Page 96 of Protected from Malice
All the blood.
“Okay.” I hold my hands up in the air. “No phone. I swear.”
As I slowly back towards the couch, I try to corral my fractured thoughts.
When will Rafe be back? If his meeting was at nine-thirty, and it’s after eleven now, maybe he’s on his way home already. Maybe?—
Oh!
The forgotten detail crashes into me in a thunderclap of clarity.
The earrings.
The earrings Blade and Arrow sent for me to wear, just in case something went wrong and the kidnapper got me.
The earrings with tiny GPS trackers in them. The ones I can press to trigger an alert that’ll let Rafe, Indy, and the rest of their team know I’m in trouble.
I need to trigger the alert. Now.
With my hands in the air, it’s the perfect time. It might be the only time.
So as I keep backing up, I slowly, carefully, let my right hand fall slightly. Just enough to brush my ear.
“What are you doing?” Gayla barks. “Hands up!”
“Sorry!” I yelp. But just before I raise my hand again, I press the center of the earring hard, just as I was instructed.
And I hope.
Pray.
Let Rafe be on the way home already.
Let me be able to drag out this explanation.
“Sit!” Gayla shoves me back onto the couch. “You want to know why I’m going to kill you? Fine!”
“Why? I’ve never done anything to you?—”
“Not to me!” Rage distorts her face. Spittle flies from her mouth. “To Chris! He was supposed to be mine! But no! He couldn’t stop obsessing over perfect Eden. So smart! So pretty! So perfect!”
Horror freezes my lungs.
“Chris?”
“Chris!” she roars. “The man who was supposed to bemine! Except he can’t becauseyousent him to jail!”
Then she smiles, and it might be the most frightening thing yet. “But don’t worry. I’m going to fix things. And you won’teverbe a problem again.”
CHAPTER 16
RAFE
My mind is buzzingwith possibilities.
I had a suspicion when Cole brought up the meeting a few days ago, but it was just that. An inkling of an idea. A new offshoot from the road I’ve been traveling into a challenging unknown.
But I’ve never shied away from a challenge. Not in the Army or after. And now?
