on the property. While I speak to Seraphina, I think you should stay there.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “I told you I don’t want to go into hiding. It’s the wrong message to send. It’s not the kind of message I’m going to send.”
Knight slammed on the brakes and the car screeched until we were stopped. I braced myself against the dash. “What the hell was that?” I yelled at him. “You alm
ost threw us into the sugar cane.” A cloud of dust billowed around the car.
“I don’t give a damn about the sugar cane field right now. Listen, I’m not going back and forth about this.” His face was red. He whipped the shades away from his eyes. “Would you hide me?”
I glared at him. “What does that have to do with—”
“No,” he snapped. “If this was reversed, what would you do? Would you parade me out in front of the families? Would you put me on a jet and send me to another country? Would you hide me in the tunnels for weeks until you had everyone’s head on a pike? Tell me. Look at me and tell me what lengths you would go to, to make sure I wasn’t killed tonight.”
I closed my eyes, glad he couldn’t see my full reaction. “The situation is not reversed.” I spoke between clenched teeth.
“That’s not what I asked. I’m talking about the hypothetical situation we could have been in, we’re almost always in, Kennedy because of the lives we live. Tomorrow, it could be me. So, answer the damn question. Would you hide me?”
I pinched my lips together and folded my arms. “You aren’t going to make me do this. I won’t give you permission to take control.”
He sighed. “I’m not trying to control you. I’m trying to do everything I can to keep you alive.” The bitterness was palatable. “There is a big fucking difference.”
“It doesn’t feel that way from where I’m sitting. I’ve been okay all these years without you. Now, you want to swoop in and make it all better? Save me? Is that what you think you can do?”