Page 37 of Striker's Yield

“Anyone know her password?”

“One, Two, Three, Five,” Adam answers. “Same code she’s had since she got her first phone. She never changed it up.”

I input the code, and he’s right. The phone unlocks, and when I see what the phone was hiding, it’s all I can do to keep my shit in check.

“Autumn made a deal to trade herself for Lila,” I tell everyone in the room, turning the phone toward Twister as I look toward Brass. “Someone took Lila and used her as a bargaining chip to get my woman.”

“Why would they use her?” Brass asks.

“Because she’s your sister,” Vera whispers, getting everyone’s attention. Tears were shimmering in her eyes, but she wasn’t letting them spill over. “She traded herself to keep you from feeling what she feels at the loss of Avery.”

“Why not just tell us?” I grind out, pissed. “She gave herself up, but who’s to say they weren’t going to use it as a trap and take both her and Lila.”

“Ugh, Striker, brother, you need to calm down and keep it together,” Horse states, joining the crowd.

I open my mouth to say something when my phone rings again. “Fuckin’ hell,” I snap and pull the damn thing from my pocket and answer without looking to see who it is. “What?”

“Mr. Alvarado?” the woman from the school says my name in question.

“What is it?” I bark out. I don’t have time for any more shit.

“I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but I thought you’d like to know Lila was just dropped off here at school,” she says.

“Come again?” I straighten, not sure if I should be relieved or not.

“Lila was dropped off.”

“So, she’s there now?” I ask.

“Um, well, no,” she answers. “Lila refused to let us call an ambulance for her. She asked the resource officer to take her to Dr. Connors’s clinic. She was rather out of it, but our resource officer was able to make this out.”

I let out a breath and shake my head. “Right. Appreciate the call.” Hanging up, I shove the damn phone back in my pocket. “I’ve got to get to Connors’s clinic.”

“We’re coming with you,” Vera announces, and I don’t bother to argue with her. Arguing means more time, and that’s something I don’t have right now.

CHAPTER 19

Striker

“Where is she?” I demanded upon entering the clinic and seeing Connors and the resource officer along with two other people. “Where’s Lila?”

Connors steps forward, her hands resting on her slightly rounded stomach. “She’s in X-ray right now,” she answers. “We’re making sure she doesn’t have anything broken. She was pretty beat up.”

“The lady from the school said she was out of it.”

“She was,” Connors confirms. “First thing I did was get blood and send it to be tested. We’ll know soon what she was given.”

I nod and let out a breath, running a hand over my face and through my hair. “She’s gonna be okay,” I say more to myself than anyone else.

“She will,” Connors agrees softly. “But because of . . .” She pauses and looks over my shoulder to the others. Dragon and Gadget move in on either side of her as she continues. “The police are going to have questions for her.”

Great. The last thing I want to have to deal with right now is the cops.

“Soon as she’s out of X-ray, I wanna see her,” I tell Connors.

“I’ll come get you as soon as she’s done.”

I nod and pivot on my heel, needing to get a bit of air. My thoughts are going ramped with the different scenarios of what ifs, and it’s a rabbit hole I don’t want or need to go down. For right now, I’ll let my brothers deal with the cops. Twister and Horse should be able to get them out of here for the time being.

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