Page 101 of Rune
“Yes.” She swallowed hard. “He was there, too, wasn’t he?”
I raked a hand down my face.
“It was the brother’s gun Jon used to kill Vicky.” The memory flashed of the weapon exchanging hands. “I imagine he’s here to go to law school so he has the skills it takes to keep the rest of the organization out of prison.”
“So you think his brother has been keeping tabs on me?”
“Seems like it.”
“And, what, realized I was no longer trying to kill you, because we were hanging out?”
“Best guess.”
“Why the kidnapping attempt then? Why veer from the trying to kill us thing?”
“I imagine they wanted information. That’s why they said they weren’t supposed to hurt youyet. They wanted to save the pain to use it as motivation. They likely were fishing to see if you and I had traced this thing back to Vicky yet or not. Make no mistake, though, they would have killed you after. There is no surviving being tortured. You are too much of a liability.”
“I guess I knew that. That’s why I fought so hard. Do you think Sofia is in danger?”
“I think if she was still here, yeah, she would be. But nothing about her path right now is predictable. It would be hard, if not impossible, for them to track her and hurt her. Besides, now that we have an answer, I’m gonna make sure no one can touch her.”
“You have to kill them, don’t you?”
“Listen,” I said, my tone serious, but a little soft. Because I knew this part might be hard to swallow. “I can’t talk to you about club business. It’s better for the both of us if that stays the case. You can’t be used against me then. And you don’t have to carry the weight of things that have to happen around here. But hypothetically, you don’t want the man who murdered your best friend in cold blood to live, do you? You were ready to end me for it.”
“No, I don’t think people that evil should be allowed to be walking among us.”
“I know he’s your cousin.”
“But does that actually mean anything if he lied to my face? If he was going to pin the murder on someone else, all the while comforting me about the womanhekilled?”
“This kind of shit can get tricky. I’ve seen it a lot that family members are still able to love someone who did atrocious things. That ain’t me. But it might be you. And I’m not gonna judge that. Shit with family is complicated.”
“Maybe it would be complicated if this was Sofia. But it isn’t. I didn’t even know Jack until last year. I mean, I knewofhim, but I didn’t know him. He might as well be a neighbor. Or some kid I went to school with. And if he was as evil as you claim he was that night, I don’twantto know him.”
“Okay,” I agreed, exhaling hard. “Can you do me a favor?” I asked, grabbing my phone to take a picture of her phone.
“Stay here while I go and find someone to talk to about this.”
“Yeah. It’s not like I have anywhere else to be.”
“And can you do it naked?” I asked, getting a snorting laugh out of her.
“Seeing as I have no energy to get dressed, I think I can manage that.”
“Good. I’ll be back.”
I leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her lips before climbing out of bed, pulling on my pants, and grabbing a shirt before heading out into the common area.
Where I nearly knocked over my brother.
“Where’s the fire?” Croft asked. “Got another super-secret adventure you’ve been keeping from me?”
“Still being a pain in the ass about that?”
“We’re supposed to be closer than that, that’s all I’m saying.”
“I got fifty bucks on you finding a woman someday who brings chaos into your life… and you deliberately keeping that shit from me too.”
