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They were out. All of them. In a space where Alice, that cartel or anyone else couldn’t come within a mile of without the entirety of the Academy there to assist.
If only he could keep them all there. Safe.
Days of searching the city had proved fruitless.
There was only one thing he cared about finding now.
Wil.
He was gone, and Axel knew this was going to be the key to getting her to stay out of trouble, the one thing that would send her back into Charleston. If she went, his team went. He didn’t blame them, but now it put everyone in danger. More than ever…
If he’d been easier to find, Axel would have dragged him here, even if kicking and screaming the whole way. Unfortunately, there’d been no trace of him. Wherever he was, he was good at hiding, whether with Alice or not.
The flow of people from where he’d parked to the campground’s central meeting pit had him questioning if perhaps he’d missed her. He’d heard they were on the way. He turned toward the direction they were supposed to be going. Maybe he’d go see if they’d sat down yet.
A text message came in, vibrating in his pocket. He checked his phone.
Dr. Roberts: Still no word about Wil, and school is out for the holidays so it isn’t like he’ll show up there. This isn’t going to end well. She’s no obligation to us. I can try to convince her to stay but she never listens. Will you try?
Alex Toma: I don’t think I can stop her. Not for this.
Dr. Roberts: I know. But talk her into staying. You know when I tell her about old Mr. Murdock being dead, there’s going to be no holding her back…except maybe you.
Axel almost put his phone away. His gut instinct was to somehow put her in the hospital again, keeping her under Academy security until he could sort it all out. It had been his first mistake. Letting her out, urging them to release her before they found Alice…
But this might be the only step to allow her to finally let go. He sent another message.
Axel Toma: I don’t want to.
It was going against everything the Academy did. Lay low, let authorities sort things out when they got involved. Now the FBI was in town, special teams hired to find Alice after the murder was uncovered. It was hard enough to get Kayli off of the list of people to question.
He knew.
Once they had a meal, changed clothes, regrouped…they’d go back. He’d be lucky to get her to sleep before going back.
They’d have gone for Blake, but he would be easy to locate. Wil, he wasn’t just missing, he was roped in with Alice.
He couldn’t ask Kayli to go. She’d go alone just to drag him out of danger. He knew it. If they didn’t go back with her, she was as good as dead. But that wasn’t why she needed to go.
A message came back.
Dr. Roberts: I don’t think we can help if you choose to go. I can’t ask anyone to do it. Not this time.
He put his phone away, sure that there wasn’t anything else to add to the conversation.
If they didn’t catch her brother, he might get caught up with this FBI investigation, possibly sent in as an accessory to whatever crimes Alice had been committing.
He was only hoping that Wil hadn’t crossed those lines and had just been wrapped up in lies Alice was feeding him.
But…Wil had stolen Blake’s cell phone. He’d betrayed Blake. Brought Alice down upon them all.
The question remained, and he hated to tell her, that Wil could have betrayed her, betrayed them all…could have been part of things from the start. He’d been hard to track down for months. Somehow, amid everything, Alice had gotten to him, maybe into his head.
It was the hardest thing to believe, that your own family could betray you and to learn to let go.
Before they got back to the city, he had to decide, should he let Kayli find him?
Maybe it was better for the FBI to do so.
Would she ever forgive him if he led the FBI straight to Wil, even if he was too far gone?
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BOOKS BY C. L. STONE
The Academy Ghost Bird Series:
Introductions
First Days
Friends vs. Family
Forgiveness and Permission
Drop of Doubt
Push and Shove
House of Korba
The Other Side of Envy
The Healing Power of Sugar
First Kiss
Black and Green
Love’s Cruel Redemption
Unsung Requiem (Coming Soon)
The Academy Scarab Beetle Series
Thief
Liar
Fake
Accessory
Hoax
Tempest
Gone (Coming Soon)
Charleston’s Leading Ladies
Evelyn
Celeste (previously published as Smoking Gun)
Rainee
Other C. L. Stone Books:
Favored (Kindle Unlimited Exclusive)
Melody
Girl in the Bearskin (Once Upon a Harem)
Evelyn
Charleston's Leading Ladies
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Book One
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Written by C. L. Stone
Published by
Arcato Publishing
PROLOGUE
Revenge planning took up a lot of hours. I’d barely slept.
Inside Tissu Deux, Gretta’s currently closed fashion boutique, five of us sat on plush white couches. Near us was a low wooden stage that Gretta often used as part of her designing process, modeling high-end and celebrity clients. Today, we’d pulled the couches together and faced each other. Behind us were mannequins on pedestals, each displaying outfits different from each other, from ball gowns to casual beach wear. The stage’s lights were on, the brightness diminished by the overhead lights way above us in the high ceiling.
