Page 86 of Masked

“I could have taken care of it. What about Mandy and Jacob?”

“Mandy is fine. She married well. Jacob doesn’t give a shit and wants to tour the country in a van. Make sure he has gas money and he’ll survive.”

That was true about Jacob. He was happiest in his car traveling the world.

“I’ll talk to Melinda. But you need to tell me exactly who you’re in deep with or I can’t fix it.”

“What makes you say Reva is in trouble?”

“Someone stole her purse when she first got back to D.C. It seemed targeted, but we didn’t realize that’s what was happening. When you started coming around and harassing her, I had a security company look into you and your motives because it made no sense.”

“You fucking did a background check on me instead of calling me?”

“You were shacked up with Monica in New York as far as I was aware, and when I did come see you, she was there. You know how I feel about her. I will not engage with her.”

“That doesn’t explain why you think someone has Reva.”

“They took her from the library this afternoon. We have it on camera. You need to be ready for a call.”

“After that damn video, they’ll probably call you.”

He sighed. “Yeah. But you need to watch for something.”

“Where are you? We can wait together.”

Something In Parker’s tone made Noah certain it was dangerous to answer that question. His son wasn’t being completely honest with him.

“No. Stay where you are. It will be easier when we get the police involved.”

“Is getting the police involved the right thing to do if they’re going to ask for ransom?”

He would not tell his son that the specific brand of police he was involving wasn’t your average law enforcement.

His phone beeped, signaling another call.

“I have to go. Another call.”

He didn’t wait for Parker to respond and switched lines.

“We got her. The little firecracker had pepper spray on her key ring and got away.”

His heart nearly shattered from relief.

“Get her here now. The police can come talk to her at the apartment if they need to.”

“Michael is already on his way there. He’ll take the report.”

It was rare for the chief of police to take a report, but Michael would do it for him.

It took another twenty minutes for Gage and Peter to arrive with Reva. It took all of his willpower not to wait in the lobby for her. Michael Silas arrived a few minutes before the others, but Noah asked him to wait in the office.

He stood at the elevator doors in the foyer and waited for it to come up.

When the doors slid open, Reva ran out and threw her arms around him. Peter and Gage stayed where they were, and Peter leaned forward and pushed the button to take them back down to the first floor.

“We’re going to take a walk around the block and be back in ten minutes,” Peter said before the doors slid shut.

Thank fuck for friends who knew how to read a room.

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