Redemption Key (A Dani Britton Thriller) by S.G. Redling Page A

way?” Choo-Choo asked.
    Dani looked around her, trying to find the road he must have taken to beat her here. “I don’t even know if I’m going the right way.”
    He stuck out his thumb and headlights magically appeared. A busted-up, blue-and-white Range Rover pulled over, and Dani heard the strains of bluegrass music pouring from the window. He opened the door for her, letting her crowd in with the pack of twenty-somethings who greeted them with way too much enthusiasm, inDani’s opinion. She did catch the hiccup of attention when at least two of the passengers recognized Choo-Choo.
    “West Tis,” he said, slamming the door. Dani knew he felt it too.
    “I didn’t lie to you,” she said softly as they pulled back out onto the road.
    “I know.” He rolled an unlit cigarette between his fingers, then motioned for her to wait.
    She sat close enough beside him that their thighs touched. He didn’t pull away. His shirt was open several buttons and she could see the edges of a jagged scar.
    They said nothing as they rode, listening to a heated argument about the set list at some Avett Brothers concert and pretending they didn’t see the surreptitious glances at Choo-Choo. When they pulled up to the front of the small airport, Choo-Choo didn’t even wait until they’d stopped before opening the door. No thank-you, no good-bye, he just stepped down from the car and waited for Dani. She could hear the laughter as they pulled away.
    They sat side by side on an outdoor bench, watching small planes and private jets taxi here and there. Martha’s Vineyard airport was a busy place for the rich at midnight.
    Dani’s fingers were soft. He didn’t flinch when she pulled down the collar of his shirt to look. She saw that he would have to take it off for her to see the entire scar.
    “When did you get out?”
    “Three months ago.”
    “What?” That was nearly twice as long as she’d been held.
    Choo-Choo made a sound that tried to be a laugh. “There were complications.” Dani waited while he rolled the unlit cigarette back and forth in his hand. The muscles in his jaw clenched and tightened, and it looked like his mouth struggled to either form words or keep them in. He stared straight ahead as he spoke.
    “Their story needed some amending.”
    Dani remembered the story. “The alleged party yacht in the Seychelles.”
    He nodded. “It didn’t quite cover the presence of an enormous bullet hole in my chest. If you can believe it, they had me say that we had been attacked by pirates.” Dani would have laughed at that if his lips didn’t look so tense. “It seemed a bit lurid to me, but everyone bought it. Everyone except Grandfather.”
    “Your grandfather didn’t believe you fought pirates?”
    “Grandfather didn’t believe any of it. He didn’t believe I’d walked away from Rasmund. He started asking questions right away, hiring his own people.” He turned to stare at her, his eyes cold. “You can imagine how well that sat with our employers. So they had to
sell
the story.”
    Dani tried not to show her relief when he dragged his gaze away from her. Choo-Choo was still so beautiful—his high cheekbones, his perfect nose, his now sun-kissed skin. But there was something off about him, something hard and scary under his beauty. Something sad.
    He licked his lips several times, his mouth sounding dry as he spoke. “They gave me this . . . creation. A chemical cocktail, something custom-made.” His eyes fluttered shut and his voice grew breathy. “It was magical. It was magic. It shimmered underneath my skin like angels. It was heaven on fire. It was . . . it was the love of my life.”
    His lips parted, his eyes stayed closed.
    “Then they took it away.”
    He drew back into himself, swallowing hard. “They gave me a few days to truly appreciate the depth of my loss before they bundled me up and deposited me in a men’s room in Penn Station. Fun fact: writhing on the floor, biting on the metal