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“But as she and I talked while Doc performed the surgery, she started remembering incident after incident where she’d blamed her mom, but she could remember her dad making little comments or orchestrating things quietly. Just as Elizabeth said. She loves her ‘Lizzy’ and doesn’t believe Elizabeth could ever hurt her or Quaid. She said that as horribly as she and Quaid were manipulated and used, she knows Lizzy was in a much worse situation.” He blew out a breath. “If she trusts Elizabeth, I’ll support her.” He cracked a grin. “And I’ll keep my weapons close. I took out Catherine’s guards. I can do it again if Elizabeth turns on us.”
Hays returned the smile but watched Elizabeth.
If she turns on us.
She couldn’t. She wouldn’t.
Aiden was speaking to Quaid and then Hays watched as Quaid helped Elizabeth up. Quaid wrapped an arm around his sister’s shoulder and Elizabeth looked relieved.
Moment of truth, but he prayed and had hope it would be the truth he longed to hear.
They all walked out of the smaller room and into the larger conference room Hays and the others they were gathered in.
Jacey sprang to her feet. “So?”
“Hug your sister,” Quaid said softly. “She’s telling us the truth.”
Jacey cried out and ran to Elizabeth. They embraced.
Hays wanted to hold Elizabeth close and beg her to forgive him. She was telling the truth. Everything she’d done her entire life was to protect her siblings, and him. He should’ve kept fighting for her and found a way to rescue her. As an eighteen-year-old, he’d been devastated and thought the love of his life had turned her back on him. The truth was even more painful. Elizabeth had been alone, fighting a terrifying and losing battle, scared, vulnerable, and he’d given up on her.
Both women had tears streaming down their faces. Quaid and Anna joined their circle a few moments later. Quaid was still reluctant, but he seemed relieved as well.
“What’s the plan?” Cade asked Aiden and Clint.
Hays focused. His purpose now was to protect Elizabeth. Someday they’d get to the lost years and regrets.
“As we speak, I’m instructing Paul to take seven of my men with the Oliver guards on the Oliver’s jet. We won’t see those guards for a while, but Paul and my men will be back as soon as they can navigate the return trip.” He smiled briefly. “Quaid, Anna, Cade, Jacey, and five of my men will go with me. We’ll go to a safe, undisclosed spot where we can start researching Benjamin Oliver and planning what kind of offensive strikes we need to take.”
“What about Elizabeth?” Hays asked.
“Well. If you’re willing…” Aiden smiled and studied him. “We have an idea for where to hide her until we’re ready to strike at Benjamin. With her on our side, I believe we can end this for good.”
“What do you need me to do?” Hays asked.
“Be her personal bodyguard,” Aiden said.
Hays looked to Elizabeth. She stood close to Jacey and Anna, speaking quietly, but she looked up and caught and held his gaze.
“I thought you’d never ask,” he told Aiden. His prayers throughout the years to be close to her again were being answered.
The security specialist grinned. “I knew you’d say yes.”
Yes was a bit of an understatement. Despite the danger to Elizabeth and her siblings and the escalated worries over what Benjamin Oliver may do to get his oldest daughter back, Hays wanted to dance and yell out his yes and most of all pick Elizabeth up and hold her close, tease her with a knock-knock joke, then seal his yes with a long kiss. Then they could talk through everything he’d read wrong and done wrong.
For now, being her personal bodyguard would have to be enough. He wondered where Aiden planned on sending them. Point Nemo, Siberia, or Tibet would be paradise with Elizabeth by his side, but they might not be far enough away to keep her father from finding them.
Bring it on, Hays thought. He’d love a battle with the demon who’d terrorized Liz all these years. As long as she was safe.
Chapter
Nine
Elizabeth was drained. It was well after midnight now. The emotional roller coaster of reconnecting with the people she loved most in this world—Hays, Jacey, and Quaid—and the fear of what her father could do to her siblings, their spouses, Hays, and other innocent people had left her exhausted.
The intense lie detector test had been worse than the surgery. But it had been worth it. Quaid and Jacey believed her, but more importantly, her siblings and these brave people knew the truth about their father and would take the necessary steps to get to safety. Would they have to hide forever? How could they hide everyone they loved? Father was an expert at retaliation and also at finding the leverage needed to make someone break.
It was a tearful goodbye on Jacey’s part as they hugged. Aiden Porter and Quaid assured her they would relocate them to a safe place and be in touch to come up with a plan to take her father down. She would help with any information she could give but had no idea how they planned to win against him. Father would have to die like their mother had to put a stop to his underhanded and all-encompassing plans. Even prison hadn’t stopped Catherine Oliver, and it definitely wouldn’t stop Benjamin. He had too many hidden financial reserves, too many connections, too many men.
