She lifted her head, resolve rigid in her eyes as she visibly composed herself. She stared at him with enough frost in her gaze to freeze a desert.
“I can’t . . . w-won’t tell you anything. Now get off my car!”
She emphasized her statement by pounding on the steering wheel so hard that he inwardly winced. Hell, she may have broken it, though he wasn’t sure if it was the steering wheel or her hand that wouldn’t have held up. If she thought to infuse strength into her statement, it was an epic fail, because all it did was make her sound and appear even more vulnerable and . . . lost. Fuck it all, she looked lost and forlorn. Like she had no options. No choices. As though her path had been decided a lifetime ago and every year had been spent in preparation for here and now.
But he’d caught her slip in speech and knew she was as aware of it as he was. She had said can’t, only to hastily amend it to won’t. Was the almighty Dane, the man she gave her unwavering loyalty to, fucking blind? Because if Eliza had stood in his office as Dane had said she’d done, and Dane saw what Wade was seeing now, hearing what Wade heard, then Dane should have cuffed her and sat on her until he pried the truth from her. It wasn’t as if DSS didn’t have invaluable resources in the wives of some of the DSS members. Especially Anna-Grace. Let Eliza weasel her way out of that.
“What won’t you tell me, Eliza?” he seethed. “You don’t have the goddamn sense to ask for help. You’re too busy trying to save the world without thought of protecting your own ass, and it’s obvious you’re scared and even more obvious you aren’t safe. Because you don’t back down. Ever. And any brainless twit could see that you know you aren’t safe.”
She erupted, her eyes blazing, hands in tight fists as if it took everything she had not to punch right through the window of the car door.
“It’s not me who isn’t safe!” she yelled.
For a moment he was dumbfounded. Eliza was calm and cool under pressure. He’d never seen her this rattled even when those sons of bitches had tormented her and waterboarded her like the inhuman savages they were.
She was furious. He got that.
She hurt. He understood that too.
She wanted vengeance. He could see it in her eyes. God, he wanted vengeance as well, and not the kind the judicial system did—or rather didn’t—dole out. But whether or not they lined up on the same side, she was damn well going to be behind him where she would be protected.
So what the fuck was going on here? She was definitely leaving town. But it sure as hell wasn’t on vacation.
They stared at each other several long seconds, his thoughts formulating in meticulous fashion as he quickly assimilated all the pieces of the puzzle. His gut clenched, puzzling him, and he played it off as natural concern for any woman as courageous as Eliza.
But was she even planning to come back? Because she was definitely running, and if she was to be believed, the fear that had glittered in her eyes in those brief, unguarded moments wasn’t for herself.
Realization made him swear violently. No, she wasn’t afraid for herself. She was deathly afraid of anyone close to her being harmed and that pissed him the hell off.
She must have sensed his blinding rage and the fact he was about to punch right through her windshield to prevent her leaving because her expression became pleading, another jolt to his system, because his Eliza didn’t beg for anything.
“Please, Wade. Just go. I have to get as far away from here and the people I care about before it’s too late. I’m running out of time. If I don’t leave soon enough, he’ll find me and he’ll kill every single person I love, care about, did something nice for or even just smiled at.”
Wade was a writhing mass of fury and confusion because he had been one hundred percent right in his conclusion as to why she was leaving as fast as possible. He wanted answers and he wanted them now, but most of all, he wanted to know who the fuck had put such terror and panic into this fierce woman, and why she was so certain this asshole would find her and kill everyone of importance to her. Did she have so little confidence in the people she worked with? The people she trusted with her life? Or was this every bit as bad as his gut was screaming it was.
Because with the arsenal of weapons she was packing, she had no intention of simply going into hiding and luring whatever psychopath away from the people she cared about. She was going hunting and not the recreational kind.
She sent him one last determined look, or perhaps it was a warning, because he suddenly found himself on her concrete drive as she hit reverse, screeching into the street. He barely had time to lift his head before he saw her taillights fade into the distance.
He should have been pissed. He should be wiping his hands of the entire situation he’d unwillingly been dragged into. And he damn sure never fucking took orders—however politely formed as requests—from anyone. Especially Dane Elliot.
But he wasn’t any of those things. A peculiar sensation fluttered through his chest and settled like a sinking stone in his gut. He closed and reopened his eyes in rapid succession but nothing he did could rid himself of the utter despair in Eliza’s face.
Not many things scared Wade. If pressed, it was doubtful he could even come up with one. But seeing Eliza tonight and the desperation fueling her actions and emotions?
Scared the fuck out of him.
EIGHT
ELIZA wrapped the thin jacket more firmly around her, hugging her arms in an unconscious gesture of protection as a shiver worked its way up her spine. She stared woodenly at the redbrick courthouse with quaint white columns that had been repainted in recent years.
She could feel the malevolent stares from passersby, those who’d lived here years ago when their quiet, peaceful town had been thrust into the national spotlight, but then Eliza had made certain she was seen upon her arrival. It hadn’t been easy. God, it had been so hard to walk the sidewalks, revisiting her old stomping grounds and even venturing into the diner she used to work in for breakfast, making certain to take her time so as many people as possible saw her and word spread like wildfire.
Barney still owned and operated the diner and he’d stood to the side of the woman at the counter where orders were placed, beefy arms crossed firmly over his chest and glaring openly at Eliza, his distaste written all over his face, his expression one of having tasted or smelled something foul.
Ever since leaving the diner and wandering aimlessly through the town’s center, the stares had increased as more people than normal were out and about. Whispers abounded. Pointed stares. Some didn’t even try to disguise their disgust and had hurled insults loud enough to be heard for three blocks.