Page 43 of Kill Me Sweetly

Noel looked at Max. “A neighbor called the cops to go to your residence over what appeared to be a break-in.”

I shrugged. “We did leave the house in not such good shape. My bad.”

Nick shushed me. “I don’t care about that. Maxwell’s street has a neighborhood watch and that watch set cameras up, so we weaseled our way into them because seriously, not a great system.”

“Anyway.” Angel motioned for them to go on.

“A cop car showed up; it was there by the time we connected. But a few minutes later, two black town cars arrived. And even though they didn’t have on the masks, they faced the house only so we couldn’t see them, they were the exact same guys or at least dressed the same as those at the other place.”

“So, they have police scanners. So do we. They were probably tracking it,” Mason concluded, and it was logical.

“Watch.” Noel hit a key, and a video played.

The men arrived and went up to the officers. They spoke for a moment, and then the cops just left. Sure, it could have been them saying they lived there or knew who did, and that likely could have been convincing.

Three of the men went into the house after that, and the other pulled out a piece of paper and wrote on it. He stuck it to a spot next to the broken front door. All four men exited a minute later, got into the cars, and left.

“One sec,” Noel said as he clicked a button, and the camera zoomed in. “I had to clean it up a lot.” The note on the house was barely legible, but we could make it out.

Gabe read it out loud since not everyone could view the tablet.

“You have things that belong to us. We will get them back.”

Well, that couldn’t be good.

Four’s voice from the doorway made us all turn.

“Time’s up.”

I knew he was right.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

SHEP

By the timeI was all caught up with everything, I needed a drink. Max was worried once more for his daughter.

“They think whoever took Four likely took you, Max. I don’t think they believe you’re an accomplice,” JJ argued.

“Can you be sure? No, you can’t.” Max was red in the face.

“Why would they leave a note if they knew where to find us?” Mason rolled his eyes.

“We need to be even more vigilant. They pinged the last location Four was at and went there. We don’t know if they can trace past locations. They went to Max’s house because they knew Four was headed there, and once they heard someone reporting a break in at his residence on the scanner, they needed to check it out.” Noel sighed. “The problem is, we don’t know if they know who we are. And we’re sending Mason and JJ to the charity ball in a few days.”

“Not anymore, we’re not.” I wasn’t messing around. “It’s too dangerous.”

JJ cocked his head. “Mason and I can handle ourselves. Plus, Noel and Nick said we’d be wired up, and you’ll be outside the building, ready to jump to our aid should we need it.”

The timer went off, and I opened the oven. JJ had made his mom’s chicken recipe, and my stomach rumbled.

“Let’s eat, and we can figure things out.”

Mason and Gabe set the table in the dining room while JJ helped me carry out the food. Four hadn’t said much as we discussed things, but I was sure if he had, it would have been nightmare inducing. He knew what we were facing, and I wanted to know.

When we were all settled and halfway through our meals, I broached the subject rattling through my head.

“Four?”

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