Page 148 of The Reluctant Hero

I can tell when I’m in danger, and she can’t be seen. Hello, new reality. I’m too numb to give a fuck about you.

“Whatever,” I mutter and leave.

South is right behind me as he struggles to grab the phone off his desk.

“Sloppy,” she comments as soon as we get to the truck.

“Unpredictable, Captain Invisible,” I correct her with a glare. “It’s my MO right now.”

“Homicide detective speak.”

“Stop being a dumbass and drive,” I snap and slam the door closed. Stupid, invisible, judgmental asshole.

“You’re lucky you entertain me,” she says flatly, and we move on to the next destination she has planned.

I’m surprised and not at the same time as we pull up to the darkened Matthias LLC building. A faint stirring of pain and a stronger whirlwind of anger rises. My hands tighten around the stick again. I never took the gloves off. At this point, I might as well sew them onto my skin.

She gets out to open the VIP access while I watch in confusion. According to the clock on the dash, it’s after hours, almost eleven at night. What are we doing here? Hopefully, we're stealing the files.

We drive straight to the back, where Ace’s truck is still parked. Right next to it is the fancy white SUV they all travel in together. If their vehicles are here, did they take something else home?

“They’re upstairs,” South comments as she backs into a parking space.

“I’m not ready for them yet,” I whisper, trying to sound angry and failing miserably.

“You’ll have to settle for their transportation then.” She doesn’t miss a beat.

I stare at her blankly for a moment. “Cameras.”

“Not an issue,” she replies.

We’re banking on her special power to prevent the cameras from working now? You know what? Who cares?

“You know when they’re leaving? I don’t want to get killed yet.”

“Yet? And they won’t be leaving.”

“How do you know?” I pressure her as my eyes narrow.

“They aren’t with Blake. A betrayal will have them in a tailspin. You’ve been with them for long enough to change them. They’ll be mourning.”

The image of Gabriel’s frozen expression flashes in my mind’s eye. Ace’s refusal to look at me. Mikael’s glare and Cade’s disgusted mockery. They’re right back to where we were when we first met. The change was fake.

“I doubt that,” I scoff and slide out to approach the truck.

South joins me with a tire iron, pulling on her own set of gloves. “You’ll see.”

“I won’t,” I assure her darkly and start swinging.

I make it fun in between hits, practicing with it in a series of twirls, tosses, and spins. My body falls into it naturally, even though it leaves me out of breath. I haven’t spent this much time on my toes in years.

I don’t stop until my hands are numb and I can barely lift my arms. Every single thing they’ve said or done comes out one hit at a time. Accompanied to the tune of breaking glass and dented metal. At one point, all of the airbags go off in the SUV and I pause as if this is the point I’ll get caught. No alarms go off. No extended horn honking. No one comes running. It’s as if we’re in our own world.

When I’m gasping for air, and everything looks like it has a dent, I study the pristine hood with narrowed eyes. The end of the stick has dulled points but I notice it pierced the metal too. It’s sharp enough to leave a message if I use enough force. That won’t be a problem.

When I'm done, I admire my handiwork with a vicious smile. South gives me a terrifying psycho grin, and both of us are out of breath.

“Look at that,” I pant and gesture weakly with the stick. “I’d say that’s totaled, wouldn’t you?”

---