Page 53 of Risking it All

“You’re doing great, Macie,” I encouraged. “You got this.”

“The guys who did this,” she started again, but then gave a muffled scream of frustration. “Say it!” she yelled at herself. “Just say it!”

“It’s okay. Don’t push yourself,” I said as she screamed out, “Know me.”

I blinked hard as an eerie sensation curled within me—a quiet promise of violence and revenge that was as sharp as a blade. “They know you?”

She nodded, and her lips mashed together—an indication her body would allow her to speak on this no more.

“Did you know them?”

It seemed difficult for her to shake her head, but she did.

“Were they masked up?” I prodded, but Macie pulled her hand from mine as she rubbed her face and temples. No answer, but I needed to know more, “You said they knew you, which means they must have said your name?”

Macie crammed her fingers into her hair and practically yanked at it as she forced a nod.

“Did they threaten you, Macie? Did one of those bastards call you by your name and threatened to find you if you talked?”

Her eyes shot to mine and the fear there, the complete and absolute pure horror answered better than any nod or verbal affirmation. Macie trembled, little earthquakes like the fault line within her was about to crack.

“It’s okay.” I rubbed her back. “You don’t have to answer anymore. You’re done. Okay? You’ve done enough for tonight.”

She threw her hands out in frustration. “But I want to answer. That’s the most infuriating part of this whole mess. I want to talk about it, but I can’t.”

I tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

“What?” she asked in annoyance. “You’re looking at me like you have something say but don’t want to hurt me. My parents look at me that way, and I don’t want that from you.”

She’d pegged me right. “No one else knows this, do they?”

She shook her head and glanced at her fingers that were now forming hives. I took her hand and held on tight. I squeezed, she squeezed back, and I swear my heart would never feel the same without her touch again.

“Macie, is it possible the reason you can’t talk is because you believe them? You believe that if you talk, they’ll find you and hurt you?”

Tears filled her eyes as she answered, “Yes.”

Chapter twenty-four

Macie

Relic met me at the front of my car, handed my keys to me, then linked our fingers together. I adored his warm and strong touch. Loved how I felt with his hand holding mine.

“Are you sure about this?” Relic asked, and I could tell his concern was very real.

I had done it. I had verbally, non-verbally, and stuttered out that I wanted Relic to help me figure out who carjacked me. Because if these people knew me, odds were that I knew them, too. The idea that they could find me made it hard to breathe, but then Relic had said something that had altered it all; “But if you find them, then you can put them in jail and you’ll never have to look over your shoulder again. Attempted first degree murder using a deadly weapon is a life sentence, never mind the carjacking charges.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“My dad’s a felon. There’s a lot of legal knowledge that’s good to know.”

“Are you going to be okay driving the rest of the way?” Relic’s thumb glided over the top of my hand.

Nope. “I can do it.” I had to because, otherwise, Mom and Dad would discover my pile of lies. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Helping me. Being there for me. For everything.”

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