She took my hand and clutched it tightly, the warmth of her gesture a welcoming comfort that made me smile softly back at her.“You have no idea how much I appreciate that.”
Returning my grin, she nodded and then quickly wiped her tears away just as Sloane returned to our side of the room.She looked down at Katherine with concern.
“Is everything alright?”she asked, her eyes bouncing back and forth between Katherine and me.
“It will be,” I answered for us both, and Katherine nodded in agreement.
“Yes, there’s just been so much going on lately, and I’m worried.That’s all,” Katherine added.
Sloane paused as she watched us, her eyes harboring something I had a difficult time placing, but it was quickly replaced with hardened resolve.“You should not worry.You are both perfectly safe here with me.As is your daughter,” she assured, her voice firm with conviction.
Sloane might have meant for it to come off as reassurance, but it sounded like an oath to me.And for some reason, I actually believed her.Except Sloane would never be able to protect Katherine from her shitty-ass husband.Or mine.
“Thank you,” Katherine murmured, a shy smile on her face.
Sloane nodded and then turned to me.“I’ve been informed that Mr.Davis does not intend to return until much later.You are to remain inside for the rest of the day and not go near any windows.”
My heart rate increased dramatically, but I quickly composed myself to get the truth while I still could.
“If I still can’t go outside or near the windows, then Darren hasn’t caught them yet,” I stated, hoping Sloane would give me some kind of confirmation.
Sloane studied me for a moment, quickly gauging what I was after, and calculated her answer.“You know your husband will take no chances concerning your safety until all threats have been defused.”
Subtle, Sloane.Very subtle.
I nodded then, trying not to look too relieved over the fact that the threat had not yet been defused, and hopefully, it stayed that way.But Jason wasn’t out of the woods yet.I wouldn’t know for sure until Darren came home to either gloat or brood for the rest of the night.Which meant I wouldn’t be getting a break from my anxiety any time soon.
I just had to remain confident that Jason knew what the fuck he was doing.
7
SHOWTIME
* * *
It was nearly three in the morning by the time I finally forced myself to go home empty-handed, my exhaustion becoming less and less manageable by the second.I was getting too old for this shit.
I had thirty men combing through every inch of the city, hackers checking for facial recognition of every security camera they could reach, Hagan’s officers pulling potential vehicles over, drones scouring the water—that was until a damn storm blew through, slowing down our efforts significantly.
So naturally, it had all led to nothing.
I hated to admit it, but despite how annoyed I was, I was also honestly impressed.Jason was damn good at covering his tracks, easily turning back into the fucking ghost who kept slipping through my fingers.
Using the perfect timing of the storm, he disappeared like he’d never even been there.If I wasn’t so keen on killing the fucker, I might have once considered hiring him on as a valuable asset.He’d proven time and time again that he wasn’t some innocent little civilian anymore.He was quickly becoming a worthy opponent.
After looking into Jason’s background, it made sense why it was easy for him to progress so well in his new role as an official pain in my ass.He was a natural quick study.
As an only child, he’d been a military brat for most of his childhood, bouncing from state to state until his parents finally set down roots in Michigan after they were both honorably discharged from the United States Air Force.
Logically, his parents had ensured that their only son grew up with some sense of military training, entering him into junior marksmanship programs where he performed well in competition.He also took up kickboxing and Muay Thai in his early teen years, sticking with it all the way through adulthood.
After graduating from high school, Jason immersed himself in fiercely pursuing his education, taking it far more seriously than his peers might have.He obtained a bachelor’s in forensic science and a master’s in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan by age twenty-five.After graduating with his bachelor’s, he landed a job at General Dynamics in ballistics engineering, eventually becoming an expert in his field a few years after achieving his master’s.
But then tragedy suddenly struck when both of his parents died in a trucking accident five years ago, leaving Jason as the main beneficiary of a hefty settlement from the wrongful death lawsuit filed on their behalf.
He’d since made smart investments with the money he’d been awarded that helped fund a comfortable lifestyle for himself.The man was well put together, with no black marks of a criminal record, though he’d been arrested for a few bar fights here and there.However, the charges had always been dropped due to self-defense.
Older photographs of him showed a man who prioritized his physique.Just an inch or two shorter than me, he had a decent build with broad shoulders and plenty of muscle that might have intimidated an ordinary man.But he wasn’t dealing with an ordinary man, and he knew this, which explained the increase in bulk I now recognized from the security footage.He was building a body for war, and I looked forward to ripping it apart and putting it in the ground.