him if he lied to you too?”
“I didn’t know he was Ashton, but I know who he is. I trust him and so can you. He really can help.”
April looked at me again. “Why would you pretend to be a gardener? You have a good job in finance, don’t you? Does this have something to do with the stolen items? Is that why Keira was hired to kill you in the first place?”
April was absolutely right. There was nothing wrong with her intelligence. My belief that our society was wrong to place value on people simply based on their monetary wealth or lack thereof was reaffirmed.
“Yes, April. I stole a lot from the Beckett estate and from Elaine Ramsey too.”
She looked at Keira, then back at me. “You two are meant for each other. Do you kill people for a living too?”
“No, I work at my father’s investment firm. This is a side job, and I do it to help people.”
“I don’t understand. How does thievery help anyone? Is there more you aren’t telling me?”
“Yes,” Keira and I replied simultaneously.
That was clearly not what April had expected. She turned back to Keira. “I should really trust him?”
“Yes,” Keira responded. She returned her attention to me then. “By the way, where are we going? This isn’t the way to the apartment.”
A plane zoomed overhead as we neared the edge of the city.
“We’re going to a safe house near the airport. We’ll talk more there, and April, you’ll have a chance to get cleaned up and changed before meeting your escort. I think I can get you out of the realm today.”
“If I’m leaving Terene, I want Keira to be my escort.”
“Keira cannot be your escort. She wouldn’t be able to get you overseas safely. Don’t worry. I’ve contacted someone you can trust.”
“No, I wouldn’t trust anyone else. I don’t have the right paperwork anyway.
“Your escort will bring your new identification documents. You’ll be leaving soon, under a new name.”
“A new name isn’t enough. You’ll need recent photos.”
“It’s all been taken care of.”
“There’s a lot more you’re not telling me,” April said flatly. She sat back and coughed, then rode the rest of the way in silence.
I parked the car in front of a small yellow house with a white wooden swing on the porch. I turned and looked back at both of them. “We’re here.”
A man with a black bag stood on the front step.
“April, this is Dr. Ross. He’ll need to examine you.”
“Why?” asked Keira. She put her arm around April.
“We want to cover all our bases, just in case,” I explained. “Please, Keira. I know what I’m doing. I’ve done this before.”
She looked at me and then nodded.
“Are those the clothes you were wearing at the time of the incident?” Dr. Ross asked April.
She looked a little confused, so I said, “He means your uniform.”
“Oh, yes.”
“It’s good you thought to bring it along.” Dr. Ross opened a plastic bag. “It could help your case.”
Keira stayed right next to her sister all the way to the bedroom door. Then April turned to her. She looked down at the knives in Keira’s hands. “I don’t want you to come in during the exam.” April entered the room and closed the door behind her.
Keira turned to me. Hurt emanated from her eyes. “We need to talk.”
“I agree. What happened back there?”
“He attacked us from behind. He grabbed me by the neck. I tried to get his attention off of April so she could get out. She surprised me by rushing at him instead. She stabbed him in the back. I think she pierced a lung.”
“You indicated that he was dead.”
“Yes, I slit his throat.” She held up the larger of the two knives. “He can’t have survived that.” Keira looked down at all the blood, and then walked over to the kitchen sink where she scrubbed first the knives and then her hands.
“What’s that?”
“What?” She turned to look at me.
“That blood on your shirt. Were you hurt?” I hurried over and indicated the blood near her waist.
She looked down and lifted her shirt just a bit, to get a better look. “He must have nicked me during the scuffle. It’s all right though. It’s just a scratch. See?” She wiped away the blood with her shirt.
She was right, but it looked like a lot of blood for such a little scratch. Keira turned back to the sink and finished washing up.
I shook my head and sighed. “You shouldn’t have killed him. We