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“So it wasn’t you who got me this job? Pinky-swear?”
“Already told you, girl,” Zane mutters, a growl audible over the line. “What’s this about?”
“Oh good. Good, good, good.” I can’t help the happiness bubbling inside me. I have a grin so big on my face it has to be reaching my ears. “Just making sure.”
“Sure of what? You done talking in riddles, Meg?”
His tone tells me he’s stressed. “Is something wrong? Is Audrey okay?”
“Yeah.” His voice softens. “Yeah, she’s fine. Damn, sorry, girl. Didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m happy you got a job. I fucking mean it.”
I know he does. Zane’s a sweetheart. “Then what’s gotten your briefs in a twist?”
He hesitates, and my excitement simmers down. Before I ask again what’s wrong, he calls something out, presumably to one of the guys at Damage Control, and I hear the sound of a door closing.
“It’s Rafe,” he says quietly, and my heart is now pounding for an entirely different reason.
“What about him?”
“Have you seen him around? Fucker’s vanished from the face of the earth. I swear, if anything happened to him…”
Fear curls icy fingers around my spine. “I thought you guys hang out together all the time. In fact, I was going to ask you if you’re doing anything to celebrate his birthday. I know it’s coming up soon, though I don’t know when exactly, and—”
“His birthday. He told you?”
Again that same strange reaction I got from Tessa. “Tell me what, Zane?”
He grunts. “What do you think I mean? About the anniversary.”
Anniversary. That doesn’t sound the same as a birthday. “Anniversary of what?”
“His family’s murder. It’s tomorrow, and he always gets kinda crazy when it comes around.”
Crap. “And what’s that got to do with this birthday?”
“Megan…” Zane sighs. “It’s the same date. It happened on his fifteenth birthday. He blames himself for letting the killer inside. He just…” A thump, as if Zane kicked at something. “He often hurts himself on that date.”
Holy shit. My legs feel weak. I sink down on my couch and suck in a sharp breath. “What should we do?”
“He won’t answer his phone, or his door, and with Audrey at the hospital… Dammit.” He pauses. “I hope we don’t have to break his door down. Listen, if you see him, give me a call, will ya?”
“Will do. You, too, if you find him first.”
The fear digs those icy fingers into my chest and twists. The pain I saw in his eyes, the desperation with which he held me… The things he did for me, and then the way he pushed me away…
All of a sudden, it makes a twisted kind of sense. Jesus, was he saying goodbye?
I shoot up from the sofa and grab my purse. I need to find Rafe. I just hope it won’t be too late.
Chapter Twelve
Rafe
“Leave Megan alone.” I’m finally facing her stalker in a back alley, not far from where she lives. Mage led me here and quietly left, to lurk somewhere nearby, most likely. “Who sent you?”
The guy has even more tats than me, and scars running down his neck. He moves his hand to his back, and chances are he’s going for a knife or a gun, so I grab him and slam him to the wall.
