Page 17 of I Ain't Lyin'

“Yep.” I glanced behind us and saw nothing but an empty highway. “Hey. Where did the guard—”

My words got cut off as a car barreled out of the field to our right, T-boning our car.

Instead of stopping, the car kept going and pushed us off the other side of the road. I was jolted as our car rolled downhill into the forest below, and I blacked out.

I don’t know how long I was out. It could have been a few seconds. It could have been a few minutes. All I know is that when I woke up, the car was upside down, and there was blood trickling from Ashton’s head. I called his name but received no answer. I tried to reach for him to check for a pulse, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. I hurt all over, and if I wasn’t a shifter, I’m not sure I would be as lucid as I was.

Rustling from the side announced that someone was outside of the car. That dread in the pit my stomach grew stronger as I watched the figures approach.

“Hey, look what we got here,” a strange voice said. It sounded somehow familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had heard it before.

A man stared at me through the broken window. I had no clue who he was, but something told me that I should, that this wasn’t the first time we had seen each other.

“You’ve been causing me some issues.” His smirk made me queasy.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“Oh, you know who I am,” he snarled. “You might not remember right now. But from what I hear? You might be remembering soon. We can’t have that happen.”

Whoever this was, he didn’t want me to remember. Which meant, he was the person most likely behind Harvey’s death. White-hot fear flowed through my veins. Usually, when people didn’t want you to speak, it meant you wouldn’t be seen again if they caught up to you. Fuck.

“Come on,” the man said to two guys behind him. “Get the omega out of the car.”

Bending down, one of the men reached into the car and unclipped my seat belt, making me fall from my upside-down position before roughly pulling me through the window. The other goon helped lift me from the ground and threw me over his shoulder. Suddenly I felt a sting in my neck.

“Don’t worry.” The man laughed. “You will just sleep while we drive.”

I had no idea what they just shot me up with or how I was going to get out of the situation. I tried to yell out to Ashton, but I had no strength left. Whatever they had given me was acting quickly to shut me down.

“Come on. Let’s go.” The man led the two goons up the hill as they carried me from the car.

“Should we take the other guy?” One of the goons pointed back to Ashton’s still form in the car.

“Nah. It’s okay.” The man in charge shook his head. “He’ll be dead soon enough.”

I felt a tear run down my cheek as the world started to fade, and I was pulled away from my mate.

I love you, mate. I’m sorry.

Chapter Fourteen

Ashton

“I need to talk to him,” I sneered at the captain across the desk from me. “He might know where Leo was taken. We need to find my mate, and your officers are useless.”

The captain rolled his eyes and stood up from his chair. “You shifters are always the same. You think you are the only one who can save your mates. We are getting answers. We know more information about what happened in the case, and we almost got the location, but you had to storm into the interrogation room and slam the man’s head into the table.Youare the reason we are still waiting for the answers.”

I closed my eyes, breathing deeply and trying to calm my dragon. “They crashed into our car, took my mate, and left me for dead.”

“Yes, and we are using all of our connections and systems to find out where they took Leo. But you need to step back and let my people work. You are too close to this case.”

Knock.

“Come in,” Captain Matthews yelled to the interrupting officer.

“Sorry, Captain. But we just got a name from the suspect who may be behind everything. Vincenzo Morrelli. He is a lower-level member of the Morrelli crime family but still powerful enough to wreak havoc in our streets. I have a few officers looking into his businesses. I also gave the information to the two GSC agents in the hallway; they already have a few more leads to follow.” The young officer, whose name badge read Evans, winked at me and closed the door.

“I know of Mr. Morelli.” Captain Matthews sat down behind his desk. “It’s a good thing Officer Evans gave your partners the information. We will need to work together to take this man down. I haven’t been able to catch him in the last few years.”

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