Page 167 of The Reluctant Hero

“Where is she?” Mikael demands angrily, interrupting the feud. He still has the phone to his ear, but it looks like Jake isn’t answering.

“She’s safe,” Tera assures him, but she doesn’t say it pleasantly. It’s more of a mocking tone that can’t be overlooked.

“You have her?” I look between the two of them.

“She’ll be safer withus,” Ace says in a deadly tone.

“We offered to bring her here. She said she’d rather walk into oncoming traffic,” Shade shrugs. “She thinks you’re in this with Blake and ready to force-feed her a fuckin’ bullet. I wonder where she came up with that phrase, don’t you,Ace?”

Ace’s anger drops, leaving him with agony in its place. His hand goes to his chest and digs his fingers in. As if he wants to rip his heart out to escape the pain.

“What do you mean?” I ask in a voice tense with strain. All of this raining down on me at once has fried me. Hope peaked and left behind regret and the feeling of cutting my own arm off. The wound throbs, but nothing is there. Like she isn’t here. They have her somewhere, and I’m going to find her. Not even Shade is going to stop me.

“I mean, people are trying to kill her,” Shade says flatly, freezing us all in place again. “South was there for one of the attacks. Staged vehicular hit and run that missed. Sloppy work, but I’m getting closer to finding him. Since we now know it wasn’t Ace who pushed her down the stairs, I can start looking into that, too.”

Ace staggers back, shaking his head. “Not my girl. No. They can’t have her.”

“Why?” Cade barks out in rage.

I can’t utter a word.

Shade glances between us and smirks. “Ask Amanda.”

“Give her to us,” Mikael’s voice is desperate this time.

“Sorry, can’t do that,” Shade narrows his eyes when Mikael takes a stomping step toward him. “She’s looking into this herself. Maybe you should catch up and tryhelpingher. If that’s possible.”

“I will find her, Evan,” I straighten, my expression falling back into the frigid mask.

“Good luck,” he smiles slyly. “Did you know that she was a baton twirler all through school? It’sveryimpressive.”

My brows furrow as Tera begins to giggle. She clears her throat and moves to Shade’s side.

“I’m taking the files,” she tells him in a prim tone.

“No, you’re not,” he replies flatly as they make their way to the doors.

“I’m the sidekick,” she argues with flushed cheeks.

“I’m the henchman,” Shade replies with a smirk. “I’ve got more than optimism and hope on my side.”

“I have skills you don’t!” She yells as he opens the door.

“And boyfriends that I’d have to kill if I let you get any more involved.”

“You wouldn’t tell them,” she snaps. “You said this was our secret.”

“I lied.”

The doors close behind them as they argue like siblings, and I fall back into my chair. Everything else fades into the background as my focus goes where it belongs.

On Amanda.

“Cade, can you reach Jake? He isn’t answering any of the phones he has.” Mikael snaps angrily.

Cade shakes his head, and his fingers pause over his phone.

“He’s already home. He came back last night and called me.”

---