Page 152 of The Reluctant Hero

It seems I have quite a bit to catch up on.

I see Amanda get home Friday looking mussed and ashamed. Her lips are swollen. I can see the faintest trace of beard burn on her delicate white neck. My brows rise when I think it through. She had sex with someone. One of us, I’m sure. Ace wouldn’t allow anything else. My eyes narrow as I think about it. She slumps on the mattress and drops her face in her hands to cry. Now, whoever could have slept with our imp and left her sad?

Gabriel. I’d place money on it. His day may have turned for the better, but hers did not.

Meine Seelie, the other half of my soul, should not ever have a reason to cry.

The room is as spotless as it usually is. Nothing out of place. I notice a stack of papers on the kitchen counter. More names? The typing seems too small for it.

I skip forward on the feed.

Amanda doesn’t eat and sleeps fitfully. She still gets up, too early in my eyes, and dresses to exercise in sweatpants and a plain short-sleeved shirt with many holes. The time indicates she will be forty minutes early for class.

Seventeen minutes after she leaves, the door opens, and Ace walks in.

Odd. Why not simply go in when she was there? Or did Gabe fuck it up so phenomenally this is damage control, and he ran late?

He hunts around for something a bare second before his eyes land on the stack of papers by the sink. His pace is hesitant as he approaches it. As if he’s struggling with himself not to look. As soon as he stands over them to read, he begins to shake. He hunches over as if he got gut-punched. Then he takes pictures of each page, four in total, and resets everything. Two tickets were revealed under the stack. He takes pictures of that,too. Hesitates then swipes them to rip into minuscule pieces he pockets.

He stands still, staring at nothing for several minutes before he glances around, his fists clenched tightly. He takes a step toward the closet, shakes his head, and leaves in a hurry. Wanting a piece of her clothing I’m sure. Something to keep him company while she’s apart from him. Why not take something? I did. It’s a balm to me while I wait for her.

Whatever he was hunting for is in those pages. He didn’t bother looking anywhere else.

I skip ahead again.

Hours later, she comes back and has Manny with her, along with a small white envelope. He goes into the bathroom while she locks the door and blocks the exit. I straighten up as she pulls out a few photos and sneers in disgust. Manny comes out in a panic, and they argue. She begins hitting him with the pictures. A few moments later, they leave.

Manny has been delivering the envelopes to her. A teenager. Something isn’t right about that. How would a young man know anything about Blake’s infidelities? And why haven’t we gathered the photos yet? Are they that dismal? Gabe seemed to think so, and Ace and Mikael agreed. I’ve seen many actions in pornography and in person. None of it has fazed me. Then again, the thought of seeing something that caused our imp pain revolts me.

Another few hours go by. She comes back. It’s obvious she’s stressed. She’s pacing and scowling, muttering to herself. I see it when she breaks and starts making phone calls. It seems no one answers her. The longer she goes without any answer, the more still she gets. There’s no sleeping that night. She has yet to approach the papers Ace found so disturbing. Again, she doesn’t eat.

Amanda dresses in jeans and a shirt and leaves again before the sun comes up. Time passes as I skip forward. I stop when the door shudders and breaks open, hanging by a hinge. Then, a stranger walks in. Covered from head to toe in black with a baseball cap. How subtle.

He destroys everything, relishing in it. The window above her mattress gets shattered. He especially enjoys her underthings. With every cut of his knife, my anger rises. Far beyond what I’ve already built up. He’s good at keeping his eyes covered, and he’s wearing a covid mask. He goes through every cabinet and drawer. When he finds the photos of Blake he gathers them up with a small celebration dance. It isn’t until he happily picks up and pockets the papers on the counter that I recognize him.

One of the punks living in the building with her. I wonder how much he got paid? Enough to cover his hospital bills if he survives me?

He startles, answers his phone, and rushes out. He doesn’t bother to try closing the door.

All of my soulmate’s things are ruined. There’s so much in pieces spread everywhere that it looks as if her closet had been full instead of mostly empty. My hand is clutching the phone so tightly I might break it. He won’t survive after this. It’s decided.

Amanda comes in a few moments later, looking filthy. Tears streak through the dirt coating her features, and she looks unwell.

She takes a single step inside and then turns to run.

The call was his lookout. Two people. I’ll find the second after I’m done with the first.

This will never happen again. Never. I’m bringing her home today. If they haven’t brought her already. They don’t know about this room I’ve made up in preparation for her.

The feed runs in fast forward but the destruction stays the same. She doesn’t come back. It eventually stops and flickers for a moment before falling to static at 21:23. While I was showering, someone or something cut my feeds.

I close the app and call Cade.

It rings several times, making me frown. He never takes this long to answer me. Something is definitely wrong.

“Jake.”

I pause at the dark tone of his voice. He’s in a killing mood. I haven’t heard that in a long time. His voice echoes as if he’s in a restroom.

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