Page 77 of Jasper

Not near the exit.

I push deeper into the now-thinning crowd, heart pounding so hard it hurts. My hands tremble. Every second that passes without seeing her face feels like a countdown I can’t stop.

Then something glints near the open door to the alley.

A wallet.

Trampled. Scuffed.

I crouch fast, grabbing it with shaking fingers. Flip it open.

And stop breathing.

A photo ID stares back at me.

It’shim.

The man from the bar parking lot.

The man who swore he’d make her pay.

The manImade pay instead.

And now she’s gone.

My pulse roars in my ears as I straighten, the wallet clenched in my fist like a loaded weapon.

I don’t think.

I move.

Because my girl is out there.

And that motherfucker just made the biggest mistake of his life.

28

ARIANA

“Let me go!” I cry, my voice raw and desperate.

He laughs. Actually laughs. “Oh, sweetheart. I’ve been waiting for this.”

The streetlamps flicker above us, casting dark shadows between the rows of parked cars. His grip tightens in my hair, and he jerks me to a stop behind a dented old sedan, slamming me against the cold metal with enough force to knock the air from my lungs.

“You and your boyfriend think you can fuck with me?” he growls.

I try to speak, to tell him he’s insane, but all that comes out is a panicked whimper. He yanks my head back again, his fingers still twisted in my hair, forcing me to look up at him.

“I’m gonna make you pay for that. Gonna teach you and your thug boyfriend what happens when people mess with me. I’m sure my crew in that bar has already taken care of your man and his friends.”

His words barely register. My scalp burns, my knees tremble, and there’s a scream caught in my throat like a shard of glass. But I know I have to do something.

As he rants, pacing and shaking me like a ragdoll, I let my hand slide down the length of his arm. Slowly. Carefully.

To his wrist.

He doesn’t notice.

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