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“Thank God for that”
“A ed in the trunk of Karl’s car I’d been there all night, but I’m safe now”
“Bastard He did that to you? He’s not a man He’s subhuman”
Kendall squeezed her cell phone so hard in anger, Mac figured it would shatter into a million pieces at any moment She clearly loved Ashley and obviously hated to think of her best friend being mistreated by this sicko
“I was so frightened, Kendall, especially at night with all the scary sounds of the desert My iht I was gonna loseto live or die, or worse still, go coirl, despite how frightened I was, I was glad to be rid of the sick bastard I heard him drive away in another car I’ve no idea where he is now Souess”
“Good Let hi is you’re safe When can I see you?”
“Soon I don’t have a cell phone Karl took it from me He obviously didn’t want me to contact anyone So I’ll leave you the nu up ivenfor a doctor to checkmy statement Kendall, don’t worry I feel a hundred percent better The worst is over It’s all in the past But hey, here’sabout myself What about you? You stole aI can never thank you enough for You must be in deep shit and could end up in jail because of me”
Mac needed to set this lady straight and allay her fears “Give me the phone, Kendall”
“Who’s that I can hear? Who’s there with you, Kendall? Sweet Jesus, please tell me it’s not the cops”
Eager to say his piece, Mac took the phone froood to hear that you’re okay, and just to put your mind at ease, I’m not the police”
“Then who are you?”
“I’uy she stole a million bucks from to save your ass”
“Oh, no Please, Mr Buchanan, please listen to ht reasons She didn’t steal it for herself Please don’t tell the cops Or if you do, tell theo to jail if I need to”
Mac laughed, and realizing he had an opportunity to do soood in this fucked-up world, decided to put her mind at ease “Ashley, you’ve been to hell and back, and to keep you alive so has Kendall I give you enerate Karl Graves”
“Thank you Thank you so much, Mr Buchanan You don’t knothat Kendall isn’t going to suffer because of me”
“Think nothing of it”
“Thank you once again, sir Would it be possible for ain please?”
“Sure thing, honey Consider it done, and good luck with the rest of your life”
Kendall senuine happy sht with the world again The constant worry that had drained the blood frolow in its place He handed her the cell phone “Here, Ashley wants to speak to you again”
“Kendall?”
“Yes?”
“I have to go now The doctor has just arrived”
“Okay”
“Just wanted to let you know that your boss is one hell of a guy”
Kendall looked deep into his eyes “Tell me about it Mac’s one in a million”
“Mac, huh? First name terms with the boss?”
“You bet Love you Talk to you soon, Ash”
“You, too, baby girl”
As she closed the connection, Mac took a ed the dynamic of their relationship Initially, it had been about payback She’d stolen a million bucks from him, and he’d wanted it back, in one forreed to sex as payment However, that was before he knew the whole story
The truth was, Kendall hadn’t stolen the money for herself at all She just wasn’t wired up that way No She’d stolen it to help a person she loved dearly, Ashley, and to his way of thinking that was an extremely unselfish act
Unselfish?—that wasn’t a word he could use to describe himself, because he’d selfishly used Kendall’s beautiful body for his own sexual gratification Now he knew everything, he felt like a guilty shit, and so he should Well, he couldn’t change the past, but he sure as hell could change the future