The Rose That Got Away - Christina C. Jones Page 0,10

on standby,” she said. “Remember, you’re bringing in May and her daughter, and the Rose. Unharmed.”

“Come on now Alicia,” I warned. “You know damn well, there’s no real way for me to promise that. She’s a rose. We know what her training was, because it’s the same as ours. Kill or be killed.”

“And yet, she’s left you alive twice,” Alicia reminded me, as if the breath in my body was something I really needed reminding of.

“All that means is that she’s squeamish. And, I was lucky enough to have the element of surprise on my side both times. It doesn’t mean she won't do whatever she feels is necessary get away from me with May and her daughter.”

“Noted,” Alicia said. “But it doesn’t change what I expect. I need both of them. All three of them,” she corrected. “Alive.”

She hung up before I could say anything else, but when it really came down to it, whatever argument I might have really didn't matter.

She was the boss.

A boss with noble intentions I didn’t mind being an enforcer of.

So while I couldn't make any promises… it didn’t mean I wouldn’t try.

Tamra

“How sure are you that no one knows about this place?” I asked May for what had to be about the hundredth time as I peeked through the blinds of the little apartment she’d led me to.

She’d reassured me just as many times as I asked, but I hadn’t survived this long, both in the Garden and out of it, by not being keenly aware of my surroundings, and supremely paranoid.

Especially when it came to places that supposedly “nobody” knew about.

“Tamra, you have to relax. We’re good here,” May insisted. “This place belongs to friends of my grandparents, and they’re somewhere in Key West right now.”

I turned to give her a side eye. “So your grandparents know about it then.”

May rolled her eyes. “Know about it, yes. Have any idea that I would come here and steal the key from under the mat and break-in because someone tried to blow up my house? No.”

Okay.

Maybe she had a point.

But still.

There was no such thing as being too careful.

If I were back in the Garden, I would at least have resources I could turn to, that could help me out of here. And if it were just me… well, I’d be long gone.

But the fact was, I had an innocent civilian and a sick small child to be concerned about. Two people I really shouldn’t be concerned with, because they weren’t actually my problem.

Or at least they didn’t used to be my problem.

I knew better than to fall into the trap of caring about somebody, but damn.

After spending months living essentially in May’s backyard, of course I’d grown fond of her and her daughter.

Which was exactly why personal relationships were so strongly discouraged for us.

Anybody you cared about was a liability that could be used against you, or even a hindrance to escape. Unless they had the same mindset as you, the same training as you, all they could do was slow you down.

Common sense was telling me, screaming at me to just move on.

On the drive up, May had explained the mess she got herself into, sleeping with a married man.

And honestly?

If it was just her?

I probably would leave, with the logic that when you dealt in shadiness, you got what you got. Play messy ass games, win messy ass prizes.

But there was a little girl involved here.

Just a kid.

A kid and her clueless mother, who somebody had it out for.

I wasn’t hardened enough to turn away from that.

“You know, you still haven’t really explained who you are… how you know about all this…” May spoke up, pulling my attention away from the window to where she was standing, arms crossed.

Amelia was in the guest room, resting from the trip, but her fever still hadn’t broken – a whole other obstacle. I wasn’t willing to let her go without necessary medical care, but it was a risky situation.

This whole thing was.

“Let’s just say… this isn’t my first time at the escape and hideout rodeo,” I told her – a non-answer she’d have to accept, because there wasn’t anything more I could give.

“Well, thank you for helping us get out of there. Do you have any clue who that guy was?”

I shook my head. “Nope,” I lied.

The truth wouldn’t make her any safer.

Movement outside the window had my head back on a swivel, my hand going to the gun on my hip. Relief sank