Page 133 of Depths of Destruction

I'm going to kill Santiago. Somehow, I will hunt him down and make him pay.

They ripped every inch of Naomi's back to shreds. It's a miracle it didn't get infected. I don't know how she could tolerate me holding her in the truck and helicopter.

She was in shock, that's how.

She winces when I put the last dressing on. It's the deepest cut and the wound that worries me the most.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying to be careful."

"It's okay. How bad is my back going to look when the sores heal?"

I freeze, not sure how to answer her.

"It's really grotesque, isn't it?" she quietly asks.

I lean down to her cheek and carefully keep my torso away from her back but still put my arms around her. "Nothing about you will ever be unattractive."

Her tears hit my cheek. "I thought I was going to die. I prayed for them to kill me."

My gut twists. Guilt for not protecting her eats at me.

"Darien warned me three years ago. Ezra did the same when I showed him my story. They both said I was sticking my nose where it didn't belong and to stop. All I could think was the people of Belize deserved better. I thought I was careful and covered my tracks, but somehow, Santiago knew."

"You did what you thought was right."

"Ezra...he was the closest thing I had to a father. I... I insulted him the last time I saw him."

"What do you mean?"

More tears fall. "I was upset he wouldn't run the story. He didn't want me to get hurt. I wouldn't listen. I asked him if they bought him."

I spin her around so she's facing me. "Listen to me, Naomi. This isn't your fault. You did your job. People sometimes get hurt."

"Ezra is dead because of me."

"No. His death is at the hands of Santiago, not you."

"If I hadn't gone after this story, Emilia wouldn't be missing. Ezra would be alive. Darien, too."

"Darien got what was coming to him," I bark.

She jumps.

Keep your cool. She's still traumatized.

"I'm sorry. That came out rougher than I wanted it to."

"No, it didn't."

My pulse pounds in my neck. She's right. I hate the bastard, and I have no regrets about killing him. And she knows it.

But he was still her friend and ex until a few days ago.

More guilt eats at her. "My actions are the root of two men's deaths. The only two men I've ever been close to."

Jealousy rears its head. I wish I didn't allow her past relationship with Darien to bother me, but it does. He's not good enough to consume any of her sympathies, but he has them. She's grieving him, whether caused by her shock or just good nature, and it pokes needles of envy through me.

"Darien chose to get involved with the Colombian cartel. His death is on him, not you."