Protect Her

Chapter Twelve

Derek

"When I asked you to help her, I didn't mean to run away with her." Cole chuckled on the other end of the line.

I tossed my bag onto the bed and sat down, rubbing my forehead. "Yeah, well, things got a little complicated."

Complicated was actually an understatement. The last 24 hours had been a cluster fuck, although I'd never tell Camryn that. After I left her last night, I called Will and set everything in motion. It should have been as easy as that, but most things never are.

My team needed time to work over at Camryn and Robby's house. The problem was Robby had left Camryn hours before, promising to return soon, and we had no idea how long that actually would be. Despite Will's protests and my better judgement, I tracked Robby down myself. The terror in Camryn's eyes as she told me what happened was more than I could bear, and I wanted to be sure there were no mistakes made here.

I wanted to handle Robby myself.

Last Night
Robby was sitting in a bar not too far from their home in Tribeca. He was alone, but there were about ten empty shot glasses in front of him. It made my skin crawl to be within 50 yards of the guy, but I wouldn't trust this to anyone else. Not after the look I saw in Camryn's eye.

I wasn't exactly sure what my plan was, but I had come prepared for anything. On my way in, I had slashed one of Robby's tires. When we left, I would offer to help him fix it, and he'd have to open up his trunk to get the tire iron and spare. Once it was open, it would be easy for me to spill the vile of Camryn and Riley's blood that I brought, and plant a few strands of hair and broken fingernails we'd collected from them earlier this week. The more ways he could get caught, the better. And once all of our planted evidence piled up, he was drunk enough he might even think he'd actually done it. That would be even better.

I made my way over to him and sat down two stools away. The bartender came by and I ordered a bourbon, and at the sound of my voice, Robby looked up.

"Derek." He slurred. "Hey man."

"Hey Robby." I acted surprised to see and not nearly as repulsed by him as I actually was. "It's been a long time!"

"It has." He agreed, scooting over to the bar stool next to me. "How are things going, man? Business good?"

"Business is booming." I took a sip from my drink. It would be strange for me to be in a bar and not drinking, but I had to make sure to keep my head straight. "How are you? How's the family?"

"The family is great. Looks like dad is going to win his seat uncontested again." He chuckled. Yeah, it was uncontested alright. Because his father and his campaign managers either threatened or bribed anyone who stood a chance against them until they dropped out. "Work is good. Cam and I are thinking about having another baby. You remember my wife, right?"

Oh, I remembered her. The gorgeous brunette who was staying in my penthouse right now because her prick of a husband couldn't keep his hands to himself. The one I'd be on a plane to Canada with in about 12 hours.

"Yeah, I think so." I bit my tongue.

"I'm sure you've met her at a few events." He ran his fingers through his hair. Was that blood still on them? Did this bastard come into the bar and not even bother to wash his wife's blood off of his hands? It was taking every ounce of restraint I had not to take care of this son of a bitch right now. I could take him out back and beat him within an inch of life, terrify him the way he had done to Camryn, and then finish him and toss him into a dumpster. I couldn't think of a soul in the world who miss him."Well, anyway, life is pretty good."