Chapter 37 #2
“Obviously,” Luke says, his tone softening slightly as he runs a hand through his hair again, almost sheepish now. “And… yeah. Sorry about earlier. Walking out like that. I shouldn’t have. It just… hit me all at once.”
“I understand.”
“No,” Luke shakes his head. “It was shitty of me. I thought I had a messed-up family, but… I can’t even imagine what you went through. I had no right to judge you for what happened. For the accident.”
Reid pushes to his feet, the movement slow but deliberate. “You have every right, Luke. Especially since I didn’t tell you before we started all this together.” He gestures faintly around the room. “This business affects you too. You deserved to know.”
He pauses, searching for the right words, his jaw tightening slightly.
Luke shifts, uncomfortable now, scratching at the back of his neck. “Well, I don’t.”
Reid looks at him.
“I couldn’t run this place without you,” Luke continues. “Talon and I would kill each other within a week.” He shrugs. “And honestly? The paperwork alone would finish me off. My ADHD would tap out immediately.”
“I could find someone else to take over.”
“No way.” Luke shakes his head, firmer now. “You are one of the team. It has to be you.”
For a moment, something eases in Reid’s expression. Just a fraction.
A small, almost reluctant smile tugs at his mouth.
Their bond—strained, shaken—starts to knit itself back together. Not fully. Not yet. But enough.
Reid turns to Talon. “Tal? What do you think?”
Talon shrugs.
Luke groans. “Use your words, Talon. Your actual words.”
Talon considers it for a second, then says flatly, “I’m not doing any paperwork.”
Reid lets out a real laugh this time, and I can’t help the small giggle that escapes me, the tension in the room loosening just enough to breathe again.
“Okay,” Luke says, clapping his hands once like we’re suddenly in a boardroom. “Now that that’s settled—we need to talk to Amanda.”
Reid’s expression tightens slightly again. “Why?”
“Because we need her help,” Luke says. “The FBI has been trying to get her husband on racketeering and money laundering for a while, but they haven’t been able to get anything to stick to him. If Amanda knows anything—anything at all—it could be what they’re missing.”
Reid hesitates. I see it—the instinct to protect her. To insulate her from any more pain or stress. But in the end, he knows this is too important, because he gives way. He gives a short nod then turns to leave. “I’ll go get her.”
A few minutes later, Amanda steps into the office. She pauses timidly just inside the doorway, her gaze flicking between all of us, her shoulders tensing as she takes in the atmosphere.
“Am I in trouble?” she asks, her voice small, her hand trembling just a little as she sits down in a vacant chair.
“No,” Luke says gently. “But we might need your help causing some.”
Her brow furrows. “Who?”
“Your husband. The mayor of Yellowbrook.”
The color drains from her face instantly. Her hand flies to her throat, fingers pressing lightly against her skin like she can already feel him there.
“No,” she whispers. “I… I can’t. I mustn’t—he’ll… Please, I can’t talk about anything.”
“Amanda—”
“No.” She shakes her head quickly, panic rising. “If he’s causing trouble for you, I’ll leave. I’ll go. Just… please, I don’t want to—”
“Amanda, relax.”
Reid steps forward, taking her hand gently, his voice steady and calm as he guides her through breathing exercises. Inhale. Hold. Exhale.
At first, she resists. Then, slowly, she begins to unwind under Reid’s steady guidance, her breathing evening out as she focuses on him.
He waits until her breathing evens out, just a little, before speaking again.
“Leaving won’t fix this,” he says quietly. “He’ll keep coming after you. He’ll keep hurting you. We don’t want that.”
“Then why would you…” Her eyes fill with tears, her voice breaking. “Why would you ask me to do this?”
“Because we think we might finally have a chance to stop him,” Reid says, lifting a hand to cup her cheek with gentle, steady warmth. “For good. Then you can be free.”
Her breath catches.
“I need you to be brave right now, Amanda,” he continues. “I know you’re terrified. You have every reason to be. But this is your chance to change that. For your future self. That way, she doesn’t have to live like this anymore.”
A single tear slips down her cheek, and she looks at him for a long moment, something shifting behind her eyes—fear, yes, but something else too. Resolve.
Then, slowly, she nods.
For the next two hours, we sit with her.
And she talks.
At first, her story comes in pieces—hesitant, fragmented—but the more she speaks, the more confidence she gains, and the more it pours out. Everything she’s seen. Everything she’s endured. The things he’s done to her. To others.
The room grows heavier with every word.
She tells us how he had a political opponent attacked, and his house burned to the ground.
Threats made about what will happen to his children in the future if he doesn’t toe the line.
How he moves money around through multiple offshore accounts and shell companies. How smugly clever he thinks he is.
And how wrong he is.
It becomes clear, very quickly, that Amanda has been watching everything. Remembering everything. Even writing things down.
Codes. Passwords. Patterns.
Details no one would expect her to notice—but she did.
If we brought in a hacker, she could get them through his firewalls and into his secure data servers. Not only that, but she could tell them what to look for, too.
Finally she sits back, stretches her neck and shoulders. “That’s all I can remember for now,” she says, her voice drained but steady.
Luke steps forward and takes her free hand, the one Reid isn’t holding.
“Thank you, Amanda,” he says. “You’ve helped us more than you could possibly know.”
She manages a small smile. “I should be thanking you. I know what you’ve risked for me these past few weeks. I don’t take that lightly. If he’s been putting pressure on you then that’s only because he’s trying to get at me.”
Reid nods. “Maybe. Maybe you’re the one saving yourself.”
She inhales slowly, then lets it out. “Yeah,” she says. “I think I am.”
After she leaves, we stay where we are, the room still carrying the weight of everything she’s shared.
We start talking through next steps, ideas overlapping, plans forming—but my mind drifts for a second, overwhelmed, and I move toward the door.
“Not so fast, Sierra.”
I pause, turning back. “Huh?”
Luke leans back in his chair, a smug look settling across his face. “You’re just going to walk out without telling the rest of the class what you told me out in the forest?”
It takes me a second.
Then it hits me.
“Oh.” Heat rushes to my cheeks.
“What did she say?” Reid asks, curiosity sharpening his tone.
“Nothing,” I say quickly. “Just… it slipped out.”
“What slipped out?”
I hesitate, my pulse picking up again—but this time for a very different reason.
“About… the fact that I’m in love with you guys.”
The words hang there.
Heavy. Real.
All three of them stare at me, stunned into silence.
My heart pounds, suddenly aware of everything—how big this is, how insane it sounds when you say it out loud.
“I know it’s soon, but—”
“Soon?” Reid pushes to his feet, but Talon gets there first.
His hand closes around mine, pulling me closer.
His eyes lock onto mine, dark and intense, something deep and certain burning in them as his voice drops, rough and full of meaning.
“I didn’t even know it before… but I think I’ve been waiting for the three of you all my life.”