Page 4 of His Sacrifice

Leo sighed. “She’s had fifteen years to take us out, and she never has. She wants to torture us, not kill us.”

“Because she’s off her rocker,” Apollo repeated.

Leo spun back around to face us. “If she wants to torture us, then let her. We’ll know she’s coming this time.”

I looked from Murphy to Apollo and back to Leo. “Uh, okay?” Not exactly what I thought Leo was going to say.

“Candace was spotted by the bookstore two nights ago. She was on surveillance video from the coffee shop next door.”

Murphy sat forward. “What? Was she in the bookstore?”

Leo shook his head. “No. It very well might be a coincidence that she was at that coffee shop, but with Candace, we can’t say anything is a coincidence. She might be thinking of making a move on Tatum again, or she’s just hanging around.”

“Murphy is sticking to Tatum like glue. There isn’t a chance that Candace is going to be able to get to her,” I pointed out.

Leo nodded. “You’re right, and Candace probably knows that. She’s likely trying to find another way to get to one of us.”

“Princeton has Kitty covered, and Candace would have to be beyond insane to mess with Greer. She can’t get to us through any of our women,” Apollo pointed out.

Leo’s gaze fell on me. “But what if you romanced a new woman and acted like you were head over heels for her?”

I reared back and furrowed my brow. “Uh, what? I’m not even thinking about dating anyone right now.”

Leo shrugged. “I think you should be.”

Apollo and Murphy chuckled.

“Are you high?” Princeton called through the phone.

Even Leo laughed. “Not at all. I just know that Candace likes to go after the ones we love, so why not set her up to think that Creed has a new love? You know she won’t be able to control herself, and she’ll take the bait.”

“We can’t involve some innocent in this,” I pointed out. “We’re going to have to find some other way to lure in Candace. Why don’t I go check out the coffee shop where she was spotted? Maybe there is something there we could use.” I knew it was a long shot, but I wasn’t looking to get some random woman to fall for me just to have Candace try to hurt her and me.

“You think Candace will just be waiting at the coffee shop for you?” Apollo laughed. “More than not, I bet Candace wanted to be spotted. She wants us to know that she can get close to us whenever she wants.”

“You don’t have to find some random woman,” Leo interrupted. “I’ve already got that figured out for you.”

“Uh, what?” I asked. Leo already had some woman waiting in the wings for me to act like I’m in love with her to lure out Candace?

“You got some reserve of single women waiting to be wooed by Creed?” Murphy laughed. “Man, I am so glad that I found Tatum when I did, otherwise I might be subjected to this crazy plan.”

Leo nodded to me. “You can head to the coffee shop to look around, but then head over to the bookstore because you need to meet Jada.”

I tipped my head to the side. “Tatum’s boss?” I had heard a few stories here and there from Murphy, but I had never met her.

Leo nodded and turned back to the window.

“Wait,” Murphy drawled. He leaned forward and laid his hand on Leo’s desk. “Are you suggesting that Creed woos Jada to get Candace to come out?”

Leo shrugged. “From what you tell me, she can more than handle herself. Candace was the one who sniffed out Tatum and went after her. I say we set it up to where we are the ones ahead of her.”

“Jada will chew up Creed and spit him out,” Murphy laughed. “This is the craziest idea you have ever had, and I am all for it just because I get to be on the sidelines to watch it epically explode in Creed’s face.”

“Not doing it,” I called. “This is a dumb idea. I say we just hunt down Candace and kill her. If you want us to lure her in by having her come after one of our girlfriends, you do it.”

“No,” Leo called.

“And why do you get to say no? I mean, it would be a bit more believable with you. Hell, get Brynn in on this.”

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