How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Jarrod simply dropped into a chair, eyes fixed coldly on the satellite tracker. "I'm not going," he said, his tone icy and distant.

Esmeralda looked at him in surprise. "But-"

He offered no explanation.

By the time Watts got back, dawn was just breaking, the world outside painted in

muted gray.

Almost without thinking, he found himself heading toward Elodie's room. He paused in front of her door, lost in thought for several long moments.

The fact that Jarrod was still alive had caught him off guard. But telling Elodie? That wasn't part of his plan.

He glanced at his watch. Jarrod would need some time to wrap up his affairs. Nearly four hours had passed since their last call.

Casting another glance at Elodie's closed door, Watts walked down the hall and pulled out his phone. "Has Jarrod left yet?" he asked quietly.

The reply was immediate: "His men say they saw him board the plane."

Only then did Watts hang up.

As long as Jarrod was gone, everything would move the way he needed it to. He'd give Jarrod two days, at most.

As for Elodie...

and knocked on her

No answer.

few seconds, then unlocked

bed, lost in thought. She looked like

doubt it was because of

something unreadable flashed through Watts'

"I want you to resign from your position at the home base," he said, voice even. "It's best if you call them, let

look. "Oh? Worried that they'll come asking questions once

certainly part of it. This whole mess had gotten out of

But there was more.

continued, slower now, "and

he'd been dead set on dragging her home, and now he wanted to take her to

me?" She arched a brow. "Mr. Aldridge, you think a bit too highly

sharper than

who she was-Watts had always known Elodie wasn't the delicate, pliant type. When she lashed out, her words cut

in front of her, he looked

back,

had all the time in the world. "You quit your

me,

you can be together. How does

the words left his