Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Audrey's POV

"Tell your husband what you know, and Reid Calloway dies first."

Those words were the last thing I heard before I disappeared.

I changed my name, my hair, the way I dressed.

I stopped answering calls from everyone I loved.

And most importantly, I stayed away from Reid.

For months, I had lived as Claire, convincing myself that staying away from my husband was the only way to keep him alive.

Until tonight.

I noticed the black SUV before I reached my apartment.

Parked across the street.

Engine running.

Lights off.

My steps slowed.

I had seen that vehicle before.

Not this exact SUV, perhaps, but the same kind. The same blacked-out windows. The same silent presence that had followed me from a distance whenever I thought I was finally safe.

Tonight, it was waiting outside my home.

I kept walking.

Don't look back.

I looked anyway.

The driver's face was hidden behind tinted glass.

My pulse jumped.

The engine growled.

I turned the corner.

The SUV followed.

My stomach dropped.

I walked faster.

So did the vehicle.

My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag.

They had found me.

A door opened behind me.

"Claire!"

I ran.

My heels slapped against the pavement as I cut through a narrow alley.

"Stop!"

A gunshot cracked through the night.

I screamed and ducked.

Another shot struck the wall beside me.

Ahead, an unfinished building stood like a dark skeleton against the night.

I pushed through the entrance and ran inside.

Concrete.

Dust.

Exposed wires.

Darkness.

I climbed the first flight of stairs, then crouched behind a half-built wall, pressing both hands over my mouth.

Footsteps entered the building.

"She's inside!"

"Search every floor!"

My entire body trembled.

Not again.

I had escaped them once.

I couldn't let them take me now.

Then I heard another set of footsteps.

Fast.

Heavy.

Someone running toward the building.

"Don't let him get away!"

My breath caught.

A shadow rushed through the entrance.

A man stumbled into the darkness, shirt torn, blood staining his sleeve.

I knew that walk.

That voice.

That presence.

Even after months apart, I could have recognized him anywhere.

Reid.

My husband.

The man I had abandoned to save his life.

He stopped near the staircase, breathing hard.

He glanced behind him, then toward the entrance.

He was being chased.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

A black SUV had followed him.

I could hear its engine somewhere outside before the sound suddenly disappeared.

Reid pulled out his phone, glanced at the screen, and swore.

"Damn it."

The men were getting closer.

He had nowhere to go.

Before I could think, I stepped out of hiding and grabbed his arm.

He spun around instantly, his hand catching my wrist.

"Who are you?"

The question shattered something inside me.

He was looking directly at me.

And he had no idea who I was.

"Quiet," I whispered. "They're coming."

His eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

I pulled him behind the wall just as the entrance filled with shadows.

Three men rushed inside.

One raised his gun.

"Find Reid Calloway."

My pulse spiked.

Reid looked at me, a question in his eyes.

I pressed one finger to my lips.

"Forget the woman," another man said. "Find Calloway first."

A third man checked the entrance.

"The SUV is waiting outside. He can't get far."

Reid's expression hardened.

They had been tracking him.

Just like they had tracked me.

Then one of the men spoke again.

"After Cam took the bait, Calloway came exactly where we expected."

Reid went completely still.

Cam.

His fingers curled into a fist.

"What did they do to Cam?" he whispered.

"I don't know."

"They took him."

I shook my head.

"Not necessarily."

His eyes snapped toward me.

"What does that mean?"

Before I could answer, a voice echoed through the building.

"Check the back. He may try to escape through the construction yard."

Reid stared at me.

"They knew I'd come."

I nodded.

"They wanted you to chase him."

His jaw tightened.

"Cam."

A terrible realization crossed his face.

"The crash..."

I didn't understand everything yet, but the pieces were beginning to fit.

Cam hadn't simply disappeared.

The chase.

The SUV.

The crash.

The men waiting for Reid.

It had all been connected.

Cam had been bait.

And Reid had walked straight into the trap.

A gunman started moving toward us.

Reid's hand closed around mine.

For one dangerous second, I forgot he didn't know who I was.

Then the flashlight swept across the wall.

It stopped inches from us.

"Over here."

Reid's eyes met mine.

We didn't need words.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the rear of the building.

We ran.

Footsteps thundered behind us.

"Stop!"

A gunshot tore through the darkness.

We ducked.

Another bullet struck the concrete wall.

The rear exit came into view.

Then my heart sank.

A tall construction fence blocked our path.

"Over," Reid said.

He climbed first, then reached down.

"Give me your hand."

I grabbed it.

He pulled me up.

My foot slipped.

"Hold on!"

Reid caught me around the waist before I fell.

For one second, I was pressed against him.

His arms were exactly where I remembered them.

Strong.

Familiar.

Safe.

That hurt more than anything.

He lifted me over the fence.

The metal caught on something around my neck.

A sharp tug.

The chain snapped.

I landed hard on the other side.

"Go!" Reid shouted.

But he didn't move.

He was staring at something in his palm.

The pendant.

My heart stopped.

He closed his fingers around it slowly.

Then lifted his eyes to mine.

"Where did you get this?"

I couldn't breathe.

He took one step closer.

"I've seen this before."

My lips trembled.

"Reid..."

Recognition flashed across his face.

"No."

The men were getting closer behind us, but Reid didn't look away.

"This belonged to Audrey."

Tears filled my eyes.

He looked at my face.

Then the pendant.

Then back at me.

"Audrey?"

I couldn't lie anymore.

"I'm sorry."

His face went completely still.

"You're alive."

His grip closed around my wrist.

"All this time. You let me believe..."

He didn't finish.

Something broke behind his eyes.

Not anger.

Not yet.

Something rawer.

Relief and betrayal tangled together, fighting for control of his face.

"I had to," I whispered. "They said they'd kill you."

"You should have told me."

"I know."

"Audrey."

My name sounded foreign in his mouth, like something he was afraid to trust.

"I thought you were dead," he said. "I searched everywhere."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't—"

A gunshot exploded behind us.

The moment shattered.

Reid pulled me against him and dragged me into the darkness.

But this time, he wasn't protecting a stranger.

He was protecting his wife.

And somewhere behind us, the black SUVs were closing in.

The people who had hunted me for months had finally found me.

But now they had found something they never expected.

They had brought Reid and Audrey back together.

And neither of us was running alone anymore.