Page 189 of The Reluctant Hero

“Fullerton? Was she in any?” Jake asks with sudden attention. “She’s the one who had Amanda’s place trashed. I plan on speaking to her in the morning. If this is payback, who else could she fixate on?”

“I know one of the women in the gym for sure. The blond. Where are the pictures now?” Mikael turns to Jake with a disgusted scowl.

“As I said, with the Judge. If Amanda wants them, I’ll snag them for her in the morning,” he shrugs.

“We need to find Manny,” Ace glances at Mikael, who hands Gabe the phone.

“Manny,” Gabe says in a flat tone, but his eyes widen the further he reads. He’s starting to look a little pale. I’d laugh if I wasn’t in the same fear-filled boat with him.

“I’d like to know what had our imp so filthy when she arrived home Sunday. I only caught a brief glimpse before she ran.” Jake turns thoughtful.

That means she ran straight to the office and waited for the doors to open. She thought she would be safe, and we threw her right back into the cold.

“Mikael, get the list of properties and names from the office. Ace, take Cade with you to talk to Manny.”

Gabriel has control in a snap, the perfect frozen leader for us all. It’s our respect for him that keeps us in line. There’s no hesitation from any of us to get done whatever he needs despite the urge to stay here with Amanda. He’s probably making an opportunity to speak with her alone and try to make amends.

If only we could all manage to get that.

“Jake-”

“I’ll be staying here,” he smiles at Gabe and gets a flat look in return. “Our little imp is up to something, and I want to know what.”

Gabe frowns at him in confusion.

“You think she’s gonna go get the photos herself?Now?” Ace asks in disbelief.

“We have security systems all over the place and cams too. Not to mention the fence, her lack of a car, and the automaticshutdown on the windows.” I shrug in exasperation. “She’s not going to get through all of that tonight. She’s exhausted and hurt.”

“She’sangry,Cade,” Jake reminds me with a pointed look. “So angry she has herself locked up tight. And too focused by half. She acts as if we don’t exist right now, so it isn’t onus. You got damaged vehicles, not a hospital stay. This is something more, and it’s right at the tip of our tongues. She doesn’t trust any of us to back her up. How far do you think she’ll go?”

“Putting Blake in the hospital should have worn her out,” Mikael frowns at him.

“She has her eyes on a prize we don’t know about yet. Something that has her acting without thought of consequences. I don’t like it, Mik,” Jake’s expression has gone flat with insistence.

“A loose cannon,” I mutter in concern.

We were loose cannons before. Jake and I. The last job we did together before Gabe came along, we didn’t care if we made it out. We took risks we shouldn’t have. Laughed about it without caring. When Jake lost interest in going on, I followed him without a second thought. I still would.

The thought ofAmandafeeling that way hollows me out.

If I have any chance of keeping her away from that cliff’s edge, I’ll take it.

“Gabe, you need to back off for now. Go with someone else. Mik. Jake, stick with her and staysharp,” I tell him, and he nods. We’re on the same page here. So, why does it feel like Jake is reading a different book than I am?

The other three are gaping at me as if I just spouted off in a foreign language. Maybe I did to them. I’m not as obviously calculating with them as I am with Jake. It needs to change. Especially if they’re offering an olive branch to us so we can all keep Amanda.

I stand up and jerk my chin at them. “Let’s go.”

I don’t wait around for them to finish looking at each other in confusion. They can have their psychic connection bullshit all they want, I don’t care. It’s Amanda I’m focused on.

Jake and I are familiar with the risk-taking routine. They aren’t. When they went dark they imploded while we exploded all over anyone we could get our hands on. We aren’t as rage-filled as Ace and Mik about it, so I guess they missed the signs.

Amanda is a destructive combination of both sides, and we’re the only ones who can contain it.

40

Lost in the Dark

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