Page 113 of The Eleventh Hour

Descario spots me, and in the next moment, two men have me with my arms pinned behind my back. It hurts, but I’m numb, so numb. I don’t argue as they shove me through the crowd.

“Keep her where we can see her,” Wayland roars over the screams.

I wince and try to turn my head to see Rafe and Dane, but they are being forced by the cops into the crowd away from the body. They’re pushed back into the other room. The two men move and put me with a small group who were close to the bar.

I spot River, Mason, Andy, and a few others I recognise by sight if not by name. Phil grabs my upper arm and sneers at the cop.

“I’ve got her.”

“Just don’t move,” the cop snaps and turns away to help his colleagues push the crowd out of the crime scene.

“Thanks, Phil,” I whisper.

He gives me a cold look, and then nods. “That’s what family’s for, right?”

I give him what I hope is a smile and move towards River. I only take two steps before my arm is grabbed again.

“This way, River and Mason will follow with Andy,” Phil says, and I don’t question it.

I turn to the left, moving where he’s pushing me, and spot a concealed door by the hallway that I’ve never seen before. The corridor is dark with thin ill-laid carpet on the floor, but the air is warm and fresh, and in a few minutes, we come out in the carpark of the building next door, the opposite side of where we’d parked in the Shard. I haven’t been here before, but Phil drags me towards the building. He flicks a light on, and I follow him inside.

I frown and look behind me, waiting for Mason and River, but the door slams shut.

Phil scowls at me.

It takes me another long minute to realise what’s happening.

By then, it really is far too late.

Rafe

The cop pushes me hard, and I slam into a giant with closely cropped hair. He gives me a horrified glance and shoves me off him, but he’s quickly distracted by a woman who lets out a howling sob.

“Rafe?”

I twist in the crowd and find Dane.

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know,” Dane says and elbows his way to me.

I try to get a look around, but it’s dark, and the lights are still dancing. A moment later, the lights cut off completely. There is a large cry from people, men and women alike. The sobs get louder, and then the lights come on, bright and clear. The filthy walls of the Red Shard are exposed again, calming the distraught clientèle.

My gaze gets caught on a man who has blood droplets all over his forehead. He’s just standing there sobbing. He looks broken. I wonder how many years it will take to forget tonight. More than ten? More than a hundred?

Jax.

I search the crowd, but she’s not here.

“Dane,” I say in warning.

“I know, I see it.”

Dane sounds close to panic. Close to losing his shit. I want to do something to reassure him, but my hands are shaking. I see Titan standing up there in my mind’s eye, lifting the gun, and push the memory away violently.

I turn back and force my way to the edge of the crowd. A cop scowls at me.

“My friend is missing.”

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