Page 152 of Riordan's Revenge

He stifled a groan. “You make me feral.”

“Good, then my work here is done.”

At my giggle, Jamieson shot me a look of disdain.

I scowled back. “No mean looks from ye, fire boy. Ye almost killed me tonight.”

Instant shame sank over him. He hung his head. “I know. Sorry doesn’t cut it.”

I tutted. “Wait until Lottie finds out.”

He pulled a face. “She already called when I was outside. Our next family meeting is going to go off.”

Riordan hugged both arms around me. His touch and the warmth of my family being here gave me the boost I needed to own the shite I’d been through today.

Genevieve and Arran returned with the paperwork. I rifled through it, talking as I sorted. “We now know that Bronson isn’t the killer of these women.” I placed the victim papers out one by one.

As I spoke, Riordan took his keys from his pocket and pried at the handcuffs on my wrist.

“How do we know that?” he asked.

“Ye haven’t heard about Dixie?”

He tensed up. “Don’t tell me…?”

“She survived. Only just, though. She had surgery to repair her throat.” My voice cracked.

Riordan kissed my cheek. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

Across the circle, Genevieve shuddered. “I called the hospital this evening. Dixie woke up in the recovery ward. That’s good news considering what she suffered. She won’t be able to talk for a while, though.”

She didn’t say never. I held on to that and kept going.

“I was kidnapped from outside the hospital this afternoon. They knocked me out, and I woke in a cupboard with a bag over my head. When they came for me, I played dead, and theycarried me to a cellar room and dumped me on the floor in front of Red who was holding court like a king on a throne.”

I interlaced my free hand with Riordan’s and held Arran’s gaze. “By Moniqua and Lonnie.”

Everyone reacted, swearing, or their jaws dropping in shock.

Arran stilled. “Lonnie?”

I inclined my head. “Even with my eyes mostly closed, I saw the way he watched her, like she was special to him. Which makes sense for why he betrayed ye. What they didn’t know was I could hear everything being said in that room before they even took me in. Moniqua claimed she knew who the killer was.”

Everly’s eyes rounded. “Who did she say?”

“She didn’t. The explosion went off, and half the room, including Red, was buried under a pile of bricks. I was carried out by someone else.”

While Jamieson explained the timed explosive he’d used, I snuck a glance at Arran then Shade. They needed to know who helped me, but it was kinder to give them time to process it without everyone looking on.

I took a steadying breath. “There’s a step before that I’m missing. Arran, how secure is your office?”

“On its own, not very. We use a noise-cancelling device in meetings.”

“A what? Why didn’t I know about this?”

“It’s my fucking office, Cass.”

“I went in there to have a private phone call. Someone listened in and used what they heard to break me and Rio up.” Another factor closed in on me, pieces of a puzzle taking shape. “I think they also used that information to lure me out of the hospital. I had a text message.”

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