Page 76 of Final Vendetta

“Wait. What? How do you know?”

“I just got off the phone with him. He called me an experiment, Henry. Said he wanted to see what it would take to turn me into a killer, and he did. He forced me to fight formy life, knowing exactly what it would do to me. And now, he’s doing the same thing to Imogene. He’s going to push her, test her.”

“Jesus Christ,” Henry muttered, taking a moment to process this. Then he became the analytical man I always knew him to be. “What can you remember about his appearance? Anything at all?”

“I told you when I first showed up on your doorstep. He never revealed his face. He always stayed in the shadows.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to do whatever you can to figure out where he’s keeping Imogene. Call Melanie’s dad. He offered to help me take down Liam. No doubt he’ll help with this, too. You should probably reach out to Imogene’s parents, as well. Let them know what’s going on.”

“I should be landing in a little more than an hour. I can?—”

“I won’t be here,” I blurted out before I could stop the words.

“What do you mean?” he asked hesitantly, as if already sensing where this conversation was headed.

“I offered him a trade. Or, more accurately,heofferedmea trade. Me for Imogene.”

“You realize it’s most likely a trap, right?”

“Of course it’s a trap. But until you figure out where Imogene is, this is the best option I have. If I go to him, I can buy us more time.”

“Time for what?”

“Time for her to stay alive. Time for you to figure out where the hell she is,” I snapped, my frustration boiling over. I forced myself to take a breath, loosening my grip on the wheel. “Just…time, Henry.”

He was silent for a moment, and I could hear the sound of him typing furiously at his laptop, probably in the hopes of finding something that might stop me from going down thispath. But nothing would. This was my only option right now. My only way to get to Imogene.

“I’m supposed to go to an address up in Tustin. I checked it out. It’s just some commuter lot off the freeway. I’m guessing my ride will be waiting there. I have no idea what will happen once I go with them, but I need you to do me a favor.”

“What’s that?”

“Get Imogene out safe. And make sure she’s taken care of if I don’t?—”

“Don’t talk like that,” he interjected quickly. “You’re getting her back. Both of you are walking away from this.”

A bitter laugh fell from my throat. “You don’t know that.”

“Neither do you,” he shot back.

The corner of my mouth twitched at that. Classic Henry, always ready to argue with me when I needed it most. Or give me a dose of reality.

“Please, Henry,” I begged, my voice catching. “If I don’t make it, I need you to promise you’ll get her out. That you’ll do whatever it takes.”

There was a long silence on the other end. Finally, Henry exhaled, a heavy sound that carried the weight of a lifetime of friendship.

“I promise,” he said.

“Thank you. For everything. For always having my back, even when I didn’t deserve it. You’ve always been the one person I could depend on, and I just want you to know how much that means?—”

“We’re not doing this, Sam. If you want to revisit this discussion in forty years when we’re both bickering like two old men about who caught the biggest fish, we will, but we’re not doing it now. Not today.”

“Henry...”

“No,” he cut me off, his voice stronger now. “We’re not saying goodbye. Not yet.”

I smiled faintly, even though my chest felt like it was caving in. “I’ll see you soon, then.”

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