Page 52 of Lethal Deceit (Hightower Security #2)

I know I’m fading in and out of consciousness when one minute I’m beside the water and the next I’m in the van again.

A vague sense of warmth surrounds me, but it slips away as I fight to stay awake. My dreams are fevered—nightmarish scenarios of the kind that haven’t haunted me since I was a child, dumped on a stranger's doorstep and left to fend for myself in a world I didn’t understand with people I didn’t like.

I open my eyes, and pain shoots through my abdomen. Someone murmurs in my ear, soothing, kind, but unknown.

“You passed out. I think you have bruised ribs,” it says.

I open my eyes enough to find Mick’s arms gently encircling my shoulders as if he wants to hug me but can’t. His face is half covered in greasy streaks of green and black, and his clothing is still damp. His eyes are closed, his chin is down, and his lips are moving as if he’s talking to someone. A smile curls at my lips. He is. He’s talking to God. Praying for me, maybe.

I close my eyes and let my body relax and slip under once more.

Sometime later, vibrations rouse me, and I snap to wakefulness, my body too warm as I wriggle out from under a thick blanket someone has placed over me. I blink, looking around, trying to make out where I am and who is with me.

A plane. I’m on a private plane. I raise a hand and rub the sleep from my eyes. Mick is asleep beside me, snoring lightly. Jake, Silas, and Luke are all absent, but Adena is sitting in a seat, earbuds in her ears and her eyes closed.

While the rest of the plane is relatively quiet, Caleb and Brooke are having a low disagreement directly opposite me. From the way she’s frowning at him and shaking her head, they must have been having it for a while. I try to listen in and catch some of their conversation.

“...said I was sorry,”

Brooke mutters.

Caleb doesn’t look at her.

“Wasn’t about the apology.”

She crosses her arms.

“Then what was it about?”

“Tension was maxed out, sweetheart. Next time, don’t make it so hard to save you.”

Brooke sighs and turns away, shutting the door on the conversation—maybe for good.

I shift, about to thank her for the risk she took—for the prayer, the singing—but movement beside me steals the moment. Mick is awake. He laces his fingers through mine, and I notice the bruises and torn skin across his knuckles—proof of the punishment he doled out on Hamza.

“The FBI wants to talk to you about the memory card,”

he says quietly.

“You think you’re up to that?”

My throat’s still raw, but I manage a swallow.

“Where are you going to be?”

He leans in, his voice warm and steady.

“Right beside you.”

“We all will be,”

Caleb adds.

“Silas isn’t going to leave you hanging in the breeze.”

I turn and find Caleb watching me. He dips his head and tips an invisible hat.

Brooke leans forward and waves dramatically, a grin tugging at her mouth.

“The FBI’s probably going to offer you a huge reward. Maybe even a full pardon. You’re a bona fide heroine.”

I can’t return her smile. I drop my gaze to my fingers wrapped in Mick’s. Tears gather, blurring my vision as I shake my head.

“I don’t want anything the government can give me.”

Mick leans closer, his lips brushing my ear.

“Then what do you want as a reward?”

I turn, my chest tight, emotions tangled. It takes a moment to find the words.

“Redemption,”

I whisper.