Page 46 of Culmination
Agent Howard lifts his chin in acknowledgement. “Once Theo’s goons took you, we decided we couldn’t take the chance. The risk on your life is too great. We’ll arrest him and use the evidence you gathered to press more formal charges after the fact.”
“Thank you. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of this one.”
He gives me a curt nod. “Right. Ready to put on a show?” he asks. “To end this once and for all?”
Am I ever.
Footsteps echo on the wooden floors coming from down below. Howard grips my bicep, giving me a reassuring squeeze.
“We got your six.”
He disappears into one of the rooms just as another one of Morningstars henchmen reaches the top of the stairs. It goes against every natural instinct I possess, but I allow myself to be apprehended, yet again.
The next thing I know, I’m hauled down the steps and forced into a room where my heart threatens to jump out of my chest. Brie’s standing there. Her face is pale, and her shoulders are trembling.
Her eyes widen when she sees me, and if I look as shitty as I feel, it must be a shock to her.
I want to go to her. The desire to both wrap her in my arms and force her behind me, to protect her, pounds through me.
Instead, the one man who could ruin everything sends me a smile and opens his mouth, revealing every sordid detail. All I can do is pretend not to care.
After all, it’s a matter of life and death, and the only one who’s meeting his maker today will be Theo Morningstar.
At my fucking hands.
THE SOUND OF MYphone chiming pulls me from a light sleep. After Rafe and I made love on the tail end of a long day, I fell asleep in his arms, just like every night since we’ve been together. Even with all the craziness and danger surrounding us, he’s never failed to make me feel safe. So, when I blink my eyes open and see the side of his bed is empty, my heartbeat quickens. My phone lights up again and I stare at it, abject fear taking hold.
Rafe should be here.
No one should be phoning me.
“Rafe?” I call, hoping he’s just in the bathroom—but somehow knowing he isn’t.
There’s no answer. The silence in the hotel room is deafening. My stomach twists as I climb from the bed. I call his name again as I walk towards the bathroom.
It’s empty.
He’s not here.
I’m alone.
Hope flows through me when my phone chimes again. I rush to the nightstand and snatch it up, quickly unlocking it.
Bile rises in my throat at the photo on my screen. It’s Rafe, tied to a chair, his face bloodied, bruised, and nearly unrecognizable.
The captions turn my blood cold.
Bring the book to me, or he dies.
The phone drops from my hands.
This is it.
It’s all come down to this.
I don’t call the police.
I don’t call the agency.
