Jerome shot to his feet. “If you do that, they can throw your ass in jail.”
“I don’t care. Shelby needs to know the truth. She either finds out on the news once it’s blasted everywhere, or I tell her in private. Your call.”
“You realize since they staged Carl’s death, she thinks you murdered him.”
Mason shut his eyes, stifling a groan. He hadn’t thought about it like that. If Jerome had done his job, it would look pretty damn convincing. And they wouldn’t have told her the truth because they were using her to get to Darrell. Because her case hadn’t been about Mason at all. “Yeah, that’s a problem, but once I tell her everything, she’ll understand.”
“God, you’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“No. Make it happen. I want to talk to her as soon as possible.” He just hoped he could stay detached when he saw her. Regardless of his need to inform her of what was really happening, it didn’t change what had happened to them. What she had done to him.
Jerome cursed as he pulled out his phone. This time, he stomped out of sight. Mason didn’t care. As long as the man got his meeting with Shelby, that was all that mattered to him.
When his contact walked back in, his face was pale, and he was moving too fast. Mason stood on instinct. “They don’t know where she’s at.”
“What?” Mason asked, narrowing his eyes, his tone much calmer than he actually felt.
“She was pretty upset, so she took some time off.” Mason swallowed the guilty lump that rose in his throat and forced himself not to defend any unspoken accusations. “She went to Arkansas and hung out with some people we’ve worked with. That’s a long story, but she got back on Friday and was expected to be in the office tomorrow. When I told Rick you demanded she be brought in on everything, he put me on hold to call her. She didn’t answer. He tried Viola, but the last word she got was a text on Friday saying she’s back in town and was coming over, but she hasn’t heard from her since. Darrell isn’t answering his phone.”
“Fuck, he’s got her.” Mason jogged to the door where he’d taken off his shoes and grabbed them.
“We don’t know that.”
Yes, they did, or Jerome wouldn’t have looked panicked when he walked back in. Darrell had too much at stake, and if he thought Shelby was onto him, he’d take her out. Mason just knew it.
“You know where Viola lives?” Mason asked.
“I can find out.”
“Do it.”
“I’m coming, too,” Jedrek said, standing. Mason didn’t question if the motivation was to see Viola again or if he wanted to help find Shelby. Didn’t matter.
“C’mon. I’ll take all the help I can get.”
Shelby stared out the window overlooking the beach. Pretty swanky for a safe house. The FBI had hideouts all over the place to stash witnesses, but she hadn’t been to one this nice. Not that she got to enjoy it. Much like she’d been trapped here for her own protection, she’d been a prisoner of her mind, lost in thoughts of Mason’s illegal actions.
And sensual touch.
Why did she have to love everything he did to her? Love the man himself? Was it possible to hate what he did and still feel this way about him? Yes, yes, it was. She couldn’t explain it, but that didn’t make it any less true.
She wished she had Viola to talk to. Shelby hadn’t realized how much she’d relied on their friendship over the years, thinking they were close coworkers at best, until the last couple of cases they’d worked together. Viola would listen to her, even without having to hear the words first. Her friend would take one look at her, notice anything eating away at her sanity, and make her talk. If only Dave’s trip hadn’t been disguised as a romantic getaway for the two of them. Darrell had said that Viola would make Dave reschedule once she’d learned about his spontaneous plan, but her mentor had insisted he had everything under control. After hearing this, Shelby had agreed with Darrell. Viola and Dave had some marital issues to work on, and they needed a little alone time. Shelby wouldn’t dream of condemning Viola to being locked up with her when she could be with her husband instead. Besides, it was just for the weekend. She would be here late tonight after her trip anyway, and Shelby could talk to her then.
Darrell usually was attuned to her and was pretty good at communication, but he was too focused on this case and her safety to notice how much she was hurting inside. Even if he hadn’t taken her phone before they’d left to keep anybody from triangulating its signal, she didn’t need to call anybody else.
She’d already had girl time with Anna and the ladies in Arkansas.
She’d hung out with the guys of the Bang Shift.
Her brother was in his SEALs rotation, not that she’d want to tell him—or her dad, for that matter—about any of this.
She sighed, stepping away from the window and rubbing her upper arms to comfort herself. She had many wonderful people in her life, but for some reason, she felt lost without Mason. That totally confused her. Was it need or want? She didn’t know, but what she was slowly discovering was that the reason didn’t matter. She loved him. It wasn’t a healthy love because it was born out of lies, nor did she harbor any beliefs that her feelings were returned. It was best that they weren’t. It didn’t make any of this any easier to accept.
Darrell walked in the room, texting on his phone. He pocketed it when he looked up at her.
“Hungry?”
She shrugged. She hadn’t had much of an appetite lately, so she defaulted to eating when Darrel
