Page 109 of Night Watch
“He will, and he’s already been arrested, so you’re truly safe.” Erik’s brows drew together. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you needed me.”
“You couldn’t know.”
“But I could’ve insisted you stay at the condo until you left with Finley.”
“I would’ve said no.”
He took a step back. “Why?”
“If I’d stayed, I might change my mind about WITSEC, and Finley needs me. You don’t.”
He crossed the room, his expression blank, masking his emotions. He took her good hand and a flash of warmth lit his face.
“I do need you, honey.” He cupped the side of her face, and she pressed her cheek into his hand, reveling in his touch.
“I still love you.” His voice broke.
Her heart stumbled at the unexpected confession and she blurted out, “I love you too, I—”
“I know.” His hand trembled. “You need to think of your sister. If there’s one thing I understand it’s family ties. When I thought I was going to lose you, I vowed to talk to Finley. To persuade her to give up on WITSEC and stay. But now that I’ve had time to think about it, I know I can’t do that.”
“Why?” Why wouldn’t Erik fight for her? Why would he let her go so easily?
“I could never live with myself if I convinced the two of you to stay and then Waldron harmed you. I know it’s a longshot, but if your deputy thinks the risk is real enough to keep you in the program, what I think needs to take a backseat to his experience and judgment.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” She didn’t know what to think now. She’d spent her time in the shower planning to come down here, declare her love for Erik, and tell him she would persuade Finley to change her mind. But what Erik said made sense, and she couldn’t be responsible for putting her sister in danger any more than Erik could. No matter how much Kennedy wanted to be with this amazing man for the rest of her life, she had to walk away.
27
Kennedy stood in Maya’s lab at the Veritas Center, Maya and Sierra in front of her. Twelve days had passed since Kennedy’s rescue, and she was pleased to be at the lab and not in some unknown town with a new name issued by WITSEC. All thanks to Tyrone’s cooperation.
Kennedy had managed to change their WITSEC future, not by convincing Finley to stay in Portland, but by convincing Tyrone to give them time somewhere in seclusion while he did a comprehensive threat assessment on Waldron.
During that time, she’d secretly kept in touch with Sierra to be sure Erik didn’t have any symptoms from the anthrax. Kennedy couldn’t talk directly to Erik and get his hopes up that she might not go into hiding, so she’d chosen Sierra as her point of contact and sworn her to secrecy. The good news was Erik was in the clear so far and odds were in his favor that he wouldn’t have any issues.
When Tyrone declared the threat level as negligible, their WITSEC days ended. It wasn’t her decision or Finley’s, but Tyrone’s. They no longer needed the program.
“So have you decided?” Sierra asked.
Kennedy stowed her thoughts and looked at Sierra. “I don’t want to accept a pity job.”
Sierra tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
Kennedy lifted her shoulders. “Be honest. Tell me if you made up a job with Veritas so I’d stay close.”
“First, the team would never go for that,” Sierra said.
“She’s right,” Maya said. “It has to make sense for the business.”
“And second,” Sierra said. “It wasn’t my idea. In fact, I was against it at first.”
Kennedy had to work hard not to let her mouth drop open.
“She’s right again.” Maya chuckled. “I was the one who proposed the idea. With so much water in the Portland area between the river and the coast, we get calls for water recoveries all the time. I ran the numbers and figured, if we hired you out to the agencies along with using you for other forensic recoveries, we would have a win/win situation.”
Kennedy shifted her focus to Sierra. “But you were against it?”
Sierra’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve been queen bee in the forensics department around here for so long that I felt threatened by your credentials.”
