Page 396 of A Matter of Time

“In Caleb Reid’s mind, you’re the one that caused him and his family to be guests in his brother’s life. Without you, Jory, the Reids could be a family again.”

“I—”

“The worst, of course, had to be the wedding, which is why the last victim was⁠—”

“No,” Sam barked at him.

Special Agent Calhoun took a breath. “I’m sorry. We’re just so close to bringing this man to justice and… You have to understand that to Mr. Reid, all these instances filled him with such incredible rage that it could only be vented through murder.” He finished, and I realized how clinical he sounded.

“You know, Caleb isn’t some case study, Agent Calhoun, he’s a human being.”

“Barely,” Calhoun stated. “Jory, I can’t think of any reason for you still being alive beyond the fact that he must genuinely like you. There’s no other explanation for it.”

I shifted away from Sam, but not beyond his reach. “So what now?”

“Now Caleb Reid needs to be found and taken into custody and put under psychiatric care as quickly as possible. Until he’s apprehended, you and Detective Kage, and Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt, and everyone else are in terrible jeopardy. Let’s not forget that Caleb Reid put a bomb in Detective Kage’s car that nearly killed him.”

And I had been missing all the rest, dismissing everything that had ever been done to me because I was fine, but Sam… Caleb had tried to kill Sam. I turned and looked at him and felt my eyes get hot.

“Oh shit,” Sam grumbled, glaring at Calhoun. “Could ya lay the fuck off, Zane? Don’t be such a fuckin’ hard-ass when you’re talking to Jory.”

“Oh c’mon, Sam,” he shot back as Sam reached for me, drawing me back into the circle of his arms. “Tell me you’re not all thinking about him like he’s still affable old Caleb. None of you are putting together the monster inside with the harmless boy next door outside. None of you get it. Caleb Reid is⁠—”

“Agent Calhoun.”

We all turned to the doorway, where a man now stood.

“Chicago PD has Caleb Reid cornered in a parking structure downtown.”

“Which one?” Dane asked.

And when the agent rattled off Dane’s address, I was surprised. Why go there?

“He overpowered a security guard,” the man continued, “but he just knocked him out. He hasn’t killed anyone, but he’s armed. It looks like he’s threatening to turn the gun on himself. The negotiator’s there, and they’re flying his parents in from Dallas as we speak.”

“Poor Susan,” Aja said softly, leaning into Dane’s side as he curled an arm around her. “This has got to be killing her. She must be thinking this is all her fault.”

“So what now?” Dane asked Agent Calhoun. “How long will you try and talk to him?”

“As long as it takes.”

There was a yell in the hall, and then a woman flew into the room.

“Calhoun, Caleb Reid has a hostage!” She sounded calm, even though she talked really fast.

“Who?”

“A woman. She was there to see the Harcourts… Candace Greene.”

“Oh God!” Aja gasped.

Everyone moved at once, reaching for her, which gave me my moment. It was like we had planned it.

I bolted out of the room.

“Jory!” I heard Sam roar.

“Grab him!” Agent Calhoun shouted behind me, but I was pretty sure everyone was in the room.