Chapter 17
“I’m going to take a shower. You’re welcome to join me,” Aiden said, placing a kiss on Charlie’s forehead.
“Hmm, that sounds wonderful but I promised Sarah I would go shopping with her and then help her bake.”
“Shoved over for cookie dough, huh?”
Charlie laughed and prodded her belly, “Of course! This hot body of mine needs a lot of care and attention, you know.”
“Hmm, it is a very, very hot body. I have to agree,” Aiden said as he leaned forward and kissed her naked belly button.
“Behave. You’ve already had enough this morning and last night, too, for that matter,” Charlie said, kissing his lips as she dived out of bed. “Are you not going to answer that?”
Aiden looked at the phone flashing on the dressing table and walked over to check it. “Yeah, sorry, I need to take this,” he said, staring at the screen. “Hello? Yeah? Stu! Long time bud…”
He watched as Charlie slipped herself into jeans and a tank, then twisted her damp, wavy hair into a chopstick bun. He had ordered her back to bed after she had showered, hoping for a repeat of the night before.
“Wait, what?” He said.
Charlie stopped and turned to look at him and Aiden raised a finger to his lips.
“You're sure? When? No, it’s okay. I can handle it… Yeah, I'm sure bud. Just let me know if you hear anything else.”
“Problem?”
Aiden’s mind raced, searching for a solution, anything, to prevent having to have the conversation he knew was coming. Finding none, he blew out, “Yeah, you could say that. Call Sarah while I dress. We all need to talk.”
Throwing on his trusty black combats and a black tee, Aiden dashed down the stairs. Sarah and Charlie were both seated on the sofa when he entered the living room. Their faces were etched with concern as Aiden sat down and looked at them both intently.
“Neither of you are going to like what I have to say. Sarah, you especially, but you have to know what I’ve dragged you into.”
“Oh, God. He’s found me, hasn’t he?” Charlie said.
“Just listen, please. Then I’ll answer what I can,” He said. He paused, waiting for them both to nod before he continued, “Rafael knows we’re in the area. Whether he knows exactly where we are, I don’t know, but if he doesn’t, he will soon. It’s not just Charlie that’s in danger now. It’s all of us. I’ll find us someplace to go so pack up whatever you need to take and have it ready for whenever we leave.”
“Woah, hold on, Aiden. You can’t just come out with ‘pack up, we’re leaving' without giving me a proper explanation of what’s going on! I know Charlie got herself into some trouble and you want to protect her but that’s all either of you have told me and I’ve been too polite to ask but now you’re telling me I need to leave my home, I need to know why.”
Aiden blew out. “This is going to be hard for you to hear…”
“I’m in witness protection,” Charlie said. “Aiden is my handler.”
Charlie’s eyes were full of warning as she looked at Aiden, who shook his head. “It's okay. She needs to know the truth, babe.”
“Babe? So you finally got together. No. Don’t answer that and don’t sidetrack me. We can discuss that bit a little later. What’s the truth?”
“The truth is." He pulled in a breath and let his words roll from his mouth faster than a bullet. "I'm a hitman for hire. I mean, I was a hitman for hire, until I met Charlie.” He paused briefly, waiting for Sarah to say something but she just nodded, like it was the most normal thing he could have said. “I was hired by a man in America, an old friend, of sorts. I was supposed to kill Charlie, but I couldn’t do it. He sent someone else to finish the job but he failed, went for a swim and has probably washed up in France, by now. I went to see him after I brought Charlie here, Rafael, I mean, not the floater. I told him to call the bounty off but he refused. There was a tiny alteration which definitely made things worse and now I’ve been added to that bounty, too.”
“You went to him? Are you insane? No, don’t. I know the answer to that stupid question already,” Charlie said.
“Forget that,” Aiden said, rolling his eyes. “What matters now is that Rafael has ordered a new hit on both of us and whoever is with us, which means Sarah. I can handle pretty much anything he throws at us but if what I’ve heard is true, and it probably is… well, let’s just say we’re screwed.”
“You’re keeping something back. What is it?” Sarah said? “Tell me, Aiden. I have a right to know.”
Aiden sighed and rubbed his chin. “What do you know about the Red Dawn Pack?”
“The Red Dawn's? Not much, other than they changed their name not long after the new Alpha took over. Hearsay has it that they named themselves the Red Dawn Pack because their hunts always end at dawn and leave a gruesome mess. They have a group within the pack that they call the Crows. They clean the mess from the hunts, but as I said, it’s only hearsay. Why?”
“Because Rafael has handed the contract to them and is on his way to England.”
“You can’t take on a pack, baby. I don’t know much about how they work but I know enough to know that it’s suicide to even consider getting on the wrong side of them.”
Aiden tried to smile at the concern in Charlie’s voice, but he knew she was right. He knew he could handle more than a few men at once and come out of it pretty much unscathed, but a pack of wolves? That was something else entirely.
“You have three days to get everything in order, Sarah. I’m sorry but you have to come with us, for your own safety.”
