Page 87 of Sweet Lies

Sirens echo from down the street, growing louder by the second. Soon this place will be crawling with cops asking questions.

Most of the onlookers are running away, afraid more shots will come; others have their phones pressed against their ears. All except one. A man in jeans and a black shirt, his expression neither concerned nor surprised.

“Andre.” I tap his shoulder.

“What?” he snaps.

“That man—I know him.”

“What man?” he asks, his eyes scanning the crowd.

“Right…” But when I go to point him out, he’s gone.

“Come here,” I say, grabbing his arm and pulling him away.

Claire yells at us. “It’s time to go.” She’s right; most have already left to find their own medical care.

“One second,” I snap, needing to talk to Andre now.

“I recognized the man because he was there the day Sebastian took me,” I tell him. “He works for Levi—or he did. It can’t be a coincidence that he’s here and Isabella was taken.”

“No. I don’t think it is. We’ll figure this out, but now it’s time to get out of here.”

“Back into the church and out the back,” Claire yells as a cop car pulls up.

We follow the others, exiting out the back as Alex pulls up. “What the fuck happened?” he demands as we speed off.

“I have text after text coming in,” Elijah announces as his phone goes off with a call. “It’s Logan.”

I half-listen to the one-sided conversation, my mind on the man. If he was here, it meant trouble. Sebastian is involved—I feel it at my core. What if he was here for me?

Removing the thought from my mind, I consider his endgame. It would make more sense for this to have to do with Sebastian—maybe he was paid to get her, or he’s selling her the same way he did me to pay off his debts. Who could he owe that he would want to piss off everyone even more is the question? If we figure that out, we’ll be able to find her. But he could also be using this as a distraction, which is more worrying, since in the past he wasn’t that conniving.

“What did he say?” Claire’s question distracts me from my thoughts.

“We have a plan,” he answers.

As they debate back and forth, my mind drifts back through the years to a much happier time.

* * *

ANDRE

“Being the boss means you don’t run into every situation guns blazing. You have men for that,” I point out to Elijah.

His fist slams down on the table. “Do you think I don’t know that? This is too important to let anyone else do it. I want his head, and I want to be there when it’s taken.”

“I understand, but you’re too important to risk if this ends badly. You’re better off here. I’ll handle it. Fewer will give us the element of surprise. I’ll see it done.”

Multiple emotions play across his face. I know every part of his body is ordering him to be at the fight tonight. I don’t tell him Logan’s coming—that would send him into even more of a tailspin. He has blinders on when it comes to Sebastian. I understand his hatred and need for revenge, but this situation calls for cold accuracy.

“Call me when it’s done,” he orders.

“Of course.” I nod and stand. We’d agreed not to tell Claire or Rebecca of the plan. They would both want to get involved but, like their brother, they have too much invested. I leave Elijah’s office and head out to meet Logan.

* * *

“What are you doing here?” I demand, yanking Rebecca away from Logan. The men look at us but say nothing. Logan opens his mouth to speak, but I silence him with a look. He may be the head of his family, but he has no rights when it comes to Rebecca. “Does your brother know where you are?”

---