BETRAY THE LIE (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #11) (The Sydney Rye Series) by Emily Kimelman

Author:Emily Kimelman [Kimelman, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Emily Kimelman
Published: 2018-09-20T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Dan

George is out of sick bay and resting in his room. I knock on the door because I’m polite, not because he deserves it.

When he opens it, George looks wrecked: dark shadows under his eyes, hair sticking out every which way, and a beard covering his jaw that wasn’t there a few days ago. He’s given up hope.

“Can I come in?”

He clears his throat. “Yeah, please.” He steps back.

George’s hands are still bandaged—the white gauze the cleanest-looking thing about him. His room smells musty, the blinds are closed, and there are no lights on. Sympathy churns in my stomach. He’s not a bad man. Just a coward.

“Can I get you anything?” George asks, gesturing toward his kitchenette.

“No, I came to tell you that we’ve found and rescued your sister. Lenox called twenty minutes ago. He found her in a makeshift prison on an estate in Romania owned by a sex trafficker named Petra. They managed to escape through the surrounding woods and wave down a driver willing to take them to the closest city with an international airport.”

George’s mouth drops open, his eyes instantly glazed with tears. He raises one of his wrapped hands up to them, looking almost like an animal swiping with a paw. “Thank you,” he says, his voice tight. He keeps his head bent, hiding his tears from me.

I nod, my own throat tightening. He risked all of us for her. To spare himself the pain of losing her. My hands itch to comfort him, but I fight my instincts, refusing to offer any consolation.

I’m still not sure what to do with George in the long term. Given what he knows, he’s far too dangerous to release, but we are not set up to hold him captive. George hasn’t asked to leave—appears to be willing to take any punishment we mete out.

I don’t want revenge, though. I just want everyone to be safe. Shit. Turning, I head for the door. “Can I tell my parents?” George asks, his voice choked.

Standing at the door I look back at him. “Your sister already called them. She’ll be back with them soon. Lenox is going to escort her back to Texas himself.”

“Will she be safe?” he asks, straightening.

Worry pulls my lips into a frown. “I hope so.”

He takes a step forward and then stops. “Can I talk to her?”

My heart aches at the pain in his voice. “Maybe tomorrow.”

He nods, accepting my decision without argument…without even a sigh of resistance. I let myself out and close the door, hearing the lock click automatically into place.

Hank, a tall African American guy, sits in a folding chair in the hall, guarding George. “Everything okay?” he asks.

I nod. “Yeah, has he given you any trouble?”

Hank shakes his head. “Super quiet in there.”

“Has he been eating?”

“Not really,” Hank says with a frown. “He looks depressed to me.”

“He should be.” Hank nods, silently agreeing. “You need anything?”

“Nope.”

Looking back at George’s room one more time, I take a deep breath. I don’t have the time or bandwidth to worry about him.

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