“What is it?” Candace asks, touching my cheek.
“I came back.”
Her brow furrows. “What?”
“I came back.” My eyes meet hers. “I came to see you.” Empty space in my head begins to fill with a bitter, buried night that almost brought a broken man to her door. A man she wouldn’t have wanted back then. “I sat in your driveaway for hours. I wanted to come in.”
“When? When did you do this?”
“Years ago. I craved home, which means you, baby, but I knew I couldn’t stay. I knew I would bring hell on you. And so I came here.” I squeeze my eyes shut and it comes to me. “I sat here and drank vodka. Holy Fuck. I hid something here.”
“What? You hid—like Tag’s secrets?”
“Yes. Damn. Yes, I did. A data drive.” I dig a flashlight from my pocket and walk to the side of the tombstone where I kneel. Candace follows and I hand her the light. “Stand over me and shine that on the ground for me.”
“I feel nervous and excited,” she says, doing as I say. “This could be what we need.”
“Or not. Let’s not get too excited until we see if it’s really here and then what’s on it.” I pull a blade from my boot and start digging. That’s when my cellphone rings. I grab it and eye the unknown number. I don’t like fucking unknown numbers but right now I can’t afford to decline the call and miss a warning, or a problem, of some sort. I answer the call. “Who is this?”
“Your guardian angel,” Tag says. “Wes killed two of our men. He’s on the run and most likely coming to you. You’ve been warned.” He hangs up. Adrenaline surges through me and I grab my blade from the ground. The flashlight flickers and Candace screams.
A second later, I’m on my feet, and Wes is holding Candace in front of him, with a knife to her throat. He intends to cut her throat the way I cut his wife’s throat.
THE END…FOR NOW
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