Page 93 of Risking it All

“Ready to meet Abby?” I asked.

“I’m ready to meet anyone who can help you nail these bastards.”

All the happiness washed out of me, leaving me lightheaded. I wavered, Relic tightened his hold on me to keep me up, and his eyes darted about my face in concern. “You okay, Macie?”

I swallowed hard. “It just hit me that I’m doing this. Or that I’m going to try to do this. Oh my God, what if I can’t do this?”

Relic caressed my cheek, and his warmth and strength was all I needed. “Then you don’t, and you’ll try again some other time. The most important thing is that you’re safe mentally and physically and that you take the time you need to deal with what happened.”

Panic rose within me. “But we don’t have time.”

“This isn’t about me anymore. It’s about you. I’m here to encourage you, help you, and if you can describe the tattoo, I’ll keep an eye out on the streets for it. I’m not here for the money. That ship’s sailed.”

“You don’t understand. Gianna and Brayden know we’re searching for the carjackers. If they know, then so does everyone else, which means whoever did this to me might know, too.”

Chapter forty-five

Relic

Astorm cloud blurred my vision as everything within me went quiet and deadly. “How do they know?”

“Everything okay out here?” Macie’s mom asked from the hallway leading to the kitchen.

Macie spun out of my arms. “Yes.” But the real reply should have been no.

“Hi, Relic,” Mrs. Hutchins said with a kind smile. “It’s good to see you.”

“Thank you for having me.”

“Let’s get to it.” Mrs. Hutchins waved for us to go into the kitchen, and the severe look Macie sent me told me she wasn’t ready to share the Gianna and Brayden turn of events with her parents. I internally debated whether I should tell them before I left. Because if Macie didn’t want them to know about Gianna and Brayden, did that mean her parents had no idea that her attackers had threatened to find her and her family if she talked?Damn it if she hadn’t, because Macie needed to be protected, especially with me gone.

“Relic,” Mrs. Hutchins said, “this is Abby and Logan. They’re like family to us, and Abby’s going to try to help Macie describe the tattoo.”

“She’s a consultant with the FBI,” Macie added, beaming with pride.

A raise of an eyebrow as that was terrifying and interesting. Survival said I should keep my mouth shut, but I’d never been that good at denying my curiosity. “You work for the FBI, and you can’t find who did this?”

Abby’s lips turned up, but that grin wasn’t kind or welcoming. It was an evil lift that told me she knew how to play. “You’re right. He is cocky.”

“No different from any of you when you were his age,” Mrs. Hutchins said.

“No different from any of us now,” Logan mumbled, and shock rippled through me when Macie’s dad snorted like he thought that was true and funny.

“Seriously,” I pushed. “You have nothing? At least I got a yearbook with names and I’m the cocky seventeen-year-old you’re giving shit to.”

Abby’s dangerous smile edged up further. “I haven’t decided if I like you yet. What’s your favorite band?”

“Don’t answer anything she asks you,” Macie said. “She’s trying to establish a baseline to see if you’re lying.”

“Never divulge the tricks of the trade,” Abby said. “It’s the same as showing your hand before the dealer’s done dishing out cards. And to answer your question, I was able to use security cameras at nearby intersections and businesses to narrow down what I believed was the assailants’ car. I believe they were driving a 2020 black Escalade that had been stolen earlier that day. We found it abandoned in a lot off Malimar near the gasstation. Someone took a lot of time and effort to put that car up in flames.”

Beside me, Macie wavered, and I snaked an arm around her waist to keep her steady.

“You didn’t tell me any of that,” Macie said in a small voice.

For the first time, Abby appeared unsure of herself. “Because we weren’t sure if you were ready to hear it. Am I right, Macie?” she asked, her tone no longer arrogant and harsh but filled with love and concern. “Was it a black Escalade?”

Macie’s delicate throat moved as she swallowed hard then nodded. She then blew out a long breath as if dizzy. “I need to sit.”

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