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She shot him a glare. “I appreciate you being there to take care of him. But we could have called the police.”
“We don’t want the police involved,” Grange said.
This was getting ridiculous. “First, who is ‘we,’ and why not? And what’s going to happen to the dead guy in my apartment? We’re supposed to just leave him there?”
“He’s been taken care of.”
“What the hell does that mean?” she asked Grange. “Who are you people?”
For the first time in the short period of time since she’d met him, Grange let down the façade of military bearing. He seemed to slump in the chair and ran his fingers through his hair.
“I know you want to protect her, Grange, but she has to know the truth,” Pete said. “Then maybe she can help.”
He shook his head. “Not supposed to work that way. I promised. That’s why I sent Jed.”
“What? Why you sent Jed to do what?” She stood, tired of being the last person to know anything, and having a very bad feeling she’d been used. She cast her gaze to Jed, who was looking at her with a solemn expression that screamed guilt.
She palmed her stomach, suddenly feeling sick. The oversized kitchen seemed to close in on her and she had to get out of there. She pushed away from the table and walked out of the room, eyeing the double doors leading to the backyard, the early morning sunshine and the pool area.
No one stopped her. She didn’t see guards, so she headed toward the edge of the pool, kicked off her shoes and sat down, dipping her feet in the heated water.
Thankfully, no one had followed her because her head spun and she needed to process what Grange had said.
Not supposed to work that way. What wasn’t supposed to work what way?
I promised. Promised who?
That’s why I sent Jed. This was the worst. Jed had been some kind of plant, sent to her to do what? Their meeting hadn’t been coincidental; it had been orchestrated to end up this way, to bring her here. Everything that had happened between them had been a lie.
Everything she had been feeling for him had been real. Her stomach twisted and tears pricked her eyes. This was not the time to be a girl wracked with emotions. Not when she was in the middle of something she didn’t understand, kidnapped and tossed on an island with three strangers. Her life was in danger and she needed to keep a clear head.
Jed could just go fuck himself.
“Elena.”
So much for time alone to think. At least it wasn’t Jed. Right now she’d deliver a punch to his midsection that, twelve-pack abs or not, would rock his world.
Grange came and pulled up a chair next to her.
“We need to talk.”
She peered up to him. “It’s about time somebody said something to me. I’ve been kidnapped and lied to.”
“You weren’t kidnapped. You’re being protected.”
“From whom, exactly?”
“Someone who has a vendetta against me.”
She pulled her feet out of the water and turned to face him. “What? What does that have to do with me?”
“It’s kind of a long story, and you aren’t going to like a lot of it, but bear with me while I explain it to you.”
She nodded. “Go ahead.”
“Your mother is missing.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Missing?”
