Page 65 of Hiding In the Dark (The Righteous 4)
“Are we clear?” she asked again.
“Yes, we’re clear.”
“Good, then we can talk about the ‘whys’ behind this happening later—this is what’s going to happen, and you’re going to do exactly as I say. I’m going to tell Dr. Pierce that he can come back in, and in the meantime, you’re going to set this desk upright and apologize like a normal human being to the man that is trying to help me.”
“But….”
“Ah,” she cut in harshly. “I’m not done. You will apologize and tell him exactly what he did that set your PTSD off, and don’t you roll your eyes at me, or I will smack that look clean off your face. I’m that angry.”
Kes crossed his arms, but the expression he gave her was embarrassed and apologetic. “If you think he’s doing a terrible job, then fine, you can search your heart out and find me a new doctor, but you can do that on your own time. Do not ruin this for me, Kes. I mean it. The cost is my life and my treatment with this man. Got it?” She felt like she had to make sure he agreed to everything, or she was leaving a door open for him to act out again.
Ashley made her way to the door and stopped to turn around and face Kes again. “And one more thing. I have questions that I need answered, so if at any time you think you’re going to melt down again, find a door and use it.”
With that, she opened the office door and stepped out into the hall to apologize to Dr. Pierce again as Kes bent over to pick up the large desk.
Ashley looked over her shoulder at Kes and wanted to hit him and hug him at the same time. Some things never changed.
Kes sat across from Ashley in her living room and waited for the moment that she stood up, opened the door, and threw his ass out. He’d been as honest as he could be about who he was, what he did, and what had happened to him. The sparkling tree and all of its glittering lights were such a contradiction to the dark conversation between them. Her expressions had shifted between shock and horror, and included a few tears, as the conversation progressed. There was no way to gauge which way she was leaning, and his nerves were making him sweat while his knees shook. He usually always knew what she was thinking, but her face was blank of all emotion, and he swallowed the bowling ball-sized lump in his throat as his heart pounded hard in his chest for the verdict.
She picked up the bottle of wine she’d been pouring into a glass to drink and simply put the thing to her lips. He couldn’t stand remaining seated any longer and stood to stare out the window as he let her mull over what he’d dumped on her.
“How does one get involved with this group? The Righteous?”
He shrugged, not turning around to face her. “They didn’t get in touch with me. Trev did. Trev, Arek and I all went through the Navy program together, but I wanted to fly and they chose to become SEALs. So for a time we didn’t see one another before I got the call about the mission I told you about. He knew that I was still floundering when we got back. I had issues with what happened, and the pain meds I mentioned became a crutch for all the pain not just for my side. A fellow vet from our mission, Morry, helped get me clean. Anyway, Trev called and mentioned the group approaching him and Arek. I said no at first, but I had nothing else to ground me and didn’t want to lose myself again. So, after some thought, I decided I could be useful again.” He shook his head and watched as a line of cars passed below on the street, some swerving around others in their haste to go to places unknown. “Now, being a part of the group is as natural as breathing. I love my work.”
“You love your job of killing people?”
“When you say it like that, it sounds a lot worse.”
Ashley slid back on the couch and closed her eyes. “When Renee said you guys hunted down and punished criminals you were after, I never contemplated you were all Mafia-style killers. I mean, how does a lawyer get away with it?”
Turning to lean against the window, Kes stared at Ashley, and he grinned. “You think that’s bad. Dean poses as a priest and Wolf is a U.S. Marshal.” As her glare found him, he wiped the look away. “Ashley, there is nothing I can say to make this any easier to understand. The people we hunt are those that the law can’t lock up or find, so we do it for them. We hide in plain sight and in places that give us access to those that are the worst form of predator.”
“Who do you hunt? You said that you all hunt terrible people. Who do you go after?”
He hated this. He wished he could’ve kept this secret from her. It was a massive weight to bear, and with everything else she had going on, the last thing she needed to be worried about was keeping The Righteous a secret.
Sighing, he answered, “Traffickers, mostly. I find dirtbags that illegally import or steal homeless off the street. I free the girls or boys into a program to give them a real life here in this country if they don’t want to go back home. I kill those involved and gain information about other cells working across the country. I’ve had to help Trev and Arek the odd time, but not often. The only other thing I do is make sure that the pimps in the area only have workers that chose to be with them willingly and are treated with respect. Ironic, right? The bully now protects victims from bullies like I was.”
“This is blowing my mind. I don’t even know what to think. This goes against everything I believed about what is right.”
Kes looked down at his feet. Could he give up what he did? Maybe, but the guilt of knowing what was going on in the streets under his nose would eat at him. “Would you like me to leave for now and give you some space to think?”
The question tasted sour in his mouth, and his heart sped up as he waited to hear her decision.
“That is the most screwed-up thing about all of this. I don’t want you to go. I must have something wrong with my head. Scrap that. I ‘know’ I have something wrong with my head.” Ashley stood and walked from the room, the bottle of wine dangling from her fingers.
Kes kept quiet but followed her to the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe. She placed the empty bottle in the recycling bin and pulled another from the fridge. “I feel your judgy glare. I realize I shouldn’t drink this much, but I deserve it today. It’s not everyday you learn the man you’re in love with is some sort of assassin. Meanwhile, I also learned that if I want kids, I have to go off my meds and should do it soon, or I won’t have the chance to have them at all,” she gasped as she finished her mini-rant. She pulled the new pill bottle out of her purse and sat it on the counter and stared at it like a cat might analyze a new toy.
Her hand clenched into a fist, and she slammed it down with a bang, the vibration rattling the fruit bowl and knocking the pill bottle onto its side. “Shit.” Ashley shook her hand, and Kes wandered over to the fridge. Opening up the freezer and finding a bag of corn, he held it out for her to use.
“Thanks.” Ashley wrapped the corn up in a dish towel and laid it on her hand. “How do I know you’re not going to freak out one day, and it’s me that you turn on?”
“That would never happen.” Reaching out, he cupped her chin and ran his thumb against her bottom lip.
“You seem so certain.”
Kes stepped in close and slipped his arm around Ashley’s waist, waiting until she sighed and reciprocated before he spoke. “Because I am. What I do isn’t random. The meltdown today aside, I’ve never freaked out and simply hurt someone.”
