“I couldn’t ask you,” she whispered.
“You could have.”
“And then what? You’d get fired. Khalil might have shot you. I couldn’t have asked you. Not for me.”
“Yes, you could have. You say, Riley, I’m going to do something stupid, and I need a partner.”
“I can’t.” She swiped at her cheeks. The person she’d say that to was the kind of person she’d live the rest of her life with. “Look what happened?”
All of this, those officers who could have been killed, Khalil, that was on her.
Riley kept that same unwavering gaze on her. “I’m going to put you in a very well-lit room and lock you there. For my own sanity.”
Erin sputtered a laugh.
“You think I’m joking? Because right now I’m not.” His stare held no mirth. “Waking up without you, knowing you were gone before I went looking, I didn’t like that. I thought we had an agreement, Erin. Doing the Lone Ranger act...
“It’s stupid?” She winced.
“I wasn’t going to say it.”
“I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t want you to get fired because of me. I had—I needed—”
“To do the right thing?” He smirked.
“Yeah.”
“About the right thing. What exactly did you do?” He narrowed his gaze.
“Well, it depends on which thing you’re talking about.” She glanced at an officer striding past them. From the sound of it, both cops were fine.
“The thing you called Colburn about?”
“Oh. That one.” She swallowed. Explaining why she’d saved her kidnaper would be easier. “I didn’t know what happened when we left. I didn’t know if you survived if they...”
Riley squeezed her hand.
“I had to do something. Riley...there wasn’t just one video.”
“Yeah, Zain figured the same thing out overnight.” Riley grimaced.
“Do you think they knew? NexGen?”
“I don’t honestly know.” He shrugged.
“That accident cost them a lot of money. The bad press was worse. Why would they pay for that? But who is to say they never hired Allied to do anything else?” She swallowed. “I need to go there.”
“Is that going to solve anything? Do you think they’re going to tell you the truth?”
“No. I need to quit, for me, which means I have to give them everything.” Erin could do that in good conscience. Too many people had access to the Allied Security server to make the email archive valuable.
“And then what do you want to do?” Riley asked.
Erin swallowed. Her gut said to follow him, but that was her emotions talking. “I don’t know,” she finally whispered.
“Well, do you want to start with meeting my youngest brother?”
“He’s here?”
“He’s probably why we haven’t all been arrested,” Riley whispered.
He stood and tugged Erin to her feet. She swayed toward him. She was running on fumes. Riley wrapped his arm around her waist and gave her a little squeeze.
She hadn’t wanted him to worry. She’d never meant for his team to run after her. And yet they had. If she had to go back and do it all over again, she’d have woken Riley up. She’d have asked the team for help.
“Come on.” Riley kissed her forehead then took her by the hand.
He led Erin over to a young man that shared Riley’s long lashes and brown hair. There was some similarity in their facial features, but she’d never confuse the two.
“Erin, meet Officer Casey Smith.” Riley grinned at his younger brother.
“Nice to finally meet you.” Casey offered her a hand. “What trouble are we getting into next?”
“Nothing, just taking a little drive is all,” Riley said.
“Oh, boy.” Casey rolled his eyes. “Let’s get it over with.”
Casey led the way to their SUV, Riley and Erin following slower.
She was going to quit. The knowledge was a weight off her shoulders. What came next, well, she’d have to figure that out.
Riley opened the passenger door for her while Casey climbed into the back seat.
Erin shoved the door shut.
Riley glanced down at her.
“Come with me?” She’d run into enough messes lately. This time she’d take the help she could get.
“If you seriously thought I was letting you go by yourself, you’re nuts.” Riley squeezed her hand.
Erin nodded. She was in love with Riley. She’d been halfway into it before she’d realized it was happening. When this was over she wanted to work on that. A man who’d run after her this many times was worth fighting for.
RILEY HELD THE DOOR for Erin and together they stepped out into the sunshine, leaving NexGen in their wake. Whether someone at the company was guilty or not would be the job of someone else. He kept his hand on her back, steering her out to the parking lot where Casey waited for them.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“Not really. Lighter, but not better.” She stepped up on the curb, the red paved walkway between the rows of cars stretching the length of the lot.
“What’s wrong?” He tugged on her hand until she stopped.
“I don’t know.” She lifted her shoulders.
There’d been something sad and resigned about her since the hospital. He’d thought it was about quitting, but now he wasn’t so sure. He stared down at her, all his thoughts jumbled together. He didn’t know how to say what was in his head, but if he didn’t get it out now, he might not get the chance. There was no guarantee they’d see each other again after this.
“Where are you going after this?” he asked.
“Miami, I guess.” Again, she didn’t seem as happy about that decision.
“Ever been to a farm before?”
“No.”
“Want to make a stop up north first?”
Erin opened and closed her mouth.
“It’s not a great offer. My mom’ll drive anyone nuts. I just...” It was his turn to search for the words and find them lacking. “I know this wasn’t what you signed up for, so just tell me to shut up and I’ll stop. I want to see you again, but not in a week or a month. What I’m trying to say is...”
I like you seemed like the smart thing to
