Page 47 of Wicked Love
Beckett sucked in a breath. “You’re right. That would be a perfect disguise.”
“We need to figure out all the places the market was shipping those supposed poisonous fish to. If any of those places isn’t somewhere that should be dealing in actual fish, we’ve got a lead.”
“This could be everything we need.” He let out an exhilarated laugh. “Good job, Maddie. Hold on.” His voice became muffled briefly as he passed on instructions, I assumed to computer-savvy employees he was working with right now. What had he been busy with when I’d called?
Beckett’s voice became clearer again. “I’ve got some other things to handle, but I’ll talk to you again as soon as we have— Shit.”
At the dark tone of his last word, my body tensed up. “What’s wrong?”
Beckett barked a couple of muffled instructions before answering me, sounding abruptly harried. “I was afraid of this. It looks like Doom’s Seed or his lieutenant are making a more aggressive move on my territory—right now. I’ve got to go. You and the guys keep an eye out for trouble and be careful.”
“Of course,” I said, my throat constricting. Before I could ask if there was any way I could help, the line had already gone dead.
My gaze shot to Logan. “Doom’s Seed is attacking Beckett’s people. He’s worried about us. Maybe we should go back to the apartment rather than staying here?” That smaller space with only one door and windows too high to easily reach felt much more secure than the wide-open library.
Logan frowned at my statement and jerked his head in a nod. We sprang to our feet and rushed out of the study room.
“I’ll meet you guys by the front doors,” I said to Logan, and he loped over to alert Slade and Dexter.
I shoved my computer into my backpack and hefted that over my shoulders, adjusting my purse as I did. My feet carried me across the carpeted floor as fast as I dared to walk without risking getting yelled at by one of the librarians.
I was just a few steps away from the doors when my gaze snagged on an unexpected figure just outside the doors. Was that…Summer?
I hadn’t been planning on going all the way out of the building without the guys, but the sight of my best friend had me pushing past the doors onto the campus sidewalk.
It was her. “Summer?” I said in disbelief as she turned toward me. Her lips were pursed, and her eyes seemed somehow sad. And then Mom and Holand moved into view behind her.
What the hell was going on? My gaze jerked from them back to Summer. “What are you doing here?”
I started to take a step back toward the doors, but Summer caught my wrist. “We need to talk, Madds. I told you this was getting out of hand. I came all the way out here for a reason.”
I shook my head. “You shouldn’t have. You know I can’t—”
I was so distracted by the figures in front of me that I didn’t notice the form approaching from behind until arms slammed around my waist and chest.
Someone heaved me up, and another man bent to snatch my ankles. A hand clapped over my mouth before I could let out more than a squeak of protest.
Without a second’s hesitation, my captors hauled me to a van parked next to the curb and carried me straight through the open back doors.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Dexter
“Let’s get moving,” Logan barked, as quietly as a person could bark in consideration of the space we were in. I’d already grabbed my book bag from where it’d been sitting near my feet while I dug through articles on the computer. Slinging the strap over my shoulder, I hurried after him and Slade, just a step behind them.
“What’s happening?” I asked. “Is Madelyn okay?” He hadn’t filled us in on any of the details yet, just announced that something was going down and we needed to get home.
Logan nodded curtly. “She went ahead to the front doors. We’ll catch up with her there. Something bad’s going down with Beckett, and I guess he’s not sure if it’ll affect us too. She also figured out something about the case—but we can get into that after we’re home and—”
Both he and Slade stopped in their tracks so abruptly that I stepped on the heel of Slade’s shoe. I pushed myself backward with a hurried apology and glanced past them to see four police officers in full uniform marching through the library toward us. A librarian was scurrying along beside them.
I only had a second to wonder what the cops might be here about when the librarian caught sight of us and pointed a finger directly at us.
Logan cursed under his breath and spun around, Slade following suit. As one being, we dashed in the opposite direction even as one of the cops let out a shout. “You three—stay where you are!”
“Fucking Doom’s Seed must have sicced them on us,” Logan groused, veering around a row of bookcases to hide us briefly from view. “Who knows what trumped up charges his people invented to pin us with.”
Slade let out a rough chuckle. “That prick is really getting on my nerves.”
