Cora turned on her seat and peered at him out the back window, but Ivy only pressed down on the gas pedal harder.
“How far out is the armed vehicle?” Beckett stopped running, realizing it was pointless. He couldn’t outrun a Mercedes even if he were uninjured.
Sydney didn’t have a chance to answer because a moment later, just as Ivy drove through the destroyed gated entrance, an SUV T-boned the little convertible.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
TWO HOURS LATER
Beckett sat on the bunk bed in the bedroom at the safe house, his head in his hands. His body was numb, but not from the morphine. Apparently, Oliver was the medic for Falcon, and when they’d returned an hour ago, Oliver had a syringe waiting for him.
He had a feeling he was more mentally numb than anything after watching Cora abandon Miles only to have her killed right before his eyes.
He hated that damn woman. Hated her for everything she’d done. But watching McKenna’s mother and aunt die like that, unable to get to them in time . . .
After the collision, the assholes in the SUV had riddled the car with bullets before turning their sights on Beckett and the others. The four men were taken down within a matter of seconds and, thankfully, Liam had managed to shield Miles from the scene.
But how would Beckett tell McKenna what happened? With Miles more than likely returning to Alabama with him, he had no choice but to share the truth now.
He groggily lifted his head to find Sydney in the doorway, leaning against the interior frame. “Can I sit with you?” she asked.
He nodded, and she joined him on the bed and linked their hands together.
After they arrived at the safe house, he’d taken a sixty-second shower and changed into clean clothes, worried about Miles seeing him covered in blood. Not just from his own injuries but the blood of the men he’d killed. And Cora’s too. Beckett had dragged Cora’s body from the wreckage. She’d most likely died upon impact, but her body had also been punctured by two bullets.
“I should be mourning her, but I fucking hated her,” Beckett hissed. “What she did to that boy today. The second she had a chance to run, she took it. No hesitation. Who does that?”
“It’s normal to be angry. There are stages of grief.”
“I don’t want to grieve that woman,” he admitted, but it was the truth, wasn’t it? “But I do grieve McKenna’s loss even though she didn’t know Cora. And Miles’s loss as well.”
“It’s okay for you to be upset too. I know you feel like you shouldn’t be after what she did to you, but you never wanted her to die. Or you wouldn’t have come to Mexico in the first place when she called.” Sydney swept her thumb in small, circular motions over his hand. “You need to allow yourself to grieve for you.”
He wasn’t sure how to interpret his conflicting emotions. He hadn’t shed a tear for Cora yet, and he wasn’t sure if he was capable. He’d come close while watching her son beg his mother not to leave, but that sorrow was for Miles. Cora was responsible for everything that ultimately led to her death.
“Am I supposed to convince myself that if Cora had stayed, something worse would have happened instead? Possibly to Miles? Or maybe her actions would come back to impact my daughter in some way?” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Is that the deal with all this universe and fate stuff?”
“I don’t know,” Sydney whispered. “Maybe Elaina or Camila would have an answer for you. Or maybe there isn’t one, and we just have to trust that it was meant to be?”
“I’m glad you’re okay.” He needed to focus on something else right now. Focus on someone who had become so important to him in the last five days. Wow. Five days? That was all the time they’d spent together.
“You’re the one who had to get beat up by your brother-in-law. I can’t imagine how hard that was for the two of you.” She turned and smoothed her free hand over his cheek, studying his face. “Then you took a bullet for me.”
“Technically, I didn’t take the bullet. It only ripped a piece of flesh from my arm.”
“Still. I was wearing a protective chest plate, not you. You shouldn’t have taken that risk for me.”
“Act first. Think later. Kind of a guy thing.” That had to be the morphine talking. Not to mention he’d been drugged the night before, and that drug could still be in his system.
“Well, mister, don’t do it again. Think first. Okay?” Sydney pressed a soft kiss to one of the bruises near his eye.
Beckett shrugged his good shoulder. “Mm. Your safety will always be first on my mind. Sorry, sweetheart. Non-negotiable.”
“Always, huh?” She kissed another bruise.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt.” Griffin stood in the doorway, and Sydney gave him her attention. “I hate to say this, but we’re leaving Santiago.” He checked his watch. “Right about now. Martín and Mya’s Marine friends are en route to Juárez to meet us there. They think we should strike against the rest of the upper echelons of the cartel while they’re scrambling to make sense of what went down with Miguel.”
Beckett stood, but his legs gave out, and he fell back onto his ass.
“Easy,” Sydney remarked and motioned for him to stay put as she stood. “I don’t think Beckett should go.”
“He’s not. He’ll be returning Stateside today with Miles, Liam, Emily, and Elaina. A.J. has to hop on a flight overseas to wrap up his op. But Gray’s making arrangements with his government contacts to get clearance for Miles to travel under Beckett’s supervision.”
Miles. Am I adopting him? I’ll have a son. And is Cora really dead? If he hadn’t held her body in his arms, he might believe he’d hallucinated it all, and she’d simply faked her death. Another con. A tactic to escape and begin her next con, find a new mark.
“Jesse is talking to Ella now, deciding what to do. He may sit out this op. He doesn’t want to stress Ella out anymore this week,” Griffin went on. “And I support that idea.”
“Will there be enough of us to handle the cartel?” Sydney folded her arms. “And dismantle their trafficking network?”
“Not enough of us. But Martín has an army. So with our help, plus Mya’s Marine friends, I think we’re solid. And you know if Carter had doubts, he wouldn’t risk our lives.” Griffin stroked his jaw, eyes falling to Beckett. “Camila wants to come, but Carter’s insisting she leave and wrap up her case. Turn over the scientist so the wife can get some justice for her husband’s murder.”
“Right. I almost forgot about that with everything that’s happened.” Beckett tried to stand again, and Sydney offered him her forearm instead of demanding he sit.
“Give us a minute?” Sydney asked Griffin, who nodded and left.
“I hate that we’re going—”
“Separate ways?” Beckett finished for her while setting a hand to the bed frame for support. When she remained quiet, he cupped her chin with his free hand and peered into her eyes. “I hate not being at your side when you go.”
“You need to be with your daughter,” she said softly. “Miles too. I’ll be fine in Mexico. You don’t need to worry about me.”