Page 100 of Inside the Wicked

He hooks a brow at me in challenge. “Is that a threat?”

I shrug. “It’s motivation.”

Rhett’s eyes flex on me, debating whether I’ll hold true. “One hour,” he concedes.

A piece of me flutters with relief. It’s a start. Rhett relays some instruction to Rix before he heads over to Oma. She gives me a reassuring warm smile as Rhett slips by her inside.

I hover over to where Adam leans with arms crossed, pissed off, against the other side of the desk while Rix works. Though the tension in him comes out in his fast clacking against the keyboard and his intense scowl at the screens.

“So how long has this been going on?” I hedge, waggling a finger between them.

“There’s nothing going on,” Rix says flatly.

“Right.” My gaze flicks to Adam, who might have told me more if we were alone, but he merely gives a shallow shake of his head.

Instead he says, “I never would have guessed Liam Forbes to be the kidnapping type.”

“He hasn’t kidnapped her.” I reconsider. Well ... I suppose you could call it that, if he’s taken her to some secluded home god knows where and forced her to stay there. But I know in my heart that he wouldn’t hurt her.

“I’m going to hurt him when I get a hold of him,” Rix mutters darkly.

“She could have met a far worse fate,” I defend.

“Yeah, but to not let her tell anyone she was safe? She’d know how to get us a message, so I’m assuming he’s made sure she can’t.”

Rix is hurting about this. So is Rhett. Allie is like family, and even if Liam has kept her safe, I understand how sick with worry they are.

Something clicks in me unexpectedly at Rix’s words. “He’d know how to get me a message,” I mutter.

Oh my god.

Rix and Adam’s attention turns to me, but my mind explodes with a clue. I grab my phone out of my pocket and read Liam’s last text to me.

Meet me at Twilight.

It was the day before my world collapsed with the news of Rhett being gone.

“That sneaky little shit,” I say. I don’t know if what I think is right. It’s both brilliant and laughable, and the fact “Twilight” is capitalized gives my theory further merit.

“Want to share?” Rix drawls.

“One time I forced Liam to watch aTwilightmarathon with me. He hated most of it, but he loved their home, secluded in the woods with so many glass panels for walls.”

“You’re not telling me he’s in Forks.” Rix cocks a brow, leaning back in his seat.

“You’ve watchedTwilight?” Adam asks.

“Of course. It’s an emo teen classic. Rewatching it at least a dozen times is practically a given no matter how much cringe grows each time. If you haven’t, I’m envious of your emotional stability.”

That earns a partial smirk from Adam, breaking down some of their tension at least.

“No. He’s not in Forks,” I say. “But I need to go to my parents’ old home. Do you have a car I can borrow?”

“I like my balls, and if I let you leave without him, I won’t have any.”

My eyes flick to Oma’s door. “I’ll be back before he’s out.”

Give or take.

---