Page 197 of Offside Devil

I’m here because Mira deserves someone who cares about her enough to not let her run away.

Hollis thinks it’s possible. There’s more than enough evidence that she was abused. If she comes forward, they might take mercy on her. Especially if she has a good attorney on her side. Hollis agreed to dust off his law degree and help her out if she wanted.

Now, I just need to talk to her and convince her to want it.

Mira gave me her resident code to her apartment building’s front door the day I helped her move. I punch it in now, but nothing happens.

It’s dark and the light above the door only flickers on once every thirty seconds, so I try again in case I punched it in wrong. Still nothing.

Finally, I just tug on the door and it opens.

So much for that security measure.

I don’t think anything of it until I make it to Mira’s front door…

And find it kicked in.

Actually, it looks like someone strapped C-4 to it. The thing is in tatters. Big hunks of wood cling to the cheap hinges, but the center of the door is gone. The face plate and most of the trim are lying in tattered pieces on the entryway.

“Mira!”

I lunge through the hole without thinking. Someone wanted inside her apartment badly, and I don’t think it was to steal her lawn chair.

The bean bag in the living room is shredded. Beans crunch under my feet as I storm down the short hallway to her room.

“Mira?”

The bed is still stripped down to the bare mattress. She told me her mother’s photograph is the first thing she packs and unpacks anytime she moves, but I don’t see it anywhere. The dresser is empty. So is her nightstand. It doesn’t even look like she’s been here…

Except for the open window.

I lean over the waterlogged frame. A rusted metal fire escape barely hangs to the side of the building. The alley is dark and empty below.

Maybe she hasn’t even been here yet.

Maybe her place was ransacked days ago while she wasn’t living here.

I pull out my phone to call her again. This time, when her phone rings, I can hear it.

I follow the vibration down the hall and back into the living room, clinging to any other possible explanation for what was happening until I see her phone, cracked and flashing, in the corner of the living room.

Then there’s nothing left to cling to. It’s just a freefall into horrible reality.

The screen is cracked, but it’s still working. Enough that I can see my string of missed calls… along with a call from a number I recognize.

Dante.

He was looking for her. Hunting her.

Mira wasn’t running from the law or her sins; she was running from her brother.

I have no idea if Dante already caught her or if she got away. I don’t even know where Mira would go if she did escape.

What I do know is that it doesn’t matter whether she’s my nanny or my girlfriend. It doesn’t matter whether she’s Katerina or Mira.

She is mine.

I love her.

And I’m going to find her.

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