Page 133 of Veil of Lies

“Oh, you prefer wrinkly old bitches?”

At that, he snorted with amusement. “No, mi querido. But I’m sure my guys will appreciate the little gift I’m about to give them.”

I froze, a sudden flashback to the prison, where Elroy had made a similar threat. Who was this guy? And if he was a friend of Brax’s grandmother, was she involved?

All the various threads seemed connected somehow, but before I could draw any conclusions, Mateo had pulled a syringe from his pocket and jabbed it in my neck.

“Sweet dreams, Estella,” he whispered in my ear as the room faded.

Chapter 100

Quinn

The game was in the closing seconds. The Bengals’ quarterback had just scored two points, putting them in the lead. The home crowd went crazy. Ordinarily, I’d have been cheering with everyone else, but Stella still hadn’t returned, and my gut told me something was wrong.

It didn’t take that long to go for a pee. It was possible she’d stopped to buy another hotdog, but even so, she should have been on her way back by now. I was probably being paranoid, but given the shit we were dealing with, my protective urges were working overtime.

“I’m going to find Stella,” I whisper-yelled in Harley’s ear. He turned around quickly, all interest in the game gone.

“What do you mean? Where did she go?”

“She went for a piss but she still hasn’t come back and I’m worried.”

“What the fuck, dude, why didn’t you go with her!”

“She refused. Told me she was fine and she’d be straight back.” I felt sick. If anything had happened to her, it was all my fault. I should have insisted on going with her.

Harley frowned and then prodded Brax in the side. The pair of them exchanged words and Brax’s face turned thunderous.

The final whistle blew. The Bengals had won the game by two points. The entire stadium erupted. I could barely hear myself think as people around us screamed and whooped, but all I cared about was Stella.

We shoved our way to the exit. This was the worst time to be leaving. Any moment now, thousands of people would begin streaming out of the stadium. Finding Stella would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

We followed the signs to the bathrooms but there was no sign of Stella anywhere. The area began to get busier as families headed out, trying to beat the post-game rush. Brax disappeared inside the ladies’ bathroom while Harley quizzed the guys on the concessions stand.

I pulled my phone out and tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail. The tracking app I’d installed didn’t yield any results.

Either her phone was switched off or the battery had died. Since I knew for a fact she’d charged it in the hotel, it had to be powered down. Which made no sense.

Harley jogged over. He looked how I felt: terrified.

“Those two idiots claim they saw nothing.”

“You don’t believe them?”

“They seem a bit, I dunno, shifty.” His face fell even further when Brax reappeared holding an iPhone. I looked closer. The worn sticker on the back identified it as Stella’s phone.

“Found this. Either she dropped it or someone tossed it away.” He clenched his fist before voicing what we were all thinking. “She’s been taken.”

Chapter 101

Harley

The police didn’t seem concerned about Stella’s disappearance. They just told us to file a missing person report if she hadn’t come back after 24 hours. Even then I doubted they’d do much. The eye rolls and general shitty attitude of the cop I spoke to suggested they believed I was overreacting.

Well I wasn’t. There was no way Stella would have left us. Not a chance. Not while things between us all were amazing. OK, maybe not amazing, but certainly really good.

What girl in their right mind would leave after hot sex with two of the best-looking guys on the East Coast, eh?

---