Page 166 of The Reluctant Hero

Shade’s head tilts at the speech.

My eyes slide over to the desk with the files piled into the box. The lonely, cracked highlighter is the only thing left. She broke it, trying to control her anger at the things I’ve suffered. The feeling that something vital to my existence has been taken from me crashes into my chest. The pain from before isnothingin comparison to this.

Instead of her breaking our trust, we broke hers.

“I also took the liberty of checking out some of the stuff she told South.”

My eyes dart to Tera while a trembling frown forms.

“Like what?” Cade asks in confusion, dazed at all the things we’ve been missing in this puzzle.

“I looked into the lawyer stuff for the divorce,” Tera says with a weak smile. “I have Amanda’s phone records right here. From both numbers. All the calls she made and which lawyer’s offices. She never gave up.”

She tosses two thin stacks of papers onto my desk, her purse seeming endless in supply of them.

“Congrats on the complex purchase,” Shade says. He makes his way to Tera and hands her a red slip of paper. She unfolds it and gently lays it on top of the phone records.

It’s an eviction notice with Matthias LLC’s logo and a forgery of my signature. Amanda’s name and apartment number are at the top.

“What the fuck?” Cade snatches it up, his breathing going unsteady. “Ibought that complex, not Gabe.”

“Amanda got that taped to her door at some point, too,” Shade shrugs. “I guess they didn’t bother tracking down the real owner.”

My eyes slowly roll up to take Shade’s mocking face in. My expression is locked down tight to try and hold in the panic that’s taking the anger’s place.

“Whoever this is wanted her away fromusspecifically,” Cade says weakly. His eyes meet mine, filled with horror. “I fell for it without looking deeper.”

“I’m calling Jake,” Mikael mutters in a shaky voice. “He has to be back by now. She’ll be more comfortable seeing him than us.”

The knowledge of it is a gut punch. My eyes slide to the couch, and I lose my air.

“They couldn’t get to her as easy with us sniffin’ around,” Ace says through clenched teeth.

“Nothing we’ve found is worth this level of harassment,” I say coldly, my voice submerging to keep everything hidden deep inside.

“Which is why we’re borrowing your files,” Tera cringes, looking hopeful. “Please?”

“We’re taking them,” Shade assures me flatly.

“Blake,” I can’t help but say his name. “It has to be him. I need to get her out of there. Ace, go pick her up.Now!”

I helped them by separating her from everyone. She’s alone and vulnerable. We don’t have enough cops on our payroll to keep her safe there. I didn’t think it was a serious concern before. If she’s hurt…

“She’s been out since yesterday night,” Shade interrupts with a smirk and hefts the box up. Ace stops moving to give him a dark scowl. “I wonder if they figured out where their computer files went.Tera?”

Ace steps back fast enough that I see her startle and flush bright red.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says in a rush and gathers her laptop with hunched shoulders.

“I fucking knew it,” Shade snaps with a scowl. “It wasyoubumping me out of the system!”

“She’s South’s friend! And ahero!” Tera protests anxiously. “I couldn’t leave her hanging. I’m a sidekick! And I’m really sorry. I didn’t know it was you with the new IP address. I thought you might be a bad guy.”

“Enjoy your virus.”

“You better not,” she snaps, suddenly enraged. She hugs the computer to her chest like something precious as she seethes. “If I find out you put something on my computer baby with your dirty diary-reading paws, it’swarthis time.”

“Ok, drama queen,” Shade grins maliciously.

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