“Keigel.” She swallowed a spasm of pain where Ofori had drilled into her. She was thinking probably a broken rib, hopefully no damage to her kidney. “You’ll put more security on Dad and Mum?”
“Already on it.” She heard Witt’s wry smile through the phone. “Not my first rodeo, my dear.”
She didn’t care. “And Elin?”
Witt answered her with silence.
She nodded her acknowledgment, though he couldn’t see her. She needed to be stronger only a little while longer.
“His son?” one of the Cleaners asked as he approached. In his hands he held the tools of his trade: heavy plastic to wrap Paul’s body and industrial-strength duct tape to keep it wrapped until they could place it in a barrel with lye for quicker decomposition. Ofori wouldn’t suffer that fate. She had other plans for him.
“Take special care of the body,” she said. “Put it on ice. I’ll take care of it later.” She ignored the dubious look he gave her.
He looked for confirmation at Alpha, who nodded. “Do as she says. Wrap him.”
She was glad neither of them followed up with more questions. Right now, she needed a ride to the hospital to see Cort and Georgia.
From there, however it turned out with Cort, Keigel would take her home. And then she wouldn’t have to be strong for anyone, if only for a little while.
In the late hour, the streets were thankfully deserted, so she and Alpha barreled toward Mercy Hospital, where Elin assured Nena that Cort was stable and resting in his room.
Elin was waiting for her in the hallway outside Cort’s hospital room. Nena was anxious to see him, not because she worried over his health but because he now knew the truth about her. What would he do about it?
“He’ll be okay. The bullet went in and out, and he has a pretty serious concussion from the blow to the head.”
Nena processed the information. Elin was giving her fervent looks as if she wanted to say more. She wanted to ask after Oliver. How did Nena tell her what had happened to him? And more so, would Elin be able to forgive Nena for killing him?
She met Elin’s questioning gaze. Delivering the news was the hardest thing she’d ever have to do. If she lost Elin, she couldn’t fathom how she’d cope. Elin had been her rock. Would she believe Nena had no choice?
Elin took a breath. “He’s dead, isn’t he?” Her tone was dull. Her eyes held trepidation, but she’d clearly resolved to be the Tribe leader she was supposed to be.
“He is.” Nena waited for a beat. “By my hands.” She didn’t usually explain her actions, but she owed Elin this.
“I learned . . . Oliver . . .” The expectant look, mixed with curiousness, on Elin made Nena falter. She hadn’t even had the chance to reconcile who Oliver had been; how would Elin? Or anyone? She hoped Elin’s questions would come later, not now, because she had no answers to give beyond her next words.
“Oliver was Ofori. My brother who I thought died with the rest of my family back in N’nkakuwe.” The words rushed from her so fast Nena could barely understand them herself. But she pushed forth while Elin backed away from her, hand at her mouth, eyes wide and not understanding.
“How?” Elin managed to ask.
“I tried, very hard, for it to end differently. But Ofori—Oliver—Paul’s brainwash was too great. I couldn’t stop him,” Nena tried to explain. “I am sorry.”
She was with every fiber of her being. Elin hadn’t deserved any of this.
“He loved you,” Nena added. “You were one of the last things he spoke of. Before . . .” She ducked her head.
Elin’s face was a mask of false stoicism. “Yeah, well, it was all a part of his plan? His and Paul’s?” She didn’t need a real answer, so Nena remained silent. “All of it was a ploy, and I’m quite over being a pawn.” She rolled her eyes, laughing dryly. “The next man better watch the hell out.”
Nena watched as her sister subconsciously twirled her new wedding ring on her finger.
Elin sniffled, shaking herself back to the present. “Anyway, you should get in there and sort things out.”
Nena gestured toward the police milling around the hall. “What’s the story?”
“They’re going with an attempted abduction. Apparently, the detective Oliver killed was a friend of Cort’s?”
Nena nodded. Mack.
“The police suspect retaliation for a case they were working on that Cort was going to try. They think the plan was to kidnap Georgia and blackmail Cort to not prosecute or something of that sort. It’s the story Cort came up with.”