Page 9 of Hunted in Hope Town

His hazel eyes seemed particularly brown in this light. His expression particularly grave. It made tears prick her eyes without fully understanding the emotional reaction. Because she was angry and afraid, but she didn’t know how to describe this ache. The only thing she knew for sure was it was his fault.

His fault, because that envelope had been addressed to Mrs. Sutton. His last name. And then…and then she’d signed the name Kirsten. And he’d…he’d almost called her that. She knew he did.

Her heart beat overtime. Was she not even Jessica? If she was this Kirsten, was she something to him?

She tried to talk herself down, convince herself she was overreacting, just like she’d done in those early days of trying to settle into a life where her entire past was a blank.

“We just want to keep you safe, Jessica. You can be pissed off about that, confused and angry and hurt,” Zach said. “Whatever you’re feeling is valid, but you have to let us protect you. It’s why you’re here in Hope Town in the first place.”

Jessica surveyed the three of them, tried not to view them all as some kind of traitors. No doubt Zach was telling her some kind of truth. Faith was here as a female friend. As support. And Ellis…

“You want me to leave Hope Town. With him,” Jessica said accusingly. Because it felt a bit like a betrayal, even if that wasn’t fair.

Before Zach or Ellis could respond to that, Faith stood and crossed to where Jessica paced.

“Can you guys give us a few minutes of privacy?” Faith asked.

The men got to their feet. Tall and broad and so infinitely powerful, and they knew everything she didn’t.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. And yet…

She didn’t know how to protect herself. She didn’t know anything.

Faith took her by the shoulders gently. “Jessica, I know this is hard,” she said very seriously once they were out of the room. “I don’t know what it’s like not to remember, so I can’t put myself fully in your shoes, but I do know what it’s like to…be a target. To be in danger and need protection. It sucks and it’s scary and…confusing and weird and frustrating. But trust me, please, when I say that Zach’s function in this is to protect you.”

Jessica did believe that. If it was just Zach, she figured she would be going along with it wholesale. Easy and docile as you please.

But it wasn’t just Zach. “And what about Ellis?”

Faith inhaled, studying Jessica’s face. Her smile was sympathetic. “He would never let anything happen to you. I’d bet my own life on that.”

WHEN FAITH CALLED them back over, Ellis felt like he’d already been wrung out. Traversed the seven layers of hell. Who knew there’d be more layers to go?

Jessica still stood, arms crossed over her chest. She glared at him.

Distrust. Anger. Yes, he’d seen all those things in her eyes before. Back when she’d known who she was. When he’d ignored everything he’d promised for his own selfish desires.

It was better than fear, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

After a few beats of silence, she let her arms fall. Her expression was grim but determined.

She’d always been determined. Always stronger than he expected her to be. That expectation had never been fair to her, born of his own issues, and when she’d known who she was, she’d called him out on it.

But she didn’t know, didn’t remember, and that left her even more of a target. One he would secure. He had to think of it in those old, impersonal terms.

Or he might die.

“Zach, if you really think this is the best option, I’ll do it,” she said. Her voice was soft, but direct. Sure.

“I do,” Zach said. “I’ve got connections. I can poke into this, but it’s best if you’re out of the way and safe while I do, and Ellis will ensure that.”

She wasn’t happy. She wasn’t going to be happy.

He’d considered having Zach be the one to take her. Zach’s wife might not know the details of every woman’s life in Hope Town, but she understood what it was that Zach did. She wouldn’t put up a fight. Lucy had shown time and time again her priority was the same as Zach’s: safety for everyone brought into the Hope Town fold.

But the truth was it would be easier for Zach to look into the Caruso family without it ever coming back to connect to Ellis, or even the office he’d been working out of. Zach also had tech connections that Ellis no longer had access to.

It made far more sense for Zach to be the one manning the investigative part of this mission, and Ellis to be the one taking on the protection detail. It also would have killed him to not be the one directly responsible for Kirsten’s safety, so it worked out.