Page 206 of The Reluctant Hero

I pull it out to see Shade has sent me two recordings, one longer than the other.

Shade: In case you needed more proof.

My brows furrow.

“Proof of what?” Ace asks with a sneer.

“Play it,” Mikael mutters on my other side.

Cade slides the privacy partition up to keep the driver from listening in.

The first recording, the longest one, is Amanda’s final meeting with Blake. Hearing her flat tone telling someone to leave the room is startling. There’s such a big contrast betweenher usual snark and this deadened voice. That cold sound continues, even though she’s making an effort to change her tone at times. That deadly hum rides underneath the false calm. She went there for violence. That much is clear.

The sound of a struggle makes us all tense. We’ve seen that she’s okay and read the report of what she did in return, but hearing it firsthand doesn’t help me at all.

The sound of Blake screaming in pain and begging relaxes Ace back with a vicious smile.

All of the information she gets out of him has already been shared with us. It didn’t include the absolute rage that overtakes her when she hears the account was made in her name. My eyes meet Cade’s as he winces.

The audio cuts out as soon as a door opens.

“As first interrogations go, she didn’t do too badly,” Jake comments with a smile.

“Second,” Mikael mutters and shakes his head. “She beat up the landlord over her apartment. Broken knee. But scared him bad enough that he confessed to me about Blake messing with her through him and his payout for it.”

“I’ll let her know about pain first, questions second. And Manny?” Jake asks thoughtfully.

“Confessed to giving her the letters for Mrs. Danvers, a downstairs neighbor. Her daughter was one of the people swindled out of her house. When the lawsuits didn’t move forward, Mrs. Danvers went digging for reasons. She thought Amanda knew all about everything he was doing and wanted to punish her. That woman is vicious,” Mikael shakes his head in disbelief.

“We’ll introduce her to my imp’s Mama and that will be put to bed,” Jake smirks.

“She really didn’t have any place to go but us,” Cade’s eyes squeeze shut, trying to stem the tide of guilt that matches mine.

“She ignored the eviction notice from Matthias LLC,” Mikael adds, staring out the window. “She had faith in us, and we blew it.”

“What’s the second one,” Ace asks, reaching for my phone to press play himself.

Amanda comments that she’s surprised the grass isn’t made of money. The bitter sound of it makes me wince.

Shade speaks next, and Jake pouts.

“He found the account already. Show off.”

“Shut up,” Cade frowns, staring at the phone.

It isn’t until she hesitates about the money that his eyes meet mine. He looks afraid of what she’s going to say. When she says to give it to the victims, he lets out a harsh breath and stares out the window. The pain and guilt in his expression match mine perfectly. I never realized just how much I have in common with Cade until now. I was under the impression that his father’s death had been set aside and laid to rest. I was very wrong.

“She’s at ease with that asshole, and we’re nothin’ now,” Ace snaps, popping his knuckles restlessly.

“She’s not expecting to survive.”

Jake’s dark tone gets all of our attention.

“You all heard it. She’s taking as many of them down with her as she can. She laughed at Blake when he offered to help her. If she’s so set on not making it, she’s going to be risking a lot.”

“Loose cannon,” Cade grits out between clenched teeth.

“What’s she doing at home?” Mikael asks Jake darkly.

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