Page 153 of The Reluctant Hero

“Cade,” I keep my voice casual.

“Did you just get home?”

“I did. Is everyone at the office?”

There’s a long hesitation. Too long.

“Wakey wakey, Cadey,” I remind him I’m still here to make him focus.

“I’ll come get you,” he tells me firmly. My eyes narrow in response.

“I can drive myself, thank you. What’s been happening in my absence?”

“Don’t make me tell you over the phone, Jake,” his voice turns ragged. The darkness makes way for pain to reveal itself.

“Where is Amanda, Cade?” I get off the bed and stroll out. I don’t know what I’m doing. My body is suddenly on autopilot. I’ve gone into a state of blank shock as I wait for his answer.

“Jail.”

My body stops. Sadly, I can accept this answer better than any other. Not the hospital. Not the morgue. In jail.

“How quickly will Gabe be able to get her out? I’ll pick her up.”

Another pause.

“Cade,” my jovial act drops as if it was knocked out of me. I’ll pick it up later. Right now, I can’t find it.

“Fuck, fine. She slept with Gabe on Friday and then stole three million from him. The techs found a trace of a hacker that shifted the amount into her account. We got the evidence of it, and first thing this morning,ourcops were here waiting to take her away.”

A simplified version, I’m sure. He hasn’t included how enraged Ace became or how Mikael would have threatened her for harming Gabe. Gabriel would have shut down and crushed her ego under his slick-soled shoes. And Cade.

“What did you do to her?” I twist in place and slowly make my way up the stairs again. I’m not going into the office tonight. I’ll kill them all if I do.

“Nothing,” he snaps back in surprise. “She’s in jail waiting for us to come to question her. Gabe can’t decide when he wants to let her out.”

“How heartwarming,” I comment without inflection. She came in at eight in the morning, fresh from whatever befell her on Sunday and is still in a holding cell. I’m sure she’s ecstatic about it. Not to mention how muchjoyshe’ll have when they show up.

“Did any of you ask her anything while she was in front of you?”

“No. She was too busy defending herself and playing innocent. It started as soon as she walked in. She asked about you first thing. It pissed us all off.”

How could they miss all the obvious signs that something happened to her?

“None of you have any idea how she spent her weekend?” I press as I enter my bedroom.

“Probably buying a whole new wardrobe along with the two tickets out of town. On a fucking bus, of all things. Androlling around in the dirt collecting bruises to make herself look pitiful. I never would have thought she’d be able to do something like this.”

“Perhaps because she isn’t,” I answer him.

“Jake, don’t start,” his voice gets soft enough that I can hardly hear him. “Nobody is taking this well. If you come in here trying to save her, Gabe might leave her in there longer. Shit, maybe he should.”

I take out a familiar pinstripe suit and toss it onto the bed as he speaks. A few weapons and my favorite tie get added to the pile.

“Is that really what you think, Cade?”

“I don’t know. I just know this fucking hurts. Bad. I thought… and it was a lie. And Gabe. Onthatfucking day. Jesus, Jake, his face when he heard. And Ace was losing his mind in denial. Just don’t come here. Pretend you came back tomorrow. We aren’t leaving here tonight.”

Feeling the raging guilt of their mistake even if they aren’t fully conscious of it yet. They’re waiting for her to come back as if it were all a nightmare they can wake from.

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