Page 35 of Twisted Trust
“Nazario and I spent a lot of time together when I was doing reparations with him and The Wolves.”
Chip nods and his brows lower, knitting together as he listens.
“One night, we talked about how it went down that day. The explosions, the mysterious gunmen, and the fact that even the product itself was rigged to blow. He’s not convinced Maevewas the leak. And if she was, then he’s certain she wasn’t working alone. She’s smart, there’s no denying that, but she’s notassassinate an entire Mafiakind of smart.”
“But she’s a member of the Red Serpents, right?” Chip briefly glances back at her building. “Isn’t that who is really behind all of that?”
“Maybe.” Tension swirls in my gut suddenly, so I attempt to massage it away with my hand. “It’s complicated, but after talking it over with Naz, I think he’s right. If I take away my own feelings of hurt and try to look at it objectively, then Naz has a really good point. But telling anyone this…”
“Runs the risk of whoever she was working with catching wind and making for the hills, assuming they’re still around.”
“Exactly. And I… I’ve carried the guilt and blame for years, so if there’s a chance I can get my hands on the real culprit, then I can’t pass it up.”
Chip nods slowly. “I understand. I wish you’d told me sooner. I’d been planning how to take her out if you didn’t have the guts.”
“The guts?” I scoff, pushing lightly at his shoulder. “Excuse me?”
“I see the way you look at her, even now.” Chip snorts with amusement. “You get all weird and gooey. You always have. She’s like some kind of drug or something.”
“Listen, she’s not?—”
“LEVI!”
Maeve’s scream fills me with a sudden, unique sense of cold dread that immediately sends my heart racing as if her very voice is a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart.
We both turn and see Maeve stumbling down the steps and racing full speed toward me with her hair streaming behind her and tears pouring down her ghostly pale cheeks.
Chip unholsters his gun immediately.
“What is it?” I demand as Maeve crashes into me with a sobbing gasp. “Maeve, what’s wrong?”
“He’s gone!” she gasps in between heart-wrenching sobs. “Scott’s gone!”
9
MAEVE
Cameron’s apartment is a mess.
Blood splatters cover the wall near the door that’s hanging off its hinges, leading to a smear down to where the landline hangs off the hook on a small wooden table.
The living room is a mess with overturned furniture, smashed vases, torn curtains, and the coffee table smashed to smithereens and missing a leg.
Cameron is nowhere to be found and neither is my son.
I stand in the living room shaking uncontrollably while Chip moves around the apartment and checks every single room as if I haven’t done that already in search of my son.
Levi stands right next to me like some kind of iron statue with his gaze fixed down on his phone while scrolling through several contacts.
Barely able to see my phone screen through my tears, I dial Cameron’s number again but just like all the other times I’ve tried to call him in the last fifteen minutes, it goes straight to voicemail.
I can’t think.
I can barely breathe.
Scott’s already been through so much and now I come back to this mess and my baby boy is gone.
The only images in my mind are ones of horror from every crime show I’ve ever watched and it’s impossible to stop myself from spiraling down a dark hole where Scott will meet the same fate.
