Uncovered by Truth (20 page)

“Yesterday you said you never got closure. I’m not sure if this will help, but I thought of a little way we can say good-bye.” I glance at her nervously. I’m not sure how she’ll take this. Tears fill her eyes and I hope I’m doing the right thing and not causing her more agony.

Reaching into my car, I pull out two balloons. One pink, one blue. “I know this doesn’t make everything better. I know there will be good days and bad days, but I’m hoping this can mark the beginning of our good days. Let’s go over here.” I point to a spot behind the hotel that has an open field. We walk quietly hand in hand. I can tell she’s not really understanding what’s going on. Once we get out toward the middle, I stop and turn to her.

“I thought we could release these balloons—one for me and one for you—as a tribute to our baby. A way to say good-bye.” Her hands go to her mouth and tears run down her cheeks. Just as I’m realizing that I’m the biggest fucking asshole in the world, she speaks up.

“I think it’s perfect,” she chokes out. Swallowing hard, she reaches her hand out for the pink balloon. “I don’t know why, but after I got over the shock of finding out I was pregnant, I always felt like it was a girl.” She tries to smile, but the quivering of her lips betrays the hurt she feels talking about it.

“You were probably right. On the count of three, okay?” She nods, staring into my eyes. In that moment, I see it. The strength, the life, the love that lives within her shows itself for the briefest of moments as she tries to find peace in the tragedy. “One . . . two . . . three.” We let go of the balloons together and watch them fly into the clear, blue sky.

She watches the balloons for a minute before she says, “Sometimes I wonder what she would’ve looked like, what she would’ve been when she grew up. There are nights I dream of a little girl running around, giggling as I chase her, but I can never see her face.”

“She would’ve been beautiful. She’d have your beautiful green eyes, your long, brown hair, my charm and wit.” She nudges me with her elbow. “And now she’s our little angel watching over us. We’ll see her again one day.”

She takes in a cleansing breath with her eyes closed. “Yeah, we’ll see her someday.”

Her hand wraps around my bicep and she holds on tight. I place my opposite hand over hers letting her know that I’m with her every step of the way. She’ll never have to battle anything on her own again. My hope is that this will start the mending process. She’ll bare the emotional scars of this, and I’ll love each and every one.

IT’S BEEN THREE days since we released the balloons, and to my frustration, there hasn’t been a whole lot going on. I want to throttle Turner for his lack of progress with this damn case. I get that they want this to be air tight so Cal can’t weasel his way out of it, but that doesn’t make me any less anxious. I’ve been keeping tabs on the news while Elizabeth showers. So far, I haven’t seen anything pop up about the two cartel guys I killed in the cabin. Looks like Turner was able to bury the story. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about Elizabeth. Every news source is covering her “kidnapping,” which only adds to my stress. Making sure she’s occupied has been my primary objective to keep her from seeing all the coverage on her. I know she’s aware of it, but I’m going for the out of sight, out of mind approach.

I’ve noticed a very subtle change in Elizabeth. She confessed that she had been taking antidepressants, which is why she was so good at masking the hurt when she was around me. With us leaving her house so quickly, she wasn’t able to grab them. I don’t want her to suffer, but I’m glad she left them behind. Who knows when I would’ve found out the truth if she hadn’t broken down.

As for me, I’m still having a hard time wrapping my mind around it all. I’ve seen evil before when I was deployed and as an FBI agent, but nothing compares to this. Cal is evil to his core, infecting those around him like a virus. The virus festers and causes a deadly infection that almost killed her. The memory of Elizabeth swallowing all of those pills is still with me, reminding me just how deep he corrupted her soul.

“Hey, Turner,” I say into the phone. We switched hotels again today and I’m calling to see if there are any updates.

“Matthews, looks like your hunch was right. We went through his voting record and Cal was instrumental in blocking a few bills that would allow port authorities to search all ships coming in and out of the United States. If I had to bet on it, I’d say Henry Williams uses his shipping company to transport drugs in and out of the country.”

“Great, arrest the asshole.” I start pacing, anxious for this to be over and for Elizabeth and I to have some semblance of a normal life together.

“You know it’s not that simple. This is just speculation. We need evidence to support the theory.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“We’ll see. We’re going to present what little we have to the judge and see if he’ll issue us a warrant. I’m sure there’s an email or something lying around that will give us enough to make an arrest.”

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. This just won’t end. Right when I think Turner is finally bringing this to a close, I get let down by some stupid bullshit. “Once Cal gets word that there’s a warrant, he’ll start getting desperate.”

“Probably. It’s important that you keep moving. My guess is that he’ll focus all of his energy on finding you both so that neither of you can testify against him.”

Fuck, I figured as much. “I got it, sir.” I sound confident, but truth is this makes me a nervous wreck. Every day that goes by is another day Elizabeth is in danger. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to her.

I walk back into the hotel and see Elizabeth standing in nothing but a towel. Her back is to me with her wet, brown hair cascading down her back. My mouth goes dry when she drops the towel, exposing her bare back and ass. No matter how many times I see her perfect body, the effect is still the same. I’m instantly aroused and all I can think about is pouncing and not letting her up from beneath me until we’re both good and satisfied. Most times that takes quite a while since I can’t seem to get my fill of her.

Looking over her shoulder, she spots me and gives me a coy smile. “Like what you see?” she asks. The little vixen.

“You know it.” Walking over to her, I grab her hips and spin her around so she’s facing me. I lick my lips as my eyes trail up and down her body. “It’s taking everything in me not to throw you on that bed right now.”

Looking up at me through her eyelashes, she says, “Why don’t you?”

A low growl rumbles in the back of my throat before I pick her up and toss her onto the bed. She giggles a little when she bounces off the mattress. Her laughter quickly dies when my mouth seals over hers. My hand trails up her ribs until I reach her breast, palming it before rubbing her nipples with the pad of my thumb. Her back arches off of the bed and her head tilts back. I take advantage of her exposed neck and place kisses up and down it.

“Oh, God,” she says.

“Don’t pray yet, sweetheart. I haven’t even started.” Moving down her body, I reach the apex of her thighs. I insert one finger to find that she’s drenched for me. And damn if that’s not the biggest fucking turn on. She lets out a soft gasp when I add another finger. I work them in and out of her and watch as her climax builds. “I love the way you moan. Now let me hear you scream.” My tongue darts out and circles her clit. The closer she gets to the edge, the louder she is, driving me to push her all the way. I flick her clit with my tongue, and right before she’s about to come, I suck on it hard. She explodes, her core tightening around my fingers as she screams out in ecstasy.

Before she has a chance to recover, I unfasten my pants and pull them down quickly before sliding into her. “Fuck, you feel amazing.” I start slow at first, not wanting to rush this. Her hands go to my shoulders where she digs in her nails, causing me to groan.

“Faster, Alex. I need it harder,” she pants out. I slam into her over and over, setting a punishing pace. The only thing drowning out the slapping of our skin is the sound of her moaning and shouting. “Right there. Alex, I’m so close.”

“Do it, baby. Come for me.” My thumb finds her clit and rubs it in small strokes to make her get there faster. In seconds, she’s coming and milking me of every last drop. My cock pulses inside her a few more times before I collapse, carefully bracing myself so I don’t crush her.

“I love you.” She stares into my eyes and I know without a doubt that she’s it for me. It’s not that I was questioning it before, but seeing her sincerity and vulnerability makes me more sure about this than anything else in my life.

“I love you, too.” I roll off of her, bringing her with me so that her head is lying on my chest. We lay like that peacefully, not thinking about the world outside of the four walls, until we fall asleep.

Elizabeth has been cooped up in these hotels for way too long. The only time she really gets out is when we’re looking for another shitty place to stay. I can sense that it’s getting to her, so I wanted to do something nice. Earlier today I had gone out and bought all the supplies I needed to make this evening happen. I just hope she likes it.

Every motel we’ve stayed at has been fairly secluded, which normally has us surrounded with some kind of nature. The last motel had a wide open field, and this place has a thick tree line behind it. I’d already scouted the area and found a nice clearing a little ways in where I set everything up.

I hold her hand as I guide her through the woods, stepping over stray branches and trekking through the brush. “What are you up to, Mr. Matthews?” she asks with a grin.

“Patience. You’ll find out soon enough.” I wink at her as we continue walking. After another minute or so, we come to the clearing. I turn to watch her face as she takes it all in. Her hands immediately go to her mouth.

“Alex, it’s beautiful.” In the middle of the opening is a large blanket surrounded by tea light candles. A skinny vase with some wild daisies is placed in the center of the blanket in between two Styrofoam take out containers.

“I know things have been crazy lately, but I wanted us to do something normal and go on a date. So, will you join me for dinner?” I hold my hand out to her and she takes it without hesitation. I help her sit down before taking my place next to her. I brought an extra blanket since it’s a little chilly out this time of year. It’s not a five-star restaurant, but I can’t risk someone recognizing her while we’re out.

She snuggles up against me as I make a show of opening up each plate of food to reveal fettuccine alfredo. It was all I could get at the local restaurant. “Bon appétit,” I say to her.

“Looks amazing,” she replies overenthusiastically.

“You don’t have to lie,” I tease as I quirk my eyebrow at her. I’ve got eyes and while it definitely looks edible, amazing isn’t how I would describe it.

She starts laughing. “I was trying to be nice.”

I shrug. “I had to improvise and make do with limited resources.”

“I’m only playing.” She bumps into me with her shoulder. “Thank you for this. It’s really thoughtful.”

I give her a small smile before nodding my head at her food to dig in. She complies and I follow suit, both of us falling into a comfortable silence as we eat our lukewarm dinner.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve only known her for five months and not my whole life. Whenever we’re together, things feel so natural. Even from the first day we met. Sure we tried to fight it, but it was no use. Looking over at her, I can tell something is on her mind. “Whatcha thinking about?” I ask.

“Huh?” She looks up at me. “Oh, nothing really. I guess just thinking about what I’m going to do when this is all over.”

“And?” I prompt, setting my fork aside so that she has my undivided attention.

“Well, to be honest, I feel like this is my chance to start over, you know? A chance to have the life that I want and not what is expected of me.” She picks at her food with her fork before setting it down. “I want actual friends, not people I’m forced to associate with because it benefits someone else. I want a real career where I can make a difference and love what I’m doing. Not be someone’s arm candy that’s only good for working a crowd. I want to be valued for being me,” she says as her hands go to her chest. ”Not what I can do for someone else. I just want to relax and let loose and not be suffocated by the constant lies and pressure of keeping up pretenses.”