Page 92 of Untamed Sinner

I sit in the kitchen, an untouched donut on a plate in front of me, staring at her picture on my phone. We can plan around Ashford all we want, but if Clara stays where she is, she’s a loose end with a pulse. We don’t know how Ashford intends to use her. We don’t even know if he knows she exists.

That’s the problem.

We can’t protect her from something we can’t predict. Turner being imprisoned doesn’t guarantee her safety.

So she needs to disappear.

Not Whitlock-security disappear. Not private-jet-to-another-state disappear. Actually disappear.

There’s only one person I know who can do that.

I look at the donut. “This is a bad idea, right?”

The donut remains dubious.

“Like you have a better idea.” I hit call before the donut offers any other objections.

Gabriel answers on the third ring.

“Mandy.” Suspicion is already baked into my name. “Tell me you’re not calling because you’re in trouble again.”

“Still,” I correct. “And I need a favor.”

He sighs.

“You don’t even know what it is,” I protest.

“I know you.”

Fair. I shrug. “I need you to pick someone up and keep her safe.”

The pause is more pregnant than Emma Callahan. “Who?” he asks, suspicion in his voice.

I take a breath. “Clara Whitlock.”

Silence.

Then, very quietly in his chilliest enforcer voice, he says, “No.”

Wincing, I get up and go onto the porch. I can tell this call is going to take longer than I thought, and I don’t want Hendricks to happen upon me until it’s done. “You didn’t even let me finish.”

“You said the name Whitlock and that finished it for me.”

Ignoring his drama, I say, “I need you to get her out of sight.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Mandy. You’re talking about Clara Whitlock, James Whitlock’s favorite niece.”

“So you know her.”

He snorts. “Everyone knows her. More importantly, my family knows her family.”

That’s why my plan is going to work. I hope. “I’m aware.”

“Are you?” His voice sharpens. “Because you just asked a Reyes to involve himself with a Whitlock. Not just involve myself, but to kidnap a Whitlock.”

“I asked you to keep a woman alive.”

He laughs, but there’s no humor behind it. “That woman has a family with enough money, security, lawyers, and political influence to invade a small country.”