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My expression turns serious. “I thought about it, but I knew I had to get you back to the compound to get treated, and I couldn’t leave Cory and Felix behind.”
I roll my eyes and slow my pace so he can catch up. As soon as he does, he steers me away from the path I usually take and toward a narrower, hidden one.
Overhead, the early afternoon sun burns, making sweat pool on the back of my neck. A flock of birds fly past, calling out to each other as they do. When we come to a stop, Shane reaches into the back pocket of his jeans and pulls out papers that were rolled together.
“What is this?”
Shane clears his throat. “The man who attacked you was sent by your grandfather.”
I freeze. “What did you just say?”
“The man who attacked you—”
I hold my hand up and take an involuntary step back. “Stop. I heard you the first time.”
“Evie, I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to find out from anyone else, but the guy who attacked you is a man by the name of Joaquin Lopez. Joaquin worked with Isaiah’s rivals, The Syndicate, until he double-crossed them too.”
I sink onto a boulder, and the world tilts and shifts out of focus. “How did you find out?”
“I paid them a visit yesterday,” Shane continues with a grimace. “Cory and Felix covered for me. They’re not happy about being double-crossed, so they did some digging and managed to find out that he was working for the governor.”
I stare up at him. “You’re lying.”
“I wish I was. I know you don’t want to hear this, but you need to know the truth.”
Shane holds out the papers, but I shove them away. I jump to my feet, my pulse like a jackhammer in my chest. “No, this can’t be true. Because that would mean that… that my grandfather…”
The words wouldn’t come out of my mouth.
The harder I try to force them out, the more ridiculous they sound. So I take several steps back and rake my fingers through my hair. It is one thing for me to believe that my grandfather is reluctant in his negotiations, but it is another thing entirely to have me eliminated.
Like I am some kind of problem.
Shane is lying.
He has to be.
Except I can’t come up with a single good reason why he would.
“I want to go back,” I told him without turning around. “It’s almost time for me to video chat with them.”
“Evie, I—”
I wheel around to face him, my eyes burning. “Take me back now.”
Later, I find myself staring at my sister’s face on the screen while she gives me all the results of her findings, pausing to check over her shoulders every now and again. “I’m sorry, E. I couldn’t believe it either, and I’ve spent the past two days trying to wrap my head around it, but it’s true.”
I press two fingers to my temples and swallow. “So Grandpa really did send that man after me?”
“I don’t know if he meant to kill you or not, but I did some digging, and Joaquin was dealing with a subsidiary company that can be traced back to Grandpa. He didn’t want you to be used as leverage.”
“So it was easier to just get rid of me.”
Dinah winces, the dark circles under her eyes pronounced. “Fuck. I’m sorry, E. I don’t know what to tell you. I still can’t believe it myself.”
“You’re sure about this?”
Dinah nods carefully. “I’m sure. I’m sorry.”
