Page 18 of Protect Me

“We’re going out the back.Take off your glasses,” I instruct Talia.“Just until we get to the car.”They are less likely to recognize her without the visible prop.

She slides her glasses off her face and tucks them into her hand.“I don’t get it,” she says, her frustration mirroring my own.

“Let’s figure it out once we’re out of here.Stick close.”I glance around and see the man walk up to the hostess stand, which is far from the dance floor, giving us the opportunity to slip away.

I keep to the perimeter, making our way toward the back door by the restrooms.We run for the car and are on our way before the guy realizes he missed her.

“What the fuck?”I say, banging my hand against the steering wheel.“How do they keep finding us?”

I glance at her just as she lifts a hand, rubbing the locket around her neck, a nervous gesture she makes a habit out of doing when she is upset.“I’ve scanned that thing,” I mutter.

“What?”

“The locket.I’ve scanned it three times now.I hate to say it, but you’re going to have to toss the necklace.”I slow and pull over to the side of the dark road.“Out the window.Do it now.”I hit the electric button, and her window goes down.

“What?No!It belonged to my mother!”She rubs the heart possessively, her long fingers touching the gold piece.“I can’t give it up.”She places a hand on her own button, and the window slides closed.

Frustration wars with a heavy dose of sympathy, made even more relevant because of the conversation we had and her admission about how much she misses her mom.Unfortunately, it is compassion I can’t afford if I am going to do my job.

“Talia, if somehow they tagged the necklace, we have to unload it to keep you safe.”

Tears form in her eyes as she hangs on to the precious piece.“It’s the one thing I have of my mother’s.You can’t possibly expect me to throw it away.”

I groan, rubbing a hand over my face.I hate putting her in this position, but I can’t see an alternative.“If it was morning, I’d put it in a safe deposit box at a bank or open a post office box and leave it there, but it’s after business hours.I don’t know of any other way to drop the tail.”

The only shot she has of keeping the jewelry is if whoever is after her never had the opportunity to get their hands on it.I meet her gaze.“Do you ever take it off?”I ask.

She blinks, answering without thinking it through.“Of course I do.I leave it on my dresser when I shower.”

I doubt anyone was in while she was there.“Do you always wear it to work?”

Meeting my gaze, she shakes her head.

“So they could have gotten into your apartment and tagged it without you knowing.”

A tear drips from her eyes as she nods.

Then, she takes me by surprise, lifting her hands to the back of her neck and unhooking the clasp.“Dad gave this to me after Mom died.He said she’d want me to have it…to remember her by.”

She draws a deep breath.“But I don’t need athingto keep my memories alive.”She curls her hands around the chain, the locket dangling from her hand, and she presses her lips to the heart.“I have her in here.”She touches her chest.

My own heart aches watching her.

Then she opens the window and tosses the heart out, turning away.“Let’s go.”She closes the window, squeezing her eyes shut tight.

“Talia,” I say gruffly.“I’m sorry.”

She doesn’t reply.

I put the car in drive and pull back onto the road.

Chapter Six

Talia

My heart hurts.Although I lost my mother a long time ago, being forced to throw away my last tangible link is unexpected.And painful.I haven’t let myself feel much of anything since running from the lab, but now I’m not just sad, I am also angry.

I turn to Shane as he puts the car in park in the lot of a hotel an hour away from the one we originally planned on staying in.