Page 66 of Hide From Me

I could see his hand holding onto the door like that would keep him safer than just the seatbelt.

“Someone’s been leaving those fucking messages, and I want to know why. What good is sending those to her?”

The tires squealed as I took the last turn far too fast. X was already out of the car and running after the dark figure as I sped up. Somehow, they’d evaded my cameras until now. I’d added a second because I was growing more and more impatient. I couldn’t protect her, and that in and of itself had my hackles raised.

The roar of the engine echoed, and I could see lights turning on from buildings. I didn’t fucking care. Almost anyone in this area had some affiliation with me or they wouldn’t be allowed in our buildings. I slammed on the brakes as I watched X go down. Zeid hopped out before I could even get the thing in park. As I pushed my legs to get to them, I slowed when I heard him laughing. Fucking hell.

He was sitting on the fucking hooded guy who wasn’t moving.

“Is he dead?” I asked. Fuck, I hoped he wasn’t dead. I needed to ask questions and the dead didn’t get me answers.

“Nah. He ain’t dead. I just knocked his fucking head on the ground. Bet his ears are ringing,” said X.

Fucking hell.

“Get off of him before you crush the bastard.”

I held out my hand to help X off my newest project. Zeid already had zip-ties out and around his wrists. X jumped in and zip-tied his ankles.

“Grab him and let’s get out of here,” I said, eager to get some answers.

X had gotten him good because he wasn’t even squirming and the words out of his mouth were nothing but a whine at this point.

He made a thud in the back of the SUV, and we were all climbing back in without anyone else trying to interfere.

“Anyone else in the mood for a little one-on-one bonding with a pincushion?”

The guy, at this point, did actually start to scream. I heard the rip of the roll of duct tape as X placed it over his mouth.

“That’s better, isn’t? Turn up the music.”

I obliged and cranked the music as we drove deeper into Spectors territory.

TWENTY-FIVE

rylee

Something squealed outside.I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t have my damn phone. The apartment seemed smaller than ever. I pushed the buttons on the stupid Tamagotchi, reviving the damn thing for lack of anything else to do. I looked a crazed psycho yelling at the stupid thing.

“What do you want? For crap’s sake.”

But the second that foreign sound gave me something else to do, I was plastered to the window. What the hell? I saw a large black SUV race by at speeds way faster than the residential limit allowed. Where were the cops when you needed them? Something caught my attention as someone jumped out of the car, and that’s when I saw movement down below my apartment.

I opened up the inner door and took the stairs down, pausing to look out there. I flicked a switch several times, but the light didn’t come on. Well shit. I would have to ask for that to be fixed tomorrow, or, rather, later today. It was the early hours of the morning, and I just couldn’t come down from the fight.

No, I couldn’t come down from the idea that Cas was in charge of the group that had once tried to ruin my life. They hadkilled my mother, even if I didn’t have proof. My father was an asshole.

All this time, I’d thought that he was trapped here. But really, he was now the one staying by choice. I wanted to hate him. I’d spent those few but long days in the hell of the gang. My father had tried to use me to get him what he wanted from anyone and everyone in the food chain around here. I tried to understand it all, but if it hadn’t been for Cas, I don’t know that Xander and Zeiden would have saved me.

Right now, I wasn’t sure though if they had saved me. I’d come back on my own. I’d come back to save Cas, deep down that had been what I thought I could do. I thought I could be enough to help him leave this life. I knew Xander and Zeiden wouldn’t let him go alone, but I thought it would all just work out. The flaw in my plan was I thought they would want to leave.

There was no movement outside of the ground floor entrance. The car chase seemed to have disappeared or was over. Either way, I couldn’t see it.

I was about to go back upstairs when I stepped on something.

A large envelope lay on the floor. It hadn’t been there when I’d gotten home. Looking outside one more time, there were still no signs of anyone out there. I was losing it, I swear. Cas had me all kinds of confused. One minute he ran hot, the next he was a lying bastard.

I kicked the package as I turned around, so I picked it up and went back to the apartment. It wasn’t thick and there was no stamp or address. Just my name. I shut the door to my apartment, locking it before heading to the counter. I grabbed a steak knife to cut open the top of the manilla envelope.