Page 49 of She's Mine

“Have you seen this woman?” I asked the owner of the cafe, showing him a recent picture of Alyssa.

He stared hard at the picture for a moment, but then shook his head. “Sorry, not that I can recall.”

“Damn it,” I cursed, ready to move onto the next location, when I was struck by an idea. “I know this is a long shot, but could I just take a look at your CCTV footage, please? I work for a security firm in LA, and I have reason to believe the woman I’m looking for might be in danger.”

Obviously, something in my plea struck a chord with the cafe owner, because he said, “Okay. It’s quiet right now, so I can have my assistant watch the shop while I show you the footage.”

Leaving their assistant in charge of the cafe, the owner took me through to a small office at the back of the building and loaded up the CCTV footage from earlier in the day.

I watched closely as customers came and went, until finally, a young woman of Alyssa’s height and build entered. She’d covered her hair with a baseball cap, and her eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, but I’d spent enough time with Alyssa to recognize her instantly.

“That’s her,” I told the owner. “Please continue the footage at normal speed.”

I watched as Alyssa ordered a latte, only to leave it on an empty table, and then visit the restroom. She was in there forwaylonger than I expected, and when she came out, her eyes were red, and she looked dazed.

Had Alyssa snuck out of the compound to go buy drugs?

Iwouldn’tbelieve it, and I continued watching as she sat down at the table, her face completely expressionless. She looked as white as a ghost, like she’d just been told her whole family had died.

What had happened while she was in the restroom?

I was still pondering this when I noticed a guy sit opposite her. “Wait, who is that? Can you pause for a moment?”

The cafe owner did as I asked, and I studied the screen closely. The cold, sinking feeling I’d experienced in LA at learning Joseph Blythe was alive returned, as I realized with horror thathewas the man who’d sat down opposite Alyssa in the cafe.

22

ALYSSA

As I slowly regained consciousness, I realized something was very, very wrong. I was laying in an old, stiff cot, with my arms and legs bound to the railings. The room I was in stank of damp and mildew, and when I opened my eyes, I saw that I was in some sort of abandoned cellar.

And there was Joey.

I still couldn’t believe he was alive.

“What’s going on?” I croaked.

In one long stride, my brother crossed the room to me. He looked the same as he had done ten years ago, and yet, at the same time, so very, very different.

If you didn’t know Joey well, you might not have noticed the difference. He was the same handsome man he’d always been, with an athletic build, dark hair and bright blue eyes so similar to mine. Sure, there were some new wrinkles on his face that let you know ten years had passed, but otherwise, it was hard to see any changes at all.

Unless you lookedreallyclosely, like I was now.

The biggest difference about Joey was his eyes. They’d once been so playful and full of life. Now, they were cold and dead. It was like his soul had been sucked out, and nothing was left inside.

Joey stared down at me, and I shivered.

“Where are we?” I asked weakly.

“That doesn’t matter now. What matters is what you do next. In a minute, my boss, Tomas Hernández is going to come in to speak to you.”

I swallowed around the dryness in my throat. “Your boss? What do you mean?”

Joey shook his head and exhaled through his nostrils. “It wasn’t meant to be like this.”

“How are you alive Joey? Why did you never contact Mom or Dad?”

“Don’t call me that!” my brother snapped. “Joey Blythe died the day Charles let me get caught by the Bloodline.”

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