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The library had been convenient for so long.
It paid reasonably well.
It was something I was good at.
It had been close to where I lived.
But Reed had me questioning everything in so many different ways. We were two strangers. I was some random runaway bride he’d stopped and picked up on the side of the road. What happened after that, neither of us could have predicted or prepared for, but it had been the most amazing few weeks of my life. It had me thinking that maybe good things could actually come from taking that leap into the unknown.
Something I’d avoided for years.
My mom took everything away that night after Maddie’s attack. I was seventeen, and she left me stranded on the side of the road with no money, no home, and no transport. She called my private school and told them she’d no longer be paying my fees. She canceled my cards.
In seconds, it was all gone.
And the fear of that happening again kept me prepping and planning ahead.
But maybe it was time to let go and take another leap, starting with my job.
“Change of plans,” Karl called from the front seat, making me sit a little taller. “Reed wants us to meet him somewhere.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Okay. Where?”
He pulled into another street and made a quick turn before heading in the other direction. “Dolores’ Diner,” he said as he pulled back out onto the road. “He said something about needing pie.”
Shit.
Chapter Twenty-Six
REED
Staring up at the ugly, bad-side-of-the-track motel in front of me, I shook my head. “Are you sure?”
“That’s what her credit card details say.”
I let out a long sigh. “Okay, thanks.”
It’d cost me a lot of money and a favor I was probably going to regret later, but I’d finally found the place where Jade was hiding out. I’d promised Valen I would find her. Whether she needed help or not, I was going to offer it, and we were going to get to the bottom of what the hell was going on.
The guy working the front desk had caved for a hundred-dollar bill, and as I walked up the stairs to the second story, I could feel the adrenaline begin to flood my veins and ramp my heart rate skyward. I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Was Chad going to be there, ready for another ass-beating?
Or was Jade going to tell me we were all fucking crazy, and she was happy as hell with that dumb bastard?
I was hoping for option one.
But I am expecting option two.
Either way, I had no idea as I lifted my fist and slammed it hard against the old wooden door.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Then I held my breath, waiting, expecting it to open any second.
Thirty seconds.
One minute.
