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Zayn tilts his head, a strange expression on his face. “He’s running a community center? Which one?”
I shrug. “The one near her apartment. I don’t know the name.”
“Where does she live?” Zayn gets up and picks up my laptop, settling on the island counter.
When I rattle off the address, his fingers whisper over the keyboard.
“What are you doing?” I ask, putting the cake in the refrigerator. “Why is the community center so important?”
Ian puts his tablet aside and wanders over to where we stand, Agatha close behind.
Zayn doesn't say anything for a moment, before he turns the laptop around for us to see. “Is this the one? Seth Turner?”
Seeing the website with the familiar face of Sarah’s friend on it, I feel a hint of uneasiness. “Yeah, what about it?”
Zayn stares at Seth’s face on the screen. “This community center houses fresh gang recruits, kids, teenagers. I’ve heard this place being mentioned quite frequently. I don’t think Sarah’s friend is what he appears to be.”
I feel a chill crawl down my spine. “What do you mean? Are you saying he might be part of the gang?”
Zayn meets my eyes, his holding a chilling finality. “I’m saying he might be the leader of this gang.”
Agatha tucks her hand in the crook of my elbow and studies Zayn. “Just because he runs a community center which is the hotspot for gang recruits? That’s far-fetched.”
Ian interrupts. “Give me ten minutes, and I can have his whole life in front of us in a heartbeat.”
He moves to pick up his tablet and wearing an intense look on his face, he gets to work.
Zayn glances at him and then looks at me. “It would make sense as well. There were four guys who cornered Sarah that evening. All four are dead. You got attacked soon after meeting him, although the gang has no beef with you. The only common factor here between those deaths and the ambush on you, is Sarah.”
He stares at the screen. “I had heard everything was over a woman. It wasn’t Ruby, but Sarah.”
I grip the counter, my knuckles turning white. “Bryan must have realized that Seth wanted his sister and he fought with him over it.”
Agatha looks pale. “That makes more sense than anything. He’s obsessed with her.”
Ian makes a small noise of disbelief. “Offshore accounts, constant transactions of huge sums: this man is no community center manager.”
I take a step back, releasing Agatha’s hold on me. “Okay, I need to find Sarah. If it got into her head to go and talk to him, she could be in grave danger. Where’s my phone?”
I pat my pockets and remember that I left it in the bedroom to charge. Striding to the huge room that I now share with the woman who has a strong hold over my heart, I blink when I see the message light blinking.
&nb
sp; Two messages from Sarah.
It takes a second for my worry to develop into full-blown panic. Running into the living area, I grab my jacket. “Sarah climbed into the car of one of the men. She’s at the abandoned slaughterhouse.”
Growling out coordinates, I push the sofa back, revealing a loose floorboard. Taking it out, I remove a few guns and bullets.
Agatha stares at me, her face white. “I thought you got rid of those.”
Zayn walks over to grab one and sticks it in his jeans. “I told him not to.”
Ian conceals another. “Agatha, you stay here. Get some police backup. We might need it.”
She doesn’t protest, sitting down heavily into the armchair, nodding her head.
I can’t think about her aversion to violence right now; my mind is too busy conjuring up all kinds of scenarios that Sarah could have landed herself in.
