Page 65 of Lovely Broken Strength

Atlas might not have gotten any information from Callen, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try myself. It might be a stupid idea, but I had to start somewhere. People flowed in and out of the bar like usual. I leaned back in my seat, my stare trained to spot him once he came stumbling out.

An hour passed and I didn’t move. Each minute brought me closer to finding Ty and I held on to that hope.

It was passing the two hour mark, when my eyes started getting heavy. I got tired easily lately and part of me knew it was because I wasn’t at my full strength, but I had to push past that. Who knew what was happening to Ty while I was simply sleeping away in my bed?

I jolted upright when I finally caught a glimpse of a familiar, hulking frame push open the front door and saunter out. He lit a cigarette and I flew out of my car, swiftly crossing the parking lot to get to his car before he did.

Callen took his time dragging on his cigarette, and I feared he wasn’t coming to his car yet, but then he tossed the butt on the ground and started walking toward me. Swallowing my fear, I took out my phone and sent a quick text to Knox. I had no idea what was going to happen next, but I wasn’t going to give up until I found Ty.

Callen was a few feet from his car when he caught sight of me, leaning against his rear bumper. He stopped short. His mouth fell open in shock.

“Hey,” I said, my tone dull. “Long time, no see.”

He screwed up his face in disgust. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Like you don’t know.”

He shook his head. “You need to just leave me the hell alone. You’re fucking crazy.”

I pushed off the bumper, straightening my spine. ”I’mcrazy? You’re the one going around lighting people’s homes on fire!”

Callen stumbled back like I’d punched him. “You need to stop with that shit.” I paused at the genuine fear in his voice. “I’ve had enough. I’ve done nothing but leave you alone, like you fucking asked, and you’re going around trying to get the cops to arrest me.”

He took another step back. “Fuck.” He held up his hands, palms out in surrender. “I’m sorry, okay. I’m a dick, I know, but please, just leave me alone.”

I blinked, shock reverberating inside my chest. “What are you talking about?”

“I liked you, okay. I did. But I just want you to leave me alone.”

He was steadily backing away like I was about to shoot him or something.What was going on?

“Are you trying to tell me you had nothing to do with the fire?”

He shook his head. “I might not be the best guy, but I’m not a criminal. I’ve never tried to really hurt you. I know, I went too far at that ball thing, but damn, I was tired of being accused of shit I didn’t do.”

I closed my eyes, trying to wrap my mind around his words. “Callen,” I said slowly, “Do you have any idea where Ty Ranes is?”

He shook his head again, vehemently. “Goddamn. I already told that cop a thousand times…no. I have no idea where the hell he is.”

Callen had never been a good liar, and the truth was written all over his distraught face. My heart sank as dread bubbled to the surface. If it wasn’t Callen behind all the strange things that had been happening, who was?

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I…I thought that you did.” I inhaled. What had I done? Callen seemed legitimately afraid of me. Somehow, after all the bad ways he’d treated me, I felt guilty.

I stepped away from his car, gripping my arms tighter around myself. “Just…go,” I said. “I won’t bother you anymore.”

Callen stared at me for a beat longer before he bolted to his car. He almost flew into the driver’s seat, wasting no time before revving the engine and peeling out.

I stared after him, watching the car veer into the street and take off.

I shivered even though it wasn’t cold. I didn’t know what I was going to do now. I had planned for a lot of things to happen, but Callen basically running away from me like a scared little girl wasn’t one of them.

My breath hitched as I fought sudden tears. I had really thought I was going to find Ty. I’d at least thought I’d find some clue about where he could be. Now, his rescue seemed even farther away.

Ty, please, be okay.

I stifled another shiver as the panic I’d been trying to suppress since I’d woken up in that hospital bed came flooding to the surface. My lip wobbled and I bit down on it so hard I tasted blood.

The crunch of boots on gravel made me jump.

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