Page 24 of Shadow

“Juan? No, Jake’s here. I told you to send anyone but him,” Camilla began.

“Jake’s there even though I explicitly ordered him…” Fernando trailed off, and she heard someone talking to him in the background. They started to argue.

Camilla’s gut feeling told her something was wrong. She recalled the painful way Jake gripped her arm in the diner. He’d been shocked to see her alive, unhappy even.

“Camilla, listen to me,” Fernando said urgently. “Juan’s body has been found, and my men have reason to believe Jake’s the culprit. Under no circumstances do you get in the car with him, you understand?”

A cold chill went down her spine at those words. Camilla’s mind took her back to the day of her kidnapping, and she realized Jake was the last person she had spoken to that day.

Her memories of that time had been blurry, but lately, her mind started to clear as she began processing her trauma.

“Brother, I need to call someone,” she said.

“Camilla, no—” Fernando’s voice was cut off as she ended the call and dialed Shadow’s number.

He had every reason to ignore her call, except he immediately picked up. She could hear the wind and the rumbling of his motorcycle engine in the background. He was on the road.

“Camilla? Where are you?” he immediately asked.

“The gas station near the town entrance,” she said quickly. “Shadow, I’m in trouble. Jake.” Before she could say more, someone snatched the phone from her fingers.

Camilla found herself staring into Jake’s cold blue eyes. “You won’t need this any longer,” Jake said, ending the call and turning off her phone. He kept it inside his jacket pocket.

“You’re coming with me, Princess,” Jake said with a sneer.

“Like hell I will,” she snapped.

Before she could slip away, Jake grabbed her arm and started dragging her out of the convenience store. She tried to fight him, but he was bigger and stronger.

“Let go of me,” she hissed under her breath.

“Hey, man, the lady told you to leave her alone,” said one of the customers in the store.

He shut up when Jake pulled out a gun. Despair hit her as the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

“You betrayed my brother,” she whispered.

No one stopped them as they left the store. She didn’t blame anyone because she knew Jake wouldn’t hesitate to shoot anyone who got in his way.

“Took you long enough to figure it out,” Jake said with a scoff.

They reached his car now. Still not letting go of Camilla, he opened the door to the back seat. He released her but kept the gun pointed at her.

“Get in or else,” he said.

Camilla’s heart raced, and for a few seconds, she was paralyzed with fear. The old Camilla would have just done as Jake said, but the new her was furious.

“Jake, did you organize my kidnapping?” she demanded, glad her voice didn’t waver.

“I paid the Reapers a hefty sum too, and those idiot bikers botched the job,” Jake said.

She had to keep talking, she realized, to keep him distracted until Shadow arrived. Her man knew where she was, and as long as they were in Hanging Grove, Camilla still had a chance of getting out of this mess.

Camilla searched his eyes and found nothing but emptiness and cruelty there. That terrified her but she stood her ground.

“Why would you do this? Why put me through all that? Do you hate me that much?” she asked.

“This wasn’t the least bit about you. You were just a convenient tool,” he said with a laugh.

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