Echo shook his head. “I can’t. The boss will have my head.”
“How?” Tanner demanded as he came up to Echo pushing his weapon to the side of his neck. “I don’t care what your boss does to you. I care about a six-year-old girl that you’ve obviously played a large part in tormenting for years. Years! Who does that? How do you live with yourself? How did you find them?”
Echo closed his eyes for a brief moment, as if he needed to come to terms with what he was about to say. “Your phone also has a tracker in it,” he finally said.
“My -” April reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, then looked at Echo. “Thank you.”
But Tanner didn’t move, keeping his weapon pressed against Echo’s neck, likely leaving a mark. “I never laid a hand on her except to help her. Never hurt her. That wasn’t my job,” Echo said, even as Tanner shoved the gun deeper into the side of his neck.
“Do tell,” Tanner growled. “Whatwasyour job?”
Echo chose to look at Violet then and April didn’t miss the sorrow in his eyes, as though his own heart was breaking. But how could that be? He’d been complicit in all of it. Never showed any sign of compassion or mercy toward Violet. At least not in front of April.
“My job was to protect her. When she grew weak, when that last bullet was coming, if I thought for a second that she wouldn’t be able to stop it, my job was to take it for her. I took bullets, knives, and spears when she fell and didn’t get back up.”
“So, instead of putting the protective gear on her, they put it on you in the hopes that you’d get to her in time?” Tanner asked with disgust.
“What are you even talking about?” April asked Echo. “Violet never fell, and she never missed a bullet.”
Echo looked from Violet to April. “I guess she never told you about the late nights and weekends. Ned always saved the most grueling stuff for when you weren’t around so he wouldn’t have to listen to you complain about it. Tell her, Violet. Tell her that I never hurt you.”
Violet stared at him with big eyes, then turned and ran back into the house. She stopped in the doorway long enough to give him one last look and shouted, “I’m never going back and you can’t make me!”
“You might not have hurt her, but you stood by and let it happen,” Tanner snarled. “That’s even worse.”
“No worse than April,” Echo said, glancing her way. “And we both probably did it for the same reason. We could’ve tried to do something, but then Ned would’ve gotten rid of us and where would Violet be then? At least if I was there, I knew no harm would come to her because I wouldn’t let it.”
“Don’t ever compare yourself to April,” Tanner seethed. “She got her out and you’re trying to take her back. That tells me everything I need to know.”
“It tells you nothing, Detective. Believe it or not, I’m actually on Violet’s side. Always have been, always will be. But if you don’t let me go soon, I guarantee more guys will come to my location, and they’re not only on Ned’s payroll, they’re his biggest ass kissers. If you want to keep Violet and April safe, let me go, and get them out of here. Somewhere that’s a lot harder to get to than this nice house.”
Tanner grunted and finally released Echo. “Go,” he ordered. “And don’t bother giving your boss this address. They won’t be here for more than another five minutes.”
“Good.” Echo rubbed his neck where the gun had been digging into his skin. He turned to leave, then stopped and looked back like he wanted to say something, then changed his mind. They watched him drive away before Tanner came to April’s side.
“Phone.” Tanner held his hand out to April.
She handed it over as if the thing was about to catch fire. “Where are you taking it?”
“Let’s just say it’s going fishing. Permanently.” Tanner huffed as he stomped away and that’s when April finally looked at the people standing around her. Caden, Blake and Luke still had slack jaws.
Hallie, Orly and Reese raced outside as soon as the SUV turned the corner. “Did we imagine that?” Orly asked.
“How?” Hallie asked.
“Unbelievable,” Reese said.
“Let’s go inside,” Luke said, taking Orly by the hand. April followed everyone back into the living room where she noticed Violet sitting at the table eating her ice cream. Her heart melted at how content Violet seemed, even with what just happened.
“Is he gone?” Violet asked after swallowing a mouthful of ice cream.
“Echo left. Turns out my cell phone also had a tracker in it, but Tanner is getting rid of it so we should be safe now.”
“Can we stay here?” Violet asked.
“No,” Tanner answered as he stepped inside through the back door. “I’m going to take you somewhere safe, and I promise you’ll love it there just as much.”
“I was thinking it would be best to take them to a safe house,” Caden said.