“You know it was not right to trust anyone, right?” Burton asked him as he sat down beside Devin.

They decided to meet outside an amusement park.

“Unlucky me, I didn’t figure there’s a rat within the very same people trying to keep me alive.”

Burton took a deep breath and sighed dramatically. “Someone got to do what they got to do, Devin. I have my own reasons.”

Devin nodded, looking ahead at the children walking out of the park’s large gates. “The documents.”

“You know,” Burton said, shifting in his side of the bench to look at him, “I had always thought you were smart, you know that? You never told anyone where the documents were. You never breathed a word where you hid them.”

“It’s one of my few aces.”

“And you’re trying to lay it on the table for just one girl.”

“It’s the best one I have. The case against the mob will never be successful without those documents. I may have been stupid to trust you, but I was not stupid enough to just hand those documents over until the trial starts.”

“But you have decided to do it now. For a girl you barely know.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you know her more than you let on when you dug into Carl’s past?”

“Oh, Devin, you really are stupid. Do you think we did not know everything about that guy before we took you to that neighborhood? We knew everything down to the names of their old pets.”

“And you didn’t do something about it. Right,” Devin spat out bitterly.

“Our job was to take you somewhere safe. Whatever that bastard was doing, we had no choice but turn the other way. Well, at least for me, that is. The bureau doesn’t really know about what that guy was up to. I didn’t think it was important. I knew you’d take interest on him. He was a big distraction for you. And things went according to my plan, didn’t it?”

“I am now starting to believe that you are one sick bastard.”

“My wife tells me that every other month.” Burton shot to his feet and looked down on him. “Small talk is over. Where are they?”

It was Devin’s turn to smile. “As I said, I am not that stupid, Burton. Let Hope go and I give you the documents.”

“Not gonna happen. We can search for it on our own if we have to.”

It was a bluff. He knew it.

“Fine. I’ll throw myself in the bargain.” He looked up at Burton and continued, “You get me along with the documents. You’ll like that, won’t you? Your boss—I mean your other boss—will surely be happy to have both me and the documents. He can win the case without the prime witness that holds every little dirty shit he has on paper, right?”

Burton studied him for a second before he nodded. “Well, if you are willing to die this way, so be it.”

*****

“You know, now that we’re here, I really think that you are one stupid guy. I believe I told you that already, but really, you are one stupid guy,” Burton said, breaking the silence. “You’re risking your own life to save this girl.”

Devin tried to move but the ropes binding his hands tightened even more.

“Don’t even try, Devin. You’re the one who got yourself into this,” Burton said dryly.

Devin looked at Burton’s face in the darkness of the van but didn’t say anything. Yes, he may die tonight, but not Hope. No one was going to lose their life because of him again.

They were driving to an unknown place. He was not even certain if they were taking him to where Hope was, but he had no other choice. Burton wouldn’t agree to meet elsewhere. He either had to trust him one last time or get lost. The only thing that was keeping him alive was the location of the documents.

As the van took a turn and the road got bumpier, Devin prayed he could at least see Hope to safety before he’d be killed.

“You know I am not going to tell you where I hid those documents if you don’t let her escape,” he reminded his old protector.

“Don’t worry, your girl will live. Just do your end of the bargain and give us the damn documents.”

Devin pictured the documents hidden inside a vault somewhere in New York. The key was in his apartment, buried in a sugar jar, and he fervently prayed that no one had found it yet. Killing him right now would be out of the question for Burton and his men.

*****

“I don’t know what you are talking about. He didn’t tell me anything about any documents,” Hope answered for the fifth time.

She received another blow across her cheek for that.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get the answers in no time,” the guy said as he walked back to the bed.

Hope could barely see his face now. Her eyes were too swollen to even have a glimpse of anything. She could feel the remaining strength she had leave her body. Her senses were numb. She didn’t know which part of her body was painful anymore. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was bleeding inside.

“Your boyfriend’s on his way to save you,” the man said behind her and Hope’s heart stopped for a second. The first word that came to her mind was NO. Devin should not be stupid to come and save her. She was just nobody. She’d rather he be safe to be on that witness stand and throw to prison the very same people who tortured her.

The man was saying something more but she was already losing consciousness. The beating and thinking had easily left her weak. Her last thought was that death was coming near.

*****

Hope was awakened by the shaking of her shoulders and the slap across her face.

“Wake up, hey, wake up!” the man was saying, grabbing her cheeks by one hand to make her look up to him. She opened her eyes but couldn’t see anything other than the blurry face of the man. Her eyes were still too swollen. “Your boyfriend’s here,” the man sneered.

She almost cried out in pain when she tried to move her eyeballs to look behind the man. She could make out two figures standing by the doorway.

“You crazy son of a bitch,” Burton’s words boomed. “I told you not to touch her, didn’t I?”

“I was bored,” her captor answered.

“Hope,” she heard Devin’s voice and she almost felt tears pooling her eyes. She tried to speak, to tell him he should not have come. “We should bring her to a hospital.”

“Not,” Burton said, pushing Devin forward into the room, “until you give us what we need.”

“Can’t you see that?!” Devin shouted. “Your men have turned her into a punching bag!”

“She’s still alive, isn’t she?” Burton answered. “Tell us where the documents are and we’ll get her out of here.”

“No,” was Devin’s strong answer. “You can kill us both right now, but I am not saying anything unless she gets proper treatment.”

“Don’t push it, Frye,” Burton said. “Tell us where the documents are!”

“Let her go and we’ll talk.”

For a long moment, Hope watched as Burton and Devin stood facing each other. She could almost picture out death looming over them.

*****

“Once they drop you in the hospital, you call the police. And then you call your mother,” Devin said under his breath.

“You shouldn’t…” Hope tried, but everything started aching again. “Devin, you shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t speak. Just do exactly what I told you. Tell them not to let anyone come near you but the doctors and the nurses. Call your mother. Call the police. Did you get that?”

“They’re going to kill you.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Tears streamed her face. “I shouldn’t have asked for your help.”

He chuckled under his breath. “Last time we talked, you barely even trusted me.”

“You know it was all a lie.”

“But now you have proof that I am the best person to trust, right?” he asked bitterly. “I just wish I shouldn’t have left you in that motel.”

“They could have tracked us anyway,” she said and grunted when the van hit a large bump. They were traveling with Burton and the driver. She felt like they were being delivered to the gates of hell.

“I’ll tell the police everything. I’ll tell them to rescue you. You have to stay alive until they find you.”

“You can try, but I have been on the run for too long and these guys are not going to let me go that easily. But you can try.”

A long silence followed as the two of them sat at the back of the van.

“Devin,” Hope finally said.

“What?”

“If we get through this, if we both end up alive, you’ll come find me, right?”

It took him almost a minute to speak. “If that miracle happens, I’ll come see you.”

“We can have a proper coffee. I’ll buy.”

“Of course. You’re rich. You should pay.”

“Then you’ll come with me to visit Patty’s parents. I don’t think I can face them alone.”

“And you’ll help me clean up that shack. We should do some barbecue there sometime.”

“I like barbecues.”

“Me too.”

*****

“We’re here,” Burton announced after he opened the door.

Devin looked out the tinted window of the van and to the entrance of the emergency gate of the hospital.

“You should go.”

“I don’t—”

“I just gave up a lot of things to save you, Hope, don’t let me regret it. Go before they change their mind.”

He felt her hand touch his bound ones. She weakly squeezed them without a word.

“Get the fuck out now or we’ll shoot you dead,” Burton warned, pulling Hope’s arm toward him.

“Devin, no, please—” Hope said in desperation before Burton yanked her out of the van and shut the door.

Devin watched as she struggled to cross the street and into the emergency gates. By then, Burton was back inside the van.

“Were you so sure that I would tell you everything you needed to know now that she’s safe?” he asked no one in particular as he watched two nurses in scrubs running toward Hope.

“Of course,” Burton answered as the van started. “We have you now, don’t we? And she’s not completely safe yet. We can always come back if you don’t talk. She’s one hell of a famous lost superstar after all. It won’t be that hard to find her.”

Hope was now being rushed inside the ER.

Devin closed his eyes. Saving Hope was his priority. Now, staying alive was.