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She pulled her usual cell phone out, popped the battery into it, and held it up victoriously.
“I don’t give a fuck if Rosé can find me using this or not. I have to see if Lyra messaged me.”
“Jade, we’re already looking into that. I —”
Multiple notifications chimed after she powered on the phone.
A few moments later, she gasped. Then a pissed off look crossed her face. She growled and smacked her hand against the floor.
“I’m going to kill him. Rosé is fucking dead! He is going to pay for this shit.”
She tapped out a text with her thumbs and fired it off, then frantically grabbed clothes out of her suitcase and tugged them on.
“What’s happening?” he asked.
She didn’t respond and stood up to slide on her jeans.
She buttoned and zipped them, then bent over to shove any stray clothes back into the suitcase.
“Jade,” he tried again.
She slammed the suitcase shut and stood up. She almost seemed to be in a trance. Maybe she was in some sort of shock.
“JADE!” he boomed.
She finally looked at him. “What?” she snapped.
Her eyes were deadly focused and determined. He hadn’t seen that look on anyone’s face since he’d left the military. Seeing it on Jade’s face sent ice through his veins.
“What’s happening?” he asked again.
“What’s happening is that I’m on my way to murder Rosé. Forget kicking his ass. He’s a dead man.”
“I need more info than that,” he said.
He climbed off the bed, went to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. He squeezed it gently and outstretched his other palm to her.
“Let me see your phone, baby,” he said softly.
He wasn’t sure if it was his tone or the endearment that reached her, but her face softened. She slid her phone into his hand. Her eyes welled up with tears and her lip quivered. She stood there silently for a moment, then she pressed herself against him and sobbed into his chest.
He squeezed her to his body and rubbed her back with one hand while navigating her phone with the other.
A stream of texts from an unknown number over the past few days filled the screen, getting more demanding and more aggressive with each message until they ended with a picture.
The picture and its caption arrived that morning around the time Lyra’s plane was supposed to land.
The caption read, “If I can’t punish you for your infidelities, I’ll punish those who matter most to you.”
The picture was a close-up of Lyra gagged and tied to a chair. Obvious bruises formed on her face and blood streaked from her nose. Her left eye was swollen shut, and the other shined with fear and pain. She’d obviously been severely beaten.
The picture simultaneously made Ryker’s stomach churn and outraged him. Poor Lyra.
Jade’s response text read, “Let Lyra go! Don’t hurt her any more! This is between you and me. Tell me when and where to meet you. I’ll come for you.”
I’ll come for you. A veiled threat. He loved that she was all-in to save her friend. But he hated that she might end up in harm’s way doing so. Too many things could go wrong.
He wrapped both arms around her and hugged her while she cried.
