Page 81 of Torched

He’s the one who chased us yesterday.

Dax.

Liam told us how Cristina mentioned he was a treasure hunter who was after the diamond.

I can feel my heart rate speed up when he smirks at Cristina and she doesn’t do anything. She doesn’t move. She doesn’t say a word. I fixate my eyes on both of them until she gives him a curt nod, and I gasp.

“What’s wrong?” I hear Liam from the kitchen.

“Cristina!” I hiss. “She knows that guy who tried to run us off the road yesterday!”

I watch him get back into his vehicle, starting the car while Liam’s weight stomps my way.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive!”

“Where?” Liam comes to stand beside me, peering out of the window at the same time the car drives off, his face no longer showing. “Are you sure it was him?”

“I saw him, Liam! I swear!” I snarl, a little impatient. “We need to go. Call Jeremy!”

He puts his phone to his ear while I take the last two photo albums from the shelf.

“What are you doing? We can’t take those, they’ll know.”

“Have you looked at the woman? She can barely register her own reflection in the mirror. She won’t miss them. Besides, I’ll bring them back.”

Someday.

I clutch the leather-bound books against my chest as we walk out, while Liam talks to Jeremy on the phone, but I hold Liam back before we reach the sidewalk.

“What are we going to do with her?” I whisper.

“Don’t say a word until we’re back at the house. I don’t want to risk her running off right now.”

I nod, agreeing, then put on my best fake smile.

28

LIAM

PRESENT DAY

“Yougotanything?”Cristinaquestions.

I have a hard time not narrowing my eyes at her in suspicion after what Gen just told me, but I manage, and instead, I let my eyes roam over the street, looking for any threats.

“What are those?” Cristina’s gaze drops to the albums in Gen’s hands.

“We didn’t find anything. I thought maybe there would be some clues in these photo albums.”

“Let’s walk to the corner of the street. Jeremy is picking us up. We don’t want the neighbors to wonder why we’re lurking around the house.”

I take the lead, walking past Cristina while the two girls follow behind me, and I try to keep my distrust in check, thinking about the car that just took off.

It wasn’t any of the cars that chased us yesterday, but Gen’s information doesn’t rule out that it isn’t them. But there is also the possibility of it being another enemy or even one of Cristina’s men. I hate that we still don’t know what her main motivation is, making it that much harder to anticipate her next move.

The sound of screeching tires makes me turn around, and I try to register what I’m seeing.

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