Page 40 of Beautiful Exile

Even though I knew this was how I’d lose my freedom all over again.

15

LINCOLN

In the fifteenminutes it took Trace to get to Cope’s house, I watched as all the fight bled out of Arden. Instead of being fiery and full of life, she looked…defeated. I fucking hated it.

The front door flew open, and Trace’s boots hit the hardwood, eating up the space. “What the hell happened?”

I moved on instinct, stepping between him and Arden, holding out a hand in a gesture for him to calm down. “Take a breath,” I growled. Brutus moved to my side and let out a warning growl of his own.

Trace’s dark green eyes flashed in surprise. But that shock was enough to break through the worry, fear, and anger so he could get ahold of himself. He looked around me, his gaze running over his sister as if checking for injury. “You’re okay?”

Arden nodded and said, “I’m fine.” But she sounded resigned. “Ruhig, Brutus. Komm.” The dog quieted and trotted back to her, leaning against her leg.

“This is what happened,” I said, handing him the flyer I’d put into a Ziploc bag using cleaning gloves so I didn’t get prints on it.

Trace’s brows lifted. “You a secret ex-profiler, too?” he asked, referencing Rhodes’ boyfriend, who had a past with the FBI.

I wanted to grin, but I couldn’t quite get there. “The extent of my knowledge comes from the handful ofCriminal Mindsepisodes my little sister has forced me to watch.”

That had Trace grinning, but the smile died the moment his gaze hit the flyer. The fury and fear were back, and his attention cut to Arden. “You call—?” His focus flicked to me for a moment before returning to his sister. “Your contact?”

“Linc knows, Trace. I told him.”

His eyes went comically wide. “You told him? Everything?”

“Everything,” Arden said, exhaustion in the single word.

Trace studied me as if seeing me in an entirely different light. “All right. Did you call the marshals?”

She shook her head. “I’m not their problem anymore. You know that.”

A muscle in Trace’s jaw fluttered. “That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t want to know about this.”

“So they can…what?” Arden challenged. “Offer me a chance to start overagain? To lie to everyone in my life all over? No thank you. I’m not doing that.”

Trace’s fingers tapped his leg as if he were struggling not to fist them. “I’ll call my contact at the bureau and see if they know anything.”

Arden simply shrugged and bent to scratch Brutus between the ears.

Trace watched his sister for a moment before turning to me. “Walk me through it.”

I glanced at Arden before speaking, hating everything about her demeanor and wanting to do something to change it. But I was powerless. “I went by The Collective to check out the art. See if there were pieces I wanted to purchase for my new build.”

“When you went in, were flyers already on the vehicles?”

Good question. I mentally traced my path from my parking spot to the art gallery, trying to remember. “Yes. There were.”

“Denver, Hannah, Farah, and Isaiah distributed them a little before noon,” Arden said, her voice completely flat.

Trace’s jaw tightened. “I need to know which one of them left the flyer on your vehicle.”

Arden’s back teeth ground together. “They went out as a group. I highly doubt any of them could’ve written that note without someone else seeing. Not to mention the fact that, if one of them wanted me dead, they’ve had ample time and opportunities to off me.”

Trace’s hand fisted then, fury grabbing hold. “This isn’t something to joke about.”

“I’m not joking. It’s a simple fact.” Little lines formed between her brows as she mulled that over. “A note like this doesn’t even make sense. If someone knows about my past and wants to harm me, why warn me? Now, I’ll be on guard. If they really wanted me gone, they’d have simply done it.”

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