“Some would say that about us,” I argued.
“True, but we don’t kill for fun or the highest bidder.”
“I thought both occupants of the car that chased me died on scene?” I asked with a furrowed brow.
“They did. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t in contact with others in their crew. What if they saw your plate and passed it on?” Raptor asked.
I snorted. “I’m not stupid. I was using false plates.”
“Well, there’s that,” Venom said with a sigh. “We still haven’t discussed the fact that you were stalking your ex who is in WITSEC.”
With a chin lift, I crossed my arms. “I was on my own time.”
“It was a potentially dangerous situation that you didn’t apprise us of—oh, and with resources Facet provided,” Venom deadpanned.
A single shoulder shrug was my reply. He closed his eyes briefly and shook his head.
“In his defense, I had been in contact with her for years before I knew she had a connection to Ghost,” Facet said with an apologetic wince.
“I don’t even know what the hell to do with you two.” Venom palmed his face.
Raptor stifled a snicker, and Venom dropped his hand to glare. Raptor pursed his lips and glanced around innocently.
“For fuck’s sake, I feel like a middle school principal,” Venom muttered.
“We probably need to turn her over to her handler,” Raptor said.
“Hell no!” My words were accompanied by me shooting to my feet.
“Sit. Down!” Venom ground out.
Reluctantly, I did. “I’m not letting her go,” I said through gritted teeth. The thought of losing her again nearly unraveled me.
“She’s not a fucking stray cat. She has a say in this too. Although being in witness protection, maybe she doesn’t. I have no clue,” Raptor said with a smirk and a shrug.
“Speaking of, how do we know this isn’t connected to why she’s in witness protection?” I asked.
“I guess we don’t, but I can do more digging,” Facet offered. “It seems like it’s pretty cut and dry that it’s directly from her getting into Khatri’s system, but maybe not.”
“Well, I’d say no one is really protecting her. To me it seems like they dropped her in WITSEC and then washed their hands of her,” I grumbled.
“Okay, so this is the plan,” Venom began. “If she’s agreeable, which I hope she is, she stays here, where we can do our best to keep her safe. Facet, you do what you do. Find out anything and everything you can about Khatri, Laila’s family, and her agent. See if you can find out if there’s some kind of connection. If not, we’ll have to make a decision on what we’re going to do about Khatri, because I need to get back to them by tomorrow.”
“I’m on it,” Facet said and stood. “Is it okay if I start now?”
“I need something by tonight’s church.” Venom motioned to the door, and Facet left. I heard him talking to someone, then it was quiet.
“Ghost, you talk to her. If she’s not willing to stay here, we can’t force her, but you need to make sure she knows she’d be on her own if she left.” Venom’s gaze leveled on me as he spoke.
I nodded.
“What did you find?” Venom asked Facet without preamble. We’d barely dropped into our seats.
“Well, I think the US Marshals lied to your girl,” Facet said as he cast me an uneasy glance. That had me sitting up straight.
“Meaning?” Venom asked.
“The guys who killed her parents are dead. Have been for years.”
“What?” I asked. “Maybe they don’t know.”
Facet shook his head slowly. “They knew.”
“How?” Voodoo asked in disbelief.
Then Facet dropped a bomb that left us shell-shocked.
“Because one of their agents hired us—the Ankeny, Iowa, Royal Bastards—to kill them about two months after she went into witness protection.Wekilled them. Rowdy handled it himself.”