Chapter Nine
Legend broke every traffic law speeding to the dean’s house.
Dean Banks lived on Bay Avenue in a home provided by the university. Roan hadn’t gotten around to inviting me inside, but I knew the English cottage-style mansion near the end was his, along with the car parked outside with the engine still running.
“Roan?”
We piled out, checking in, around, and under his car for any sign of him.
“Roan!” Legend shouted.
He ran to the call box and jammed the button for Josephine.
Arsenio, Cairo, and Jacques ran up the curb, squealing in behind us. Arsenio and Jacques raced to me. Cairo hit the pavement and kept going.
“I don’t understand,” I said. I dialed Roan’s number for the twelfth time. “Where is he? How could they have gotten to him?”
“How doesn’t matter. We need to know where. Where is he?!”
Beep. Beep.Legend jammed the button. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
“Jo, come on. Answer!”
“Hello?” Josephine’s voice poured out the speakers. “What on earth is going on? Who is this?”
“Jo, it’s me, Legend. Is Roan there?”
“Roan? No, why?”
“Didn’t you call and ask him to swing by tonight?”
There was a pause.
“No, I did not,” she replied. “I haven’t spoken to my son since yesterday. What’s going on?”
“He was taken by the Crows,” Legend dropped without hesitation. “He got a text from you saying you need to talk to him, and left the Roadhouse. His car is in front of your gate with the keys still in the ignition.”
She gasped. “I’m calling the sheriff.”
Cairo came running back. He slapped his hands on the hood, breathing hard. “No lights on in the Crow house. No cars in the drive.”
“They wouldn’t take him there,” Jacques said. “The sheriff would have stormed the place and cuffed them for kidnapping in ten minutes. They’ve taken him somewhere private.”
I choked on a sob.
“I thought it was going to be me.” Legend kicked the fence. “It was supposed to be me!”
“We’ll find him,” Jacques said. “Ellis can’t hide. Not in our town.”
“What if he’s not in Bedlam?” Arsenio spoke up. “He could be on the road to HC right now.”
Legend made for his car. “I’m going after them.”
“Legend, stop. The Crows grew up in HC,” Jacques said. “They know where to go for privacy. We don’t. We’d end up driving around aimlessly for hours.”
“I don’t care!”
“Legend, he’s right.” The voice that spoke was mine. “Getting lost in HC doesn’t help Roan. Besides, I don’t think they’ve got him stashed an hour away.”
He advanced on me. “Do you know something?”
“I know what we all know about Jeremy and his friends. They like a spectacle. An audience. Those guys burned Arsenio’s car for all of Greek Row to enjoy. They poisoned Jacques’s mom at a party full of people, and they jumped me and Paris in broad daylight on campus. They need everyone to see your punishment.” My heart squeezed. “I can only assume it’ll be the same for Roan.”
Cairo turned me toward him. “When he was dropping his hints, did he give a clue what that punishment might be?”
I shook my head.
“You can’t think I’m going to sit around waiting to get the call he’s been hung from a flagpole!” Legend shouted more tonight than he had in the weeks I’d known him. “There’s gotta be a way to track them down. Rainey,” he cried. “Call Ellis. Make up whatever bullshit you have to. Say you want to be there when they teach him a lesson. Just get him to tell you where they are.”
I was dialing before he finished the sentence.
“Legend, are you still there?” Josephine asked.
“We’re here.”
“I’m buzzing you in. Wait for the sheriff with me.”
“I can’t, I—”
“I know what you’re going to do, and I won’t have it. We’re doing this the right way and allowing Sheriff Jack to do his job.”
“Jo!”
“I’m scared too,” she shrieked. “But Jack has the man- and firepower to get him back safely. All you four could possibly do right now is aggravate the situation worse than you already have. I want my son back safe and sound. If Jeremy Ellis and his ilk did this, I will not risk the consequences of you feeding into their hands.
“Inside. Now.”
I flicked between the guys, wondering what they would do. The dial tone rang and rang in my ear.
Jerkily, Legend swung open the gate and went inside. The others followed after, leaving me the only one standing on the sidewalk.
The call picked up.
“Hello,” I croaked.
“Rainey.” Jeremy was smooth and light. “What’s wrong, darling? You sound upset.”
I straightened, summoning calm I did not feel. “I’m not upset. I’m curious.”
“Where we are? I’m afraid we can’t tell you that.”
“No, I’m curious if Legend was right. You blew up the deal that was going to get you guys back into Bedlam U. You’ve gone from arson, assault, poisoning, and now to kidnapping. As embarrassed as you were by Roan’s little video, this revenge has officially reached disproportionate.”
“In Bedlam, there are diamonds.”
“Not to mention the Crows willing to back you into a life sentence.”
“Is there a question?” Jeremy drawled.
“What is it about Bedlam that you need so badly? The six of you must have something big coming your way that makes all this worth it, and I’d like to know what.”
“Told you more than once I don’t know anything. Dad asked me to make sure the vote went our way. That’s what I’m doing.”
“You’re doing more than that, and you’re fooling me about as much as you’re fooling Bedlamites. Here’s some advice from the good angel on your shoulder: ask your brother about the hold Roan has over people. Someone tried to kill the guy and people will still riot if anything happens to him.
“I’m telling you now, whatever you’re thinking of doing—don’t. You will destroy any chance of getting the town to vote for Foundry. I can’t let you blow this,” I said. “Because if you do, I won’t get my cut of what I strongly suspect is a whole lot of stinkin’ money. My farm is going to need some repairs. Plus, I’m thinking of a complete kitchen/living room renovation.”
“What is this? Blackmail?”
“How am I blackmailing you, Jeremy? I don’t have anything to hold over your head. No, this is me trying to save you from making a mistake. Again. Stop and think. You know I’m right.”
He hummed. “Thank you for the advice. I’ll take it under advisement.”
“Where are you?” I asked, because I had to.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Jer—”
Click.
I stood there, pain and frustration battling. Despite what we said, I wanted to tear both towns apart looking for him. There was no way to know if what I said got through to Jeremy. The bitter, petty man stored hatred for Roan since the video, and it’s been brewing for weeks.
This was his chance to let all that rage out.
“Rain.”
Cairo stepped out from behind the gate, and took my hand. I let him lead me inside.
“Anything?” he asked.
“No. Jeremy wouldn’t tell me where they are.”
“He doesn’t trust you.”
“No,” I whispered. “I’m the first he blames when something goes wrong. He’s looking for a reason. If I keep calling and begging him to tell me, he’ll know who I truly care about. But still that’s all I want to do.”
“Begging doesn’t appeal to a man like Jeremy Ellis. Bragging does. He’ll tell us all on his own.”
By then it’ll be too late, went unsaid.
Cairo took me through a charming home that reeked class in the molding, and family in the dozens of photos of her and Roan spanning the hallway. He was making faces in most of them, completely ruining the pictures with up-closes of his nostril hairs and his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
My giggles quickly turned to sobs. I didn’t have to ask anyone about the hold Roan had over people. He hooked me with the first flash of his grin.
The guys waited in the library with Josephine. Roan’s mom paced the carpet in her bathrobe, flicking to the phone every five seconds and willing it to ring.
A buzzer rang and she ran to the door panel.
“Jo.” Sheriff Jack came through the call box. “We’re outside. You got my boy in there?”
“He’s here. They’re all here.”
I wasn’t.
I got up and excused myself to the bathroom. I hadn’t progressed to the point I could be in the same room as Jack Sharpe and not try to claw his eyes out. Cairo was right to keep an eye on me the nights we tried to crack his safe.
In the bathroom, I splashed water on my face.
I was half a second away from crawling out of my skin and swirling down the drain. I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to call Jeremy.
My phone chimed as I fished it out. I checked the screen.
Number Blocked.
Thumb moving of its own power, I tapped open, allowing the video to play.
The blackness bled on the screen. Spinning to make me dizzy, I caught a flash of light, then the cameraman settled on three masked faces, and Roan.
I clapped my hand over my mouth, smothering my scream.
Roan’s nose, mouth, and forehead leaked gore on the ground. Two of the masked men held him upright. One by the hair so everyone could see.
“Welcome, all, to a time-honored Bedlam tradition.”
Muffled as it was by the mask, I could not mistake that voice.
“Jeremy,” I hissed.
“It’s the one, the only, Riot Royale!”
More figures filtered in and out of the shot, hooting and hollering. There was nothing on their necks, but I figured out their little tricks with makeup a long time ago.
“Legend,” I screamed. “Legend!”
I bolted out of the bathroom and ran into the library, startling Davidson into reaching for his gun.
“Look. This video was just sent to me.”
Legend shoved Davidson aside rushing to me.
“—my terms,” said the masked Jeremy. “If I win, Banks admits he’s behind the cheating scandal and that the Crows selling tests is as made-up as that little video he screened at the party. After his apology and confession tour, he’ll drop out of Bedlam U, unlatch from Mommy’s teat, and start over at minimum a thousand fucking miles from here. Accepted?”
“Accepted!”
“If you win, Roan, what are your terms?”
Jeremy grabbed his chin, bending his head back. Roan mumbled something.
“What was that? You’ll have to speak up.”
“Go... to hell,” he croaked, “brother-fucker.”
Jeremy punched him in the gut, ripping a scream out of Josephine.
“Who sent you this video? Jack? Jack,” she cried. “Look, they have Roan. Can you see where they are? It looks like the woods.”
Jack reached for my phone. “Let me see—”
Chimes, beeps, and ringtones went up around the room.
Legend pulled up the message from number blocked. A video was attached.
“I’ll state Banks’s terms. If he wins, he doesn’t get his ass beat. Too badly. Accepted?”
“Accepted.”
“Ready?” That could only be Micah. “Riot Royale!”
The guys released Roan. Wobbling, he caught himself—his fists beginning to lift.
Jeremy spun and kicked him in the face.
Roan hit the ground and didn’t get up. I lit on a shape behind him.
“That tree,” I blurted. “We sat on that tree. Buller’s Den, Legend. They’re at Buller’s Den.”
Legend grabbed me and was out the door.
“Wait,” Sheriff Sharpe bellowed. Loud footfalls chased us out. “Stay here. Let us handle this!”
If Legend heard him, he gave no sign.
The two of us flew out of the door and into his car. I glued to the video the entire time, though it was horrible to watch.
Unsteady from their pre-fight beating, Roan was slow to get his hands up, block his shots, or return any of his own.
Jeremy kicked his chest and sent him flying.
“What?” Legend asked, hearing me cry out. “What’s happening?”
“It’s bad. He’s going to kill him. We have to get there now.”
He slammed the gas.
On the screen, Jeremy dragged Roan up by the hair and hauled him around. Roan snapped back, catching him in the mouth with a punch that spurted blood clear on camera.
Dropping him, Jeremy tripped over his feet and fell on his bad arm. He wasn’t wearing his sling for a half-assed attempt to swear later that it wasn’t him in the video and no one could prove otherwise.
My Roan used this unwise decision to his advantage. Jumping on Ellis, he pummeled his bad shoulder over and over, raining punches that ratcheted his shouts to sobs.
Jeremy’s roar rang through the speakers.
“Is that Roan?” Legend jerked the car around someone not going fast enough. “Is he okay?”
“That was Jeremy. Roan’s doing okay. He might win—”
Figures shot across the screen and grabbed Roan. They threw him onto the fallen log, bouncing his skull off the bark. They were on him before he recovered.
“No!”
Asher and Zeke, by their hulking masses, stomped him into the ground.
“They can’t do this,” I screeched. “Riot Royale is one on one.”
These disgusting, loathsome Crows hadn’t made time for the history lesson. They dragged Roan barely conscious to the middle of the den, where Jeremy waited. They had to hold Roan up to keep him on his knees.
“No,” I breathed. “No, please.”
“This is for, and to, everyone you’ve hurt, deceived, and cheated.” Jeremy reached for something off-screen. “There’s a new law in this town. The Bedlam Boy Dynasty is broken. Your oligarchy—judge, sheriff, mayor, dean, and St. James Whiskey—is over. You can be gotten to anytime, and anywhere.”
A raised his fist and a flash of silver glinted in the moonlight.
“Noooo—!”
He and his silver knuckles struck Roan across the temple.
“Let this be a lesson to all of you.”
The screen went black.
Legend sped the whole way to the closest entrance into the forest. Tumbling out, we shouted Roan’s name, our calls echoing back to the cries of hooting owls and creatures fleeing at our presence. They seemed to be warning go back, you shouldn’t see what lies ahead.
A firepit peeked through the trees. We skidded into the den.
The Crows were gone. Even the sounds of them running away had long faded. And Roan...
He lay facedown in the dirt—silent and unmoving.
Roan didn’t stir at our screams. He didn’t wake when we lifted and carried him away.
All the way to the hospital we begged for him to wake up.
Roan didn’t hear us where he’d gone.
“EVERYTHING’S GOINGto be okay,” Josephine whispered. She felt for my hand and held it tight. “He’ll be okay.”
I rubbed her shoulder, tears welling when I noticed the smear of blood on my palm.
Want to know when you can say everything’s going to be okay and when you can only wish it? It’s after you rush your unconscious boyfriend to the town doctor, and he takes one look and shouts to get him in the car. We had to rush him to Hunter’s Crest Hospital.
It was a small operation and only two nurses were hanging around the station when we busted in. They rushed Roan in the back, bobbing their heads at Nash’s barked orders.
That was an hour ago. In that time, no one had come to see us nor did Doc Nash return. But I had plenty of time to count the ducks decorating the hospital chairs, and time the hum of the air-conditioning till it turned off and started again.
“Josephine.”
Sheriff Jack came in with two cups of coffee. He peeled her fingers off mine and wrapped them around the warmth.
“I’m sorry to do this now, but every second spent toward finding these guys is a second sooner that they’re caught,” he began. “My son says Roan got a text from you and then left. You say you didn’t send it?”
“No,” she rasped. “My phone is missing. I got home and it wasn’t in my purse. I assumed I left it at the office and planned to go back for it in the morning.”
Jack Sharpe turned to me. “You were at the Roadhouse during that time, correct?”
I glared at him.
“Miss de Souza, please,” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “This is not about you or me at the moment. It’s about Roan.”
My eyes narrowed to slits.
“Yes, we were at the Roadhouse,” Arsenio spoke up. “Roan left and we stayed about another half an hour. In the parking lot, Jeremy Ellis gave Legend that note.”
Legend passed it over. It was snatched by Josephine.
“Something you can’t live without... Sobbing and licking my boots,” she read. “This is horrible. All because I expelled him?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Mrs. Banks, please, don’t blame yourself. Jeremy and the Crows were stewing in their hatred for a long time, promising they’d make Roan pay for outing their secrets. They weren’t waiting for a reason, they were waiting for an opening.”
“It’s true, Jo,” Cairo said. “The Crows went down the line coming after us. We thought they would hit Legend next to hurt Roan. Instead, they went straight to hurting Roan.”
Josephine swung to the sheriff. “Arrest them, Jack. Now. They’ll see morning through bars!”
“This note is certainly enough for me to bring in and hold them for questioning. I suspect they’ll use the timeline issues as a defense, but it won’t be enough. The town has been singing one name since these attacks started. They will be held to task.”
“Timeline issues?” Legend repeated.
“Roan was grabbed while we were in the Roadhouse, serving as the Crows’ alibi,” Cairo explained. “That’s why they called us in for that bogus sit-down. Everyone at the Roadhouse saw Roan leave alone, and the Crows stay put on their ass. On top of the masks, covering their tattoos, and that Roan’s name isn’t in the note, they’re setting up to bleat innocence again.”
“Jack,” Josephine cried. “Tell me that’s not going to work. Just because they didn’t do the snatching doesn’t mean they weren’t responsible. Even I recognize the voice. Jeremy Ellis did this.”
I sat up straight, a thought crossing my mind.
“No, he didn’t,” I said slowly.
“Rainey, how can you say that?”
“No, Jeremy did, but he didn’t take Roan. Josephine, have any students or former students visited your office since you expelled the Crows?”
“Yes, one. Why?”
“Did you leave them alone at any point?”
She nodded. “It was this morning. Miss Cunningham interrupted the meeting. She said there was a discrepancy in the athletic fund. I told her to take the matter to Coach Higgins right away. I stuck my head out of the door for a minute. Maybe less.”
“That was all they needed. Jeremy saw where you keep your purse, remember? He told his buddy to snatch your phone out of the desk, and grab his seat before you turned around.”
Josephine clapped her hand over her mouth. I could see her mind working to deny she was so easily fooled, and then accepting it was the only explanation.
“When the truth came out about Jonah, Jeremy sent him away and had Asher and Zeke up here two seconds later,” I said. “I never got around to asking him just how many Crows there are, but at this point, it’s clear they’re more gang than they are friends. Jeremy Ellis is the leader ordering them to beat on innocent women, or disguise as a server and drizzle something on a certain dessert.”
Jacques’s jaw clenched.
“My point is we have been underestimating Foundry and the Ellises this whole time. We thought we were dealing with spoiled rich boys and oily businessmen. Not a gang leader who strikes brutally and without remorse, claiming territory and stomping out disrespect.” I rubbed my now healed eye. “Explains why even though he can protect himself further by farming out the beatings, Jeremy likes to do those himself. He enjoys hurting people.”
“Chilling observations,” Jack said, tucking away his notepad. “If they’re correct, it changes the tenor of this investigation. I’ll have to contact HCPD and find out what they know about the Crows, their gang affiliation, and their size.
“You can leave this in my hands, Josephine. Roan will have justice.”
The sheriff walked out as Doc Nash came in. We were out of our seats and across the room in the time it took him to peel off his mask.
“Josephine, would you like to speak in private?”
“No, you can say what you need to in front of them.”
Sighing, Doc Nash aged ten years in front of me. “Roan was beaten severely. It’s hard not to believe they attempted to kill him, because that’s certainly what they nearly did.”
Josephine choked on a sob.
“Broken ribs, bruised kidney, concussion, and there’s some internal bleeding. It took a while for us to find and repair the tear, but we’ve stitched him up. Roan is out of surgery—”
“Will he be okay?” I interrupted.
“The next few days are up to Roan. We’ve given him something to sleep,” he said. “If he pulls through in the next twenty-four hours, it’ll give us hope he’ll recover. You can’t...”
His voice faded, and so did I—shrinking away from the group.
A strange calm gripped me. Chilling, but peaceful.
It told me exactly what to do.
Taking out my phone, I tapped on a single name.
Me: The police are looking for you. They’re not buying the supposed alibi or the makeup over your tattoos. Hide out on my farm. They won’t think to look for you there.
The response came back quick.
Jeremy: Not necessary. We’ve got a place.
Me: I hope it’s in Bedlam because the sheriff blocked the roads.
I motioned Cairo over and showed him the messages.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said, striding off.
A minute passed.
Then five.
I was screwed if Jeremy and the Crows were already out of Bedlam. Eventually, I’d find an excuse to get close to him, or Jeremy would summon me. But it would not be that night.
If Roan had to spend that night trapped in darkness and pain, his life an uncertainty, so did they.
Jacques moved to my side. He faced the wall, shielding that look in his eyes for only me to see.
“They finally did it, didn’t they? Committed the unforgivable act.”
“Yes.”
“Was this what we were waiting for?” I spat the question.
“No one was waiting for this, de Souza. I knew the expulsion wasn’t the end, but I did not see this coming. I did not want it.”
My cell chimed.
Jeremy: Isn’t your farm abandoned? We need food, water, toilets and shit.
I typed off my message and hit send.
“None of us saw this coming and we should’ve. Tonight, we make it right.”
Arsenio wandered over, catching the tail end of our conversation. “That was always the plan, de Souza. I told you, this ends in fire.”
I DROVE CAIRO’S TRUCKup the lane I hadn’t walked in weeks.
Gran. Ivy. Bella. The Letter Man.
There were endless terrible memories attached to my home. Part of me had to ask what I was fighting so hard for. Could diamonds in the soil ever satisfy when they’re stained with blood?
I carried the takeout, blankets, and water bottles to the barn. Jeremy made me wait eight minutes after I knocked, though I heard them inside whispering.
The door opened a crack.
“You alone?”
“Obviously.”
“Asher,” Jeremy called. “Check.”
He came out and Jeremy let me in. Jonah hopped off a hay bale to take their food.
I was right. Jeremy did call in reinforcements.
They all looked plenty cozy stretching out on the hay, poking in the stalls, and playing with my bows and arrows.
“Hey! Put those down.”
Zeke scoffed. He lined up a compound bow, aiming it at me. “Why should I?”
“That was a gift from my grandmother. It’s important to me. As the woman currently hiding your ass from the police, you can at least show respect for my things.”
“Put it back, Zeke,” Jeremy ordered. “The lady’s right. She’s going out of her way to make our stay comfortable. We’re not disrespecting her hospitality.”
Zeke grumbled under his breath, but he put it back.
The longer I’m around these guys, the more certain I am they are a gang.
Zeke came down from the loft. He grabbed a carton of chicken fried rice and leaned against the stall door, chatting with Micah and Jonah.
Jeremy tugged me in the opposite direction.
“We almost hit the roadblock on the other side of Chaney Bridge. How’d they get that organized so fast?”
“You have to ask?”
“Cairo.”
I shrugged. “They know it’s you and they know you’ve got every reason to book it to HC and hide out for the next few weeks.”
“They don’t know it’s me. Not one hundred percent, and the cops will need a hundred and ten to make a charge stick. My lawyers will make sure of it.”
I studied him through my lashes.
This guy freely rained terror on the streets of Hunter’s Crest and Bedlam while Daddy paid to make it all go away. No wonder he didn’t know consequences.
“You.” Jeremy flipped his knife on his palm. “Why are you helping us? It’s not in your contract.”
“I told you, Ellis. You’re going to cut me in for the real prize.”
“Hmm. I didn’t think you cared about money, de Souza.” He glanced around. “With how hard you fought to be a farmer slopping in pig shit again.”
“This is my home. This is my land. Nothing mysterious about wanting to get back what’s mine. That said, I do like being a farmer, so fuck you.”
Chuckling, he put up his hands. “Fine, fine. Does beg the question why you’re hitting me up? And what happens if I refuse?”
My expression remained blank. “I’m not going to give you away, if that’s what you’re thinking. That doesn’t benefit me when you still have my farm to hold over my head. Part of me was hoping you’d cut me in for the bigger deal all on your own. I’ve done as much work as your buddies at this point. I’ve warned you off, fed you information, and traded in the jail cell you were driving straight toward for a warm night in my barn.
“But if all that isn’t enough, consider how much help I can be going forward? Keep you updated on the investigation, let you know if the Bedlam Boys are getting close, and when the time is right, I can drive you right out of Bedlam in Cairo’s truck. No one is going to stop me if I say I’m going out on an errand for the sheriff and his son.”
“Huh. Interesting.” Jeremy propped the knife handle under my chin. He clearly found this amusing. “No doubt all of those would be helpful, but why wouldn’t I force you to do them for free by holding this very farm over your head like you said?”
“Because I don’t like when people play games with me. When they do, I get what my gran used to call ‘stormy.’ And when I’m stormy, I do what all natural disasters do and blaze over everything in my path,” I said flatly.
“What that looks like for you, Jeremy, is I start getting curious about what makes Bedlam so special that you’re willing to go to these lengths to get a piece of it. Then, I’ll start thinking twice about your too generous bribe, buying me a six-hundred-thousand-dollar farm— But oh, wait, you’re dragging your heels on giving me the keys and now I’m wondering if there’s a reason.”
His grin melted away.
“Maybe I start thinking you’re buying all this land and just sitting on it, because you’re waiting for your moment. So, now that I’m curious, and stormy, and fed the fuck up with you, I bring in assessors, crews, maybe even drilling teams and make sure I’m not sitting on oil or something.”
Jeremy’s sockets were two smoldering pits. “Watch yourself.”
“Why? Because I’m getting close.”
“Because you’re too stupid to know what you’re dealing with. Do— Do you know?”
“Do I know what?”
Jeremy probed me, searching my eyes for a trace of deception. He got nothing in return.
“You tell me not to play games, de Souza, but I don’t know anyone who plays them better than you. I ask again, what do you want the money for?”
“Ivy won’t come back to an old farmhouse and five a.m. wake-up calls. She’ll come back to her dream house, hired help, and start-up money to build her own marketing firm. I want what’s left of my family back together. You can appreciate that.”
He grunted. “The Crows were each offered a flat rate for their services. It’s generous, but it does not total the six-hundred-thousand worth we gave you. Plus an extra six thousand, and my car. Sell your sob story to someone else. Better yet, let your sister live her own life. She’s better off out of this shit hole.”
Jeremy, you’re making this so much easier for me.
“You’re not getting any more money.” He cuffed my chin. “As for your services, they are to continue as required, along with the additional help you laid out. We’re not having this conversation again. Say you understand this, or you’ll come back tomorrow and find out what I did to Granny’s bows.”
Raising my chin, I said, “I understand.”
“Hey,” Micah spoke up. “Where’s Asher?”
“I’ll find him.” I snatched Jeremy’s knife out of the air. “Just in case.”
He didn’t have a chance to stop me slipping out the door.
Arsenio, Cairo, Jacques, and Legend streamed out of the darkness, running past me.
“Hey!”
“Jeremy!”
“Agh!”
I strode over to the tied-up, gagged Crow thrashing in the bed of Cairo’s truck.
“Oh, look. I found him.”