“And the consequences?”
“I’ll live with them.”
“The most we can do is keep you safe. We’ve cleared your name of the money and the other suspicion,” Dylan said. “And you’ve ironically enough been offered WITSEC.”
“I already told Reid that I’d like to be protected by him. By all of you, instead,” Grier said.
“Good choice,” Dylan answered, without a hint of sarcasm.
“But I want to be involved.”
They all looked at Grier and back at Reid. “She could draw them out,” he agreed. “Get enough evidence to make sure the trial’s a slam dunk.”
“Wait—the men who kidnapped me are still out there? They haven’t been caught?”
“No,” Dylan said. “But we know where they are.”
“Did you tell the police?” she asked.
“I don’t trust them to grab the men,” Dylan admitted. “I’d rather us do it.”
“So I’d testify against them—but how would that stop the fighting rings?”
“It wouldn’t, Grier,” Reid admitted. “It would probably stop them from making people fight against their will, but this underground fighting’s taken on a life of its own. For ninety nine percent of the cases, they’re offering money for fighting. An exchange of goods.”
“But the risks—” Grier persisted.
“Everything’s got a risk. I want to help you. And others who truly need the help,” Reid said.
Chapter Fourteen
Dylan stood. “I’ll take Kell and Teddie back to the hotel. We’ll talk about this more tomorrow.”
Before she left, Teddie walked over and gave Grier a hug. “It’ll work out,” she whispered, and Grier was grateful for the woman’s support.
When she and Reid were left alone, she sat in one of the chairs and said, “I can’t believe that it’s come to this.”
“It always was this—when Benji testified, it wouldn’t have taken down the fighting ring. You’ve got a better shot because of who you are, but you know we can’t save everyone. You can get justice for Benji. That’s got to be enough. You know that.”
Maybe she always had. “It feels . . . unfinished.”
“They’ll keep popping back up. The only way to stay alive, really and truly, is to be able to take on the small battles worth fighting for.”
“The more I see, the more I realize you’re right.”
“You can still continue to do really good things if you decide to work with us. You already did. Look at Teddie. Look at us.” He paused. “Come on, Grier—I read people and situations for a living, and before I did it for profit, I did it for survival. What’s really the problem here?”
“I’ve always had the urge to take things too far. But I’ve always had the law to stop me, to rein me in. If you take that away . . .”
“It’s not easy,” he admitted. “Don’t look so surprised. Rules make life seem easy. But nothing good comes from easy. You’ve always got to fight for anything that’s worthwhile having.”
She leaned forward on her elbows and asked, “Who else haven’t I met?
“Cam. Riley and Skylar. You might know her books.”
“I’ve got several on my Kindle. Guess now I’ll have the time to read them.”
“Then there’s Mace—he owns the bar. His wife is Paige. And Caleb is with Vivi.”
“The hacker extraordinaire.”
He nodded. “She tried to work for the FBI but she likes working with us better.”
“Sounds like a big happy family.”
“It is. Never thought I’d have that—not until Kell and I met these guys. We can’t go back there until you make your decision.”
“You really think you can hide me better than WITSEC?”
“You can hide you better than WITSEC. But we’re here to assist.”
“You’ll all be in danger. As long as I’m with you. Because even though we didn’t stop the ring completely, my testimony put away some major players. They want revenge.”
“I don’t care. The team doesn’t care. That’s what we do. And if you’re well hidden enough, you can work with us. Still help people.” Reid put his arm around her, pulled her close. “I won’t let you go this time, Grier. You can try to go into WITSEC, try to hide from me, but goddammit, I’ll find you.”
“And drag me back?”
“Yes.”
She pressed her lips together, because she wanted to hold the words in and realized there was no reason to. “I love you, Reid. Maybe you knew that. But I love you.”
Reid pulled her up and close to him. “I love you too, Grier—probably from the first night I met you. And I hate that you have to associate such good memories with forcing your retirement from the job you love.”
“I was wrong about the retirement part,” she told him. “Confused. Guilty. But I’m not wrong about what I want now. And I have such a different perspective on the witnesses. I always thought I knew what they were going through. Understood how hard it was to give up everything and move on. I likened it to when my sister was murdered—the hurt’s always there but you can still live. And now . . .” She shook her head, and then said, “It’s all a compromise. This is one I can live with.”
“Dylan spoke with the DA handling the case,” Reid said. “They’ve proven that the money in your account—and Jack’s—was put there without your knowledge. They have the teller who completed the transaction and she fingered our two friends in a line up.”
“So she’s going to testify?” Grier asked and Reid went silent. “Shit. Don’t tell me that she was in protection.”
“Not yet. She was under police protection until the approval from the marshal’s office came through. She was killed in the motel before that happened. Cop watching her was tasered.” Reid looked troubled.
She reached out and held his hands across the table. “It really is just me.”
“You’ve got to call the DA now. I’ll leave, if you want.”
“I don’t want that.”
Reid nodded, dialed and left the phone on speaker. The DA on the case was a man named Ryan Horner and he was crisp, no nonsense.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Grier. I respect your decision to stay hidden, but it’s highly unorthodox.”
“I know,”
