Chapter Seventy-Four

Angel tossed the stick for the hundredth time so Pudge could chase it. She didn’t begrudge Colton’s time with his brother. Not a bit. She wanted to give him as much time as he needed. Though she should have thought to bring something to do.

With no internet access, it wasn’t as if she could monitor her situation or check in on Redgamer3.

She’d talked to Thorne this morning before Colton woke up. She’d shared what she’d done to prompt a response, and he’d warned her that her initiative had been a bit rash.

No shit. She knew she was getting desperate. Patience had never been one of her skills. But her life was suspended until this issue was resolved.

She still didn’t know what she would do when this situation was behind her, but she wanted to be free to move on with whatever she decided. Not wanted by the law.

None of this was fair to Colton, either. He was stuck, too.

Thorne did have some good news. FBI Special Agent Markel had made a play on Thorne in an attempt to connect him to her escape. He’d been greedy, and when it fell through, he’d been taken off the case. In fact, Task Force Phoenix had been cleared of being in collusion with her. No investigation ongoing.

With the federal watchdogs backing off, the team was now able to launch a deeper investigation of their own. Thorne shared what they’d come up with on the killer, which so far wasn’t much. She’d sent them the emails from Redgamer3 to run through crypo. Maybe there was some hidden message she’d missed. So far, nothing.

In the end, Thorne had made her promise she would contact him when she was ready to make a move on a target. With anyone else, she would have been able to evade his request, but Thorne knew her too well. He’d been the one to train her, so it was easy for him to ensnare her with words.

She was left with no other option but to lie to him. “I promise,” she’d assured him. It was the first time she’d ever lied to her friend and mentor, and guilt over it twisted in her stomach.

But this was her fight. If she couldn’t prove the other person was the killer, her whole team could be entangled in her mess. Her team was her only family. She wouldn’t risk their careers and futures until she was absolutely sure she had a way out of this for everyone.

Pudge came back and dropped the stick at her feet, then flopped over on his side to pant. He’d been running nonstop for the last half hour.

“Tired of running, boy?” she asked as she scratched him behind the ears in that place he loved. “Yeah, I am, too.”

If only she could drift off to a quiet life in the woods somewhere. She could order everything she needed online and have it delivered. She could live off the grid and out of sight.

It sounded appealing. Except for one missing piece.

Colton.

She had really enjoyed their time together. They had fun both in and out of the bedroom. And she liked talking to him and watching him cook. With him, everything was easy.

Except when he looked at her as he was looking at her now.

Even from across the park, she could tell he was talking to his brother and thinking about serious things. When John glanced her way, too, she knew they were talking about her.

She could just guess what they were discussing. Most likely Colton’s feelings for her, and her propensity for disappearing overnight. And all the things she wasn’t able to give him.

But, oh, how she wanted to.