by Laura Scott
She let out a snort, calling him on his lie. Well, not a lie exactly, but a half truth. This wasn’t the time to get into all of that now, though. She’d only agreed to thirty minutes, and walking to the coffee shop had taken up a few of them.
They entered the coffee shop and found a table near the window.
“Do you still take cream and sugar?” He gestured to the cashier. “I’m buying.”
“Yes.” She didn’t thank him, and she still looked as if she might jump up and run the moment his back was turned.
He hoped and prayed she wouldn’t.
After buying two coffees, he returned to the table. Darby took hers hesitantly as if he might have poisoned it. The way she’d accused him of breaking her cable stung. She clearly didn’t trust him in any way, shape, or form.
“Why are you here?” Darby didn’t beat around the bush. She took a sip of her doctored coffee, eyeing him over the rim.
He decided to get straight to the point. “Tyrone Reyes is out of jail.”
Her hand jerked, spilling some of her coffee. “Recently?”
“Within the past thirty days. You know as well as I do he’s the type to seek revenge.”
She stared down at her cup for a long moment before looking up at him. “He knows—everything?”
Gage knew what she was really asking. “He knows you gave me up to the police, and through me, got to him. So yeah, he knows everything.”
Darby drew in a deep breath, then said very quietly, “I did what I had to do.”
“I know.” He couldn’t lie and say it hadn’t hurt. Yet at the same time, he’d understood she’d been forced to look out for herself. Honestly, wasn’t that the reason he’d rolled on Reyes? It was the way the legal system worked. Small-time drug dealers like him were only snagged to get to the bigger fish. There was no such thing as honor among thieves.
Gage wasn’t proud of what he’d done. He’d escaped one abusive situation only to find himself in a worse position. He’d admit he made poor choices and lived to regret them. He still thought of those months as the dark years, and he was determined to never, ever go back. But the months he’d spent with Darby wasn’t all bad. In fact, she was the one and only bright spot in his mind.
Too bad she didn’t feel the same way about him.
“You really think Reyes damaged the zip line cable in an attempt to hurt me?”
Darby’s question pulled him from his thoughts. “I don’t know. I didn’t see him anywhere nearby, but he might have hired someone to do the dirty work for him. You’re the one who mentioned the strange coincidence.”
She lifted her gray eyes to his, and he saw a hint of defiance intermixed with fear. “Give me one good reason why I should believe you? You could have damaged the cable yourself, only to pin the deed on Tyrone Reyes.” She hesitated, then added, “And you have a reason to get back at me, more than he does.”
“I would never hurt you, Darby. And I don’t blame you for what happened.”
Darby let out a harsh laugh. “Yeah, right. How many years of jail time did you do because of me? Three?”
Four, with two years probation, but who was counting? “I mean it.” He leaned forward, trying to get her to understand. “I don’t blame you for ratting me out. It’s each man or woman for themselves at a time like that. Besides, who do you think rolled on Reyes?”
She looked away. “I did. Although all I really knew was his name and that he pretty much made the drug deals that you carried out on his behalf.”
“Yeah, well after they arrested me, I blabbed about everything. I gave them details about Reyes and each of the drug dealers working for him, and lots of other information you couldn’t possibly have known, Darby. And it worked, Reyes was busted right after me. In fact, I’m not sure how he managed to get out of the joint with a sentence of only five and a half years, unless he turned around and made the same deal.”
Her gray eyes widened, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “You think Reyes turned on someone higher up in the organization?”
“Yeah, I do. But being forced to do that probably only made Reyes even more angry. The entire network had to have fallen to pieces by the series of arrests.” Something he didn’t feel the least bit sorry about. He hadn’t gotten addicted to the stuff the way Darby had, but he’d stayed sober since being set free. And he had no intention of being involved in anything criminal ever again. “I firmly believe Reyes will come after me. In fact, I think he was responsible for my car being run off the road this past weekend.” He’d suspected it wasn’t an accident, but after watching Darby crash into a tree, he knew for sure it wasn’t.
A flash of concern darkened her gaze. “You weren’t hurt?”
“I’m fine.” He waved a hand. “But if Reyes is responsible for the cable malfunction, he’s definitely upped his game. The car collision wasn’t nearly as serious as what you just experienced. I’m worried he’ll keep trying until he’s succeeded in hurting us, or worse.”
Darby abruptly jumped up from her seat. “I have to go.”
“Wait, shouldn’t we . . .” but he was talking to the air as Darby had already bolted from the coffee shop, the door slamming shut with a loud bang behind her.