We both stared at the man as he glared, his expression unreadable but clearly thinking nothing good.
“Looks like Hazel gets to decide who she talks to,” Tabitha said pointedly back.
I nodded because I had nothing to add.
Corbin ground his teeth together so hard I swore I heard him losing enamel from my side of the table. “Come on, Hazel. We’re leaving.”
CHAPTER6
CORBIN
“It’s not as nice as the bed-and-breakfast, but no one can track the address to me,” I said standing in front of the Cape Cod my brother and I purchased less than a year ago and unlocked the door for Hazel.
The purchase of this property was three shell companies deep and I only technically owned thirty-three percent controlling assets of each company. It was barely a controlling interest and, hopefully, didn’t flag any systems. Pierce sold it to us for a steal, and the price was hardly worth noticing if anyone went looking.
Besides, no one would catch the Kensington twins living in a small, unrenovated, Cape Cod home in Pelican Bay when we had boats and penthouses. This was the perfect hideaway.
We bought it in case things ever went south. I just never planned to use it. Or so soon. In fact, we hadn’t even done anything to it. I toured the place after we signed the paperwork but never came back.
The home was dark, the curtains pulled shut. I felt around the wall closest to the door, looking for a light switch. When I found it, I flicked them on. Hazel walked in behind me, her gaze sweeping the place.
“It’s gorgeous.”
I followed the same path she did and grunted. Her words were too kind to the place. It was old. The last time anyone updated or modernized the home was in the nineties. Now it needed a total gut job.
It wasn’t fit to live in, but it had furniture and the utilities worked, so we could use it for as long as we needed. Hazel dropped her bag in the middle of the kitchen and stopped as if she was afraid to look around without my okay.
“Home sweet home,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.
We’d spent the afternoon answering questions for the police, and I found my attention continued to stray to her face. I told myself to look for signs of fatigue or stress because I wasn’t ready to admit I enjoyed looking at her. She was so small and fragile, yet when she opened her mouth nothing but fire came out. Hazel found herself in one of the worst situations ever, but she hadn’t let it stop her. She stood on her feet and knew what she wanted, but without realizing it, she let me lead the way.
And she listened. I thought for sure once I told her to lie to the police she’d run at them with open arms screaming, but from what I heard, she hadn’t given them a thing. What warranted the woman I so harshly turned away the day before obliging me with obedience now?
No longer did a part of me think All American Bank used her to get to me. Not after they tried to take her out in a public shooting in the middle of downtown.
“There are three bedrooms and I think two bathrooms. All the water should be turned on, and I’ll have to get something to fill the fridge, but it’s safe and warm. It will do for now.”
It wouldn’t take me long to break through her flash drive, so we wouldn’t need the hide out more than a day or two.
I didn’t have time to return to Pierce’s home and collect my clothing from the bedroom I used there, but Drake passed me a bag with necessities in the driveway after he dropped us here.
I carelessly left the bag on the shaky kitchen table and unzipped it.
“Give me your phone,” I said already with my hands out waiting to take it.
Hazel didn’t hesitate as she slipped it from her back pocket and placed it in my hand. I smiled at her obedience and then bit my cheek. She wasn’t mine to smile at or get excited about. Once I broke the password on her thumb drive, we’d turn over the information to whichever authorities might best handle it, and then Hazel would be out of my life forever.
I’d go back to being the reclusive Kensington brother who only came out long enough to party. The man most people didn’t know ran around the dark web as TerminalChaos. I’d crafted the life for myself. You could never be too careful with who you trusted and who knew your secrets. The fact Hazel’s company had been so cavalier with my contact information told me it was time for TerminalChaos to have an untimely and unfortunate death to be reborn later as someone new.
That would have to come later because keeping Hazel safe just became my top priority. I powered off her phone, removed the SIM card, and dropped it in the kitchen sink, flipping up the faucet and letting water run over it.
“Hey! That was my phone.” She stared at the water rising in the sink as her phone blocked the plug.
“No, that was direct access to whoever wanted to track you.”
If All American put something on her phone, even turning it off might not have been good enough.
With the water running, I returned to my duffle bag and pulled out a new phone provided by Drake, placing it in her waiting hands. It was fully charged, and I tapped on the lock screen. The month and day of her birthday worked as a password. On the screen was one app. A red button.