Page 87 of Lethal Danger

“Oh, but I do know the truth, Patch.” Hawthorne glared at the man. “And you do, too. That’s why you know how to twist it so well to your advantage. To make lies sound true and the truth sound false. To manipulate people into following you off a cliff if you say ‘jump.’ I suppose that’s why you think you can get away with sabotaging the Tri-City Fair, too. You think you’re invincible.”

“My, my.” Patch met his stare with a blank expression. “You do have an imagination. You were already so hardened and willful when you arrived here. I told your parents they should have joined us sooner so we could have trained you when you were younger.”

“So you could’ve bent me to your will, you mean.”

“Then your poor sister followed in your footsteps.” Patch continued as if Hawthorne hadn’t spoken. “She wanted to be like you, you know.”

“Now she’s happy and free to live her life. Not exactly what you wanted.” Hawthorne smirked.

“She’s in danger now. Such great danger.”

Hawthorne’s muscles clenched. “Is that a threat?”

“I don’t threaten, Hawthorne. But I do warn people. To help them.”

Hawthorne jerked his bound wrist at a backward angle, snapping the zip tie and launching to his feet before Patch could move.

He stood nose-to-nose with Patch, his own height putting him an inch taller.

Something flickered in Patch’s eyes. Fear.

Satisfaction pulsed through Hawthorne. “You should’ve brought your goons in here with you, Patch.” Hawthorne doubted the man even had basic self-defense skills given how much he relied on bodyguards and psychological control. Hawthorne could take him apart so easily.

“If you touch me, many will pay the price. Beginning with your parents.”

“Another threat?” Hawthorne gripped Patch’s arms, careful not to squeeze quite hard enough to leave bruises, concocted evidence of the physical assault the coward would probably claim to the police. “You may have part of my family in your hold, Patch. But if you want the rest of them, you’ll have to come through me.”

Hawthorne pushed him just enough to make Patch take a step backward to catch himself. Then Hawthorne turned, a smile landing on his face as he marched from the room and stalked past the stunned goons in the hallway with a parting wave.

Maybe coming back wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Twenty-Five

“I was about to come in there and rescue you.” Jazz put on a smile to cover the concern that had been twisting her stomach for the last ten minutes as Hawthorne walked toward her in the parking lot outside Best Life. “That must’ve been some chat with Sam’s mom.”

The grim set of Hawthorne’s mouth as he glanced around made her smile fade. Something was wrong.

“Meet me at my car.” He angled away before reaching her SUV and headed to the next row of cars, farther from the Best Life commune.

She took a roundabout path to his car, making sure to keep other vehicles between her and anyone’s view if they were watching from inside Best Life. That was clearly what he was worried about. But why?

Tension clenched her insides as she neared his black sedan, where he waited by the driver’s door.

“Mind getting in?”

She shook her head and went to the passenger side as he ducked inside. She slid onto the leather seat in his obviously expensive car and immediately found his gaze. “What happened?”

“Mrs. Ackerman called the Helpers on me.”

“Helpers.” The guys Randall had said maintained order.

“Patch’s enforcers.”

“He has enforcers?”

“Oh, yeah.” A muscle in Hawthorne’s jaw twitched as he turned his head to look out the windshield.

Her ribs squeezed as she watched him. What exactly did these enforcers do to him? Didn’t see any signs of injury. That was good. But there were ways to hurt people that didn’t leave marks. She swallowed. “What did they do?”

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