Page 17 of Ghost Among Lies

I shot Beckett a “what the fuck” look. That wasn't how he explained it to me. So much for morbid curiosity.

Nyx chuckled. "And how did that work out for you?"

He shrugged. "I mean she's still alive and not in police custody, so I say it went pretty well."

"Says the former FBI agent," I grumbled at him. Next time, I would kick his ass out of the Jeep.

"Enough!" Anita's command sliced through the conversation like a hot knife. "Get him to the cell so we can figure out how to handle this shitstorm." She shot Beckett a death glare. "You come with me. We need to talk."

We all winced. I sure as hell didn't envy the tongue-lashing he was about to get. Although the fact that Anita was doing it in private was a large step in the right direction. In the past, she would've aired her grievances for everyone to hear. A private conversation was good news for Beckett.

"Nyx, why don't you help Sloane move Hayes while I go let Krista out of the panic room. I'll let her know she needs to keep herself occupied while we deal with the problem."

Lilith clearly had a soft spot for Krista. She was always the first one jumping to help the young girl whenever she could. We all had panic rooms and a bedroom for Krista in our houses, but most of the time, Krista stayed with Lilith.

Nyx saluted Lilith's back. "You heard the woman. Let's go."

Same as last time, I took Hayes' upper body, and Nyx grabbed his legs. My ex was no slouch. All of his weight came from muscle. I was trying my hardest not to notice how nicely he filled out over the years. Gone was the lanky, often hungry teen I used to know. I hated seeing him like that in high school, but there was only so much he would let me do for him back then. He had it in his head he needed to take care of me even though I had the means to take care of us both.

In high school, I was a trust-fund kid with a monthly allowance that was more than what he would make in a year at his part-time job. Even so, any time we went out together, he insisted on paying. According to him, it was the guy's responsibility. The only way for me to counter that was to eat as little as possible and give him the rest because I always had a meal waiting for me at home. The same couldn't be said for him.

Looking at him now, it was clear things had changed. He no longer looked hungry, and his clothes were clean. I'm sure there were plenty of other changes, but I wouldn't know until we spoke to him.

"Where do you want him?"

The cell was versatile. I had the option to hang him from a hook, strap him down to a table, or a more humane way of doing things, tie him to a chair. Other options existed but those were the three main ones.

"Tie him to the chair for now. I just want to talk to him."

Nyx looked at me like I was an idiot. "You couldn't have done that back at his house?"

I rolled my eyes. "That was the plan, but then he woke up swinging, and I was forced to knock him out. I couldn't chance him alerting his neighbors, so we brought him here instead."

"Well, I hope you get the answers you seek because this mess isn't going to be easy to clean up."

Don't I know it.

CHAPTER TEN

HAYES

Being forcibly woken up by freezing cold water to the face was not how I expected my day to start.

At least I assumed it was still morning. There was no way to tell for sure based on the sterile windowless room I found myself in.

Fun fact: Apparently, I was also tied to a metal chair. That little tidbit of information went unnoticed until I tried to wipe the water from my face.

So quick recap. I had no idea what time it was, but considering my limbs weren't numb, I probably wasn't in this position long before the ice bath. I didn't have the first clue where I was. The room I was in reminded me of a morgue, but last I checked, I wasn't dead. Not to mention I was restrained, and usually, morticians didn't feel the need to do that.

Dead people rarely put up a fight.

With all that being said. I was screwed. For the moment anyway. Hopefully, I could change those circumstances soon.

"Are you done assessing your situation and ready to start talking?"

I blinked the last of the water out of my eyes and stared up at the woman in front of me.

My ex-fucking-fiancée.