“Where’s Damen?” he asked.
“Not here.” She sounded glad.
Was Damen the reason she’d asked to meet? He wouldn’t be surprised. Damen’s behavior as of late had raised his brow more than once. But why call him?
She’d never shown any indication of interest in him, and he wasn’t interested in any other man’s woman. They’d developed a friendship over the last year. She’d helped him through a rough spot and she talked to him about Damen sometimes. On the hardened side for a woman, a little easy and not very smart, she wasn’t his type. But she had a good heart and he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, least of all Damen.
“You two having trouble?” he asked.
“He told me that you turned him down on the offer to work a new job,” she said.
She hadn’t answered his question, but that must have something to do with why she was here. Korbin was always careful about how, when and if he broke the law. He also had a tough reputation to back up his freedom of choice. No one forced him to do anything. No one messed with him. If he took a job, he took it on his own terms.
A waitress came to the table and Korbin declined to order anything. Collette had ordered a soda.
“Damen told you I turned him down?”
She nodded, almost in awe. “He wasn’t happy about that at all.”
“No, he wasn’t.” He’d yelled and threatened. Korbin had warned him about the threats. He’d only partially listened, which had been the first wake-up call. That meeting had alerted him to what might lie ahead. Trouble. And it was beginning now. With Collette.
“Korbin, you should watch your back.”
“I’m not afraid of Damen.” There was nothing he could do to hurt him. He had no evidence to prove his past cyber crimes. Korbin was always meticulous about covering his tracks.
Collette smiled. “No, you aren’t, are you? But he’s been unpredictable lately. The fact that you turned him down made him furious. I couldn’t even talk to him about it. He started throwing things.”
Damen’s unpredictability was what bothered Korbin, but he was becoming violent? That caused him more concern. Not for himself, but for Collette. “I’m done with that type of work and nothing Damen does will change that. I’m going to find something else to do. Maybe get a real job. Maybe go see my parents.” He’d been a handful to them and they no longer spoke to him. By his sixteenth birthday, he’d hacked into all of their friends’ computers. By the time he graduated from high school, he’d added teachers and employers to the list. In adulthood, his expertise had attracted Damen Ricchetti’s attention. No more. Damen was out of his life now. He couldn’t be a part of his new direction, wherever that led.
“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” Collette said. She pulled back her hair, tucking the strands that had hung over the side of her face. Korbin saw the fresh cut high on her cheek. Then she let her hair fall back down over her face.
Anger boiled to life inside him. “Did he do that to you?”
She nodded, her eyes pooling with tears. “It isn’t the first time. I’ve had black eyes that forced me to stay home until I healed.”
Korbin started to stand. “Where is he?”
“Wait.” Collette grabbed his wrist to stop him. “I just want to get away from him. And I asked you to meet me here today to see if you’d help me.”
He sat back down. She needed help to get away from Damen? “Why can’t you tell him to get lost?” Was she that afraid of him?
“Because he won’t stay lost. He’s threatened me many times that if I break up with him he’ll kill me. He wants me to move in with him, and I can’t do that. I need to get away from here.”
Korbin hadn’t thought in great detail about what he was going to do or where he’d go, if anywhere. He figured he’d start with a trip to see his parents. If they’d see him.
Damen’s saying he’d kill his girlfriend if she broke up with him changed the game. That made him far more dangerous than he’d anticipated and confirmed some suspicions he’d had. But first he’d step in and teach Damen a lesson.
“Of course I’ll help you.” He didn’t have it in him not to. He would never leave her, or anyone, helpless against violence. Damen had abused her. He was going to pay for that.
He should have become a cop.
Collette reached over and put her hand over his. “I know why you’re getting out, Korbin.”
Everyone associated with Damen knew that. But it was too raw to talk about.
“It’s a good decision,” she said in his silence.
Smothering the tide of unwelcome emotion, he asked, “What do you need me to do?”
She half smiled, a pity smile, empathizing but not saying any more on the matter. Slipping her hand from his, she said, “Help me find a place to go. Somewhere Damen won’t find me.”
That wouldn’t be a problem. “All right. I’ll need today to prepare.”
“Okay. Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I’d do it myself but I don’t have the resources you do. Damen would probably catch me before I left town.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. “Do you need money? A place to stay?”
“No, I should be okay. I’ll just be happy to have a life free of Damen.”
He’d give her enough to get by for a few months. His parents may not be speaking to him but they hadn’t taken away his trust fund yet. “Be ready to leave in the morning. Meet me back here at eight.” He put some cash down on the table and stood with her, putting his hand on her lower back to guide her toward the stairs. Out on the street, he looked around for any sign of Damen. Not seeing any, he walked with Collette to her car. There, he looked around again and then reached under his shirt for the gun he’d put in the back of his jeans. Foreboding had compelled him to do that. Otherwise he never carried.
“Take this.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Wha—”
“Don’t let him in your house. If he gets violent again, use it to get away from him.”
“But...I can’t kill him!”
“Then aim for his knee. Just get away from him. You only have to make it to tomorrow morning. The goal is to act normal so he doesn’t figure it out. I’m hoping you won’t have to use it. But just in case...”
Collette put the gun into her purse. “Okay. Tomorrow morning.” She seemed worried.
“It will be okay,” he said. Leaning forward, he gave her a hug, one that elicited a comforted sigh from her.
“You’re a good man, Korbin Maguire.” She stepped back with a smile and got into her car.
He closed her door and waved back when she did. She thought he was a good man. He wasn’t, but he was going to be.
* * *
Early the next morning, Korbin woke to his ringing doorbell and pounding on the front door of his home in Lone Tree, Colorado. More pounding suggested urgency. He got up and went to the window of his second-story bedroom, which had a view of the driveway and part of the front entrance. A sedan was in the driveway and two men stood at the door. They wore jackets. Professional. Who were they?
He put on a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt and went down to the door. More pounding and ringing grew louder.
“Denver