Chapter Twenty-Nine
Luke
Snow floats in the air around us, gathering in white clusters on the side of the highway.
Ana rests her eyes in the passenger seat next to me, as I had hours before when she was driving. The knowledge that she’s my precious cargo has me driving with far more care than I would otherwise, especially during the past two years without her. During that time, I didn’t give two shits what happened to me, and I lived every mission with that attitude. I could have, and should have, ended up dead.
The question is, did Kurt end up dead?
This idea that Kurt isn’t dead isn’t new. I’ve considered it, especially with his missing money in the inheritance situation, but always in a fleeting and dismissive way. Kurt was protective of Ana. He wouldn’t have left her without protection. Hell, if I knew Kurt, and I did, he wouldn’t have left me without a word and a warning—protect her, or I’ve ensured you will die a brutal death.
I glance over at her and smile at the way her hair is now draped over her face. God, I love this woman. This is exactly why I need to tamp down on my urge to talk to her about Kurt possibly being alive. It’s a long shot. I don’t want her to get her hopes up or question why he would fake his death. Okay, she’d know why he was faking his death. He’s running from something. The real question would be why he didn’t let her know he was alive.
I rummage through my memories, trying to think of something, anything Kurt might have said to me that would have given me a clue I can decipher. Of course, Kasey was in the picture, and for all I know, he knew what Ana does not, but then again, Kurt didn’t respect Kasey much. He loved him, but they weren’t blood, and Kasey didn’t perform to Kurt’s standards. Ana did. Ana was the son he never had. He didn’t even need me to fill those shoes. She was both his princess and his warrior.
He can’t be alive. He would never leave her in the dark like this. I’m about to fully dismiss the idea of his faked death when I have another jarring thought. Kurt was a powerful man. If he felt the need to fake his death, the heat was hellish, and the problem was massive. And along those lines, if he didn’t tell Ana, he had a good reason. She would have gone after the problem, attacked like a lion, who would never have allowed its prey to survive. As much as he trusted me to protect her, he knew what I know, too. I would have had to lock her away in a cave somewhere to keep her out of trouble.
She’s an FBI agent and she takes that seriously. FBI agents don’t look away. Family does not look away. Damn it to hell, but I did when I left.
Ana stirs beside me, stretches, and sits up. “How is it snowing this much?”
“It’s Colorado, baby. It likes to do wild and crazy.”
“That it does,” she agrees. “How close are we?”
“Based on the directions you gave me, about an hour out.”
“Well, let’s hope I’m right because I only came out here with him one time.”
“Yeah, about that,” I say. “Tell me again why you came to a secluded place with Darius?”
She laughs. “I know you do not think I fell into Darius’s bed when we broke up.”
“I know he would have, he liked you, too.”
“You also know I told you I didn’t fall into anyone’s bed and I don’t want to think about you doing so.”
“Baby, you are it for me. Anything I did was me trying to survive you hating me.”
“I could never hate you, Luke. Pain is just a brutal emotion.”
No words have ever been truer, which drives home why I can’t tell her what I’m theorizing about Kurt until I know more than I do now. Unfortunately, up here in the mountains, I may not even be able to share those theories with Blake.
The snow falls harder now, and I focus on the road. “Check your phone, baby. Do we have service?”
“I already did. And we do not.”
I glance behind me in the mirror, ensuring no one is following us. The only way being cut off from the rest of the world while being hunted by a dangerous enemy is really being cut off from the rest of the world, is if we’re really cut off from the rest of the world.