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Surprisingly, she didn’t argue, hurrying to collect her stuff that was strewn around the room.
I pulled my cell from my pocket while stepping out of the tiny motel room and hit dial to call Karl. I’d already planned to have him meet us with Valen—knowing full well once I found Jade, I wasn’t leaving until she agreed to at least have a conversation with Valen.
Now I knew, though, that Jade had been trying to fix things, while Chad didn’t want the girls to have their happy ending.
He wanted Valen to continue to hurt.
And now I was starting to wonder to what extent he was willing to go to make sure she felt that pain.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
VALEN
Every time the little bell over the door rang, I looked up, expecting to see Reed. My leg bounced nervously under the table.
I wasn’t sure why we were here, but with the way Karl kept looking at his phone with this heavy frown, I could tell it wasn’t a casual visit for pie.
Reed knew I’d need it.
He knew it would comfort me.
I just wasn’t sure why.
“Here you go, dear.”
Dolores placed a plate of apple pie down in front of me, and I looked up at her with a smile. “Thank you so much.”
Her smile was so sweet and comforting. Like a grandma I never had. My grandparents on both sides had my parents later in life, so by the time I came along, they had already either passed away or were in homes, and I didn’t get to spend that much time with them.
Maybe that was why I spent so much time here because it had this homely vibe that I’d felt like I was missing for a long time.
I had a spoonful of pie hovering in front of my mouth as I heard the bell over the door ring again. My eyes were instantly drawn to the noise and my spoon clattering back into the plate when I saw who was walking through the door, wearing a dark hoodie and a menacing glare.
I shook my head and gripped the table. “Chad, you need to leave,” I said loudly as he walked straight toward me, his eyes narrowed.
Karl leaped from the booth, putting himself in front of me, his arms spread wide. “Walk away, Chad,” Karl ordered, planting his feet firmly. “You need to turn around and walk a—”
Chad stopped, lifting the gun grasped in his hand and pointing it directly at Karl’s chest.
The handful of people within the diner gasped and screamed while Karl made a reach for his weapon, but Chad already had the barrel of his gun practically pressed to Karl’s chest.
“Don’t move.” Karl froze, every muscle in his body poised as Chad reached forward and pulled Karl’s gun from his holster. He tucked it away in the back of his jeans before waving his gun around. “Now get out of the way.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Karl replied.
“Move.”
“I’m not—”
Chad swung, clocking Karl across the face with the butt of his gun and sending him sprawling onto the floor.
“Oh my God.” I tried to shuffle out of the booth, but Chad took a step closer.
“Sit. Down!” he screamed, turning the gun on me, the dark, deadly barrel hovering right at eye level. It had the power to destroy me in less than a second. Less than a breath. And all I could do was sit there and listen to my heart pound in my ears. “Sit down,” he repeated, this time calmer. Quieter.
There was movement around the diner, just a little, and I knew at least someone probably would have called the cops.
I also knew Reed was on his way.
