Page 71 of Declan

“Do you need to disconnect this call and call again from the other phone?”

“No. I’ll put you on hold and then pick the call back up.”

“Okay,” he says in the same soothing tone. “You do that now. Put this call on hold, and then focus on the steps I gave you. I’ll be right here waiting. Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” he whispers. “Then, go.”

I immediately place the call on hold, sliding off the desk and walking around the perimeter of the room almost woodenly, repeating over and over in my head,blanket, sofa, phone.

By the time I pick up his call from the sofa, I feel like hours have gone by, and I’m relieved to see the line still blinking, like a beacon of hope in this otherwise fucked-up night.

His voice comes through, unfazed and calm, and I close my eyes, allowing it to sink into me like a soothing balm to my overstimulated psyche.

“I’ll be there soon,” he whispers.

27

A Sneaky Recollection

Declan

It’snoteverydayI’m truly stunned, but this is definitely one of those days.

To learn that Jessica was attacked by that piece of shit has my blood boiling, but secondary to that, I also feel a certain level of guilt.

I look over at Dare, who has the same torn expression on his face that I feel, and when he meets my eyes, I know he feels the same.

We should’ve let Antoinette gut the motherfucker.

I only allow myself a moment to wallow in the should-have, then quickly shift gears back to what we can do now to salvage the situation. One thing is for sure: if there is one person on this Earth who Issa feels more loyalty to than me, it would be Jessica.

And in turn, she earns the same level of loyalty from me.

“How the hell did you end up calling Matt?” I ask incredulously.

“He answered Declan’s phone,” she replies with a sigh. “It threw me off for a minute, but I wasn’t exactly in my right mind.”

“You all were off fucking around when I first got in,” Matt explains. “And Declan left his phone behind. She came up as ‘J Answer Me’ on the ID, so I answered it.”

Tony snorts and shakes his head as he says, “If you needed someone to dispose of a body permanently, you should’ve called me.”

Jessica rolls her eyes and huffs, “I’ll keep that in mind for the next time someone other than the person I called answers the phone to help me with a dead body.”

“Probably best if you defer the killing to someone with far more experience,” Dare interjects.

She levels him with a bland look as she says, “And let me guess, that person would be you?”

He smiles, and she huffs out a laugh as she mutters, “What the fuck kind of family did I get Issa tangled up in?”

I smile, reaching out and touching her arm as I say, “I know it probably seems like a lot, Jess, but I can assure you, Issa is safe with us.”

“I’m aware,” she replies. “Otherwise, I never would’ve allowed it to happen.”

I believe her. I’m not sure how she would’ve managed to keep me away from Issa, but I suppose, in some ways, she played a huge role in putting me onto the idea in the first place.

I’m saved from having to respond when Tony snorts, and I look up just as he turns to Matt and asks, “How the hell did that body end up being found? That’s a totally amateur move on your part.”

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