Page 30 of Explode
“Go where?” I reply, confused. I don’t want to leave here because thatwill mean leaving without Kai.
“We have to get out of Hollows Bay,” he says, his voice filled withchoked emotion.
“What do you mean? We can’t leave Hollows Bay.” Kai’s words echoin my head, ‘Wolfes don’t run, and we don’t hide.’
He takes my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “Riley, the newshas already broken that Kai didn’t make it. The word on the street is that Hendrix has taken Kai’s place, and he has issued an ultimatum to either join his side or face the consequences.”
“How is that possible, Miles?” I ask, my brows pulling together inconfusion. “What about Max? Is he dead? Kai beat him pretty badly, there’s no way he would survive the injuries.”
“I don’t know if he made it or not, Riley. It doesn’t matter either way,the orders are coming from Hendrix, and people are already declaring their loyalty to him,” Miles replies, anger creeping across his face.
“Then fight back, Miles! Hollows Bay doesn’t belong to Max orHendrix, it belongs to Kai.” Tears prick at my eyes again, a wave of anger rolling through me that Kai’s legacy could be taken away so easily.
Miles pulls me against his chest again and rests his chin on the topof my head. “We can’t, Riley. We don’t have the men to fight with us-”
“We’ve got Kai’s men! They’ll fight for Kai,” I reply, interrupting him.The determination to take back Kai’s city grows fiercer inside me by the minute.
“We don’t know who we can trust. Half of the men fighting us at thewarehouse were Kai’s men. They turned against us, Riley. Besides, Hendrix has issued a reward of ten million dollars to anyone who hands you over to him.”
I take in his words but they don’t really register. My brain is sluggishtrying to comprehend what the hell is happening right now.
“Hendrix also wants me dead. He’s put the word out that it was mewho killed Kai,” Miles says, and his words hit me like an arrow to the heart. Miles would never hurt Kai, surely people know that?
“No!”
“Yeah. That’s why we have to go, it’s not safe for us to stay in HollowsBay. We need to get out, and we need to get out now.”
“Wolfes don’t run, Miles,” I say, repeating the mantra Kai drummedinto me.
He chuckles, but there is no humor to it. “Spoken like a true Wolfe.”He pulls away from me again, but cups my face in his warm palms, a look of determination glints in his eye. “We aren’t running, Riley. We’re gonna lay low and come up with a plan, then we’ll take back Hollows Bay.”
“Riley?” A familiar voice pulled me from the memory, and as it fadedaway, my eyes focused.
I’d been so lost in the memory that I had no recollection of standingup and walking through the streets of East Bay, but somehow I had. Somehow, without me being consciously aware, my feet moved. I was now standing in the foyer of Carter House, the apartment block Angel and I had lived in before Kai bulldozed his way into my life.
“Riley, girl, get in here. It’s not safe for you to be out there,” Mrs.Henderson said, grabbing my arm and pulling me into her apartment.
Mrs. Henderson had lived in Carter House her entire life, and givenshe was now in her late 70s, that was a long time. She was a sweet lady, if somewhat nosey, but she was always kind and friendly to Angel and me.
When we first moved in, she made sure to tell me which residents toavoid if I didn’t want to be felt up on the stairway, and she always asked how Angel was doing. There’d been a few times when I’d picked up groceries for her, but she wasn’t someone I’d sit and have long conversations with. I had always kept myself to myself, focused solely on keeping Angel safe.
Still dazed from the memory, I let her pull me in, and before sheclosed the door behind us, she poked her head out, presumably to check no one had followed me.
“Riley, what in the name of god are you doing here? Don’t you knowyou’re a wanted girl?” she said, giving me a disapproving glare over the top of her glasses.
“Yeah,” I mumbled, not having it in me to care that she was scoldingme.
“Where’s Angel? Is she safe?”
The mention of my sister’s name snapped me out of the daze, and forthe first time in months, I was overcome with the need to see Angel. I knew she was okay. In fact, she was better than okay. She was thriving in her new life, which was one of the big reasons why I had stayed away. I would only end up pulling her down into the depths of my depression. But now, with my heart lying in tatters, I wanted nothing more than to hold her in my arms.
“She’s fine, she’s in Europe.”
Mrs. Henderson’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and a flash of regretwashed through me. How did I know I could trust this woman? I didn’t know how long I’d been wandering around outside before she pulled me into her apartment. What if she’d already picked up the phone and alerted someone that I was here?
“Oh, don’t give me that look,” she said, reading my thoughts andscolding me yet again. “I’m not about to squeal to anyone where your sister is, or that you’re here for that matter.”
“You’re not?” I asked skeptically.
