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“Brandon?” I knocked on the door and reached for the knob. “Sorry, I said that I would call. I just got caught up in my own thoughts and forgot. But let’s get going so it’s not too late—”

I opened the door and froze.

Brandon was sitting on what remained of our ruined couch, staring at me, horrified. And pointing a silenced gun at him was Max.

The big man looked like he’d been hit at least once, and so did Brandon, fresh blood on his head over some of the older bruising. At the very least he’d fought back. That was good.

Cold fear poured over me like I’d been dunked in ice water.

“About time you showed up,” Max said. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“You found me,” I said blankly.

Brandon swallowed. “I’m so sorry, Kate. I didn’t know.”

For the briefest of seconds, I closed my eyes. It hadn’t been Brandon’s bad luck—it had been Max, or someone who worked for him. They’d been watching and had known I’d be the one Brandon would call. Why hadn’t I taken Daniel’s offer to have someone come with me? It seemed like lunacy now.

But there’d been nothing. Nothing. No sign of them still being here. Was there any way to have known? I didn’t think so. And right now, it didn’t matter.

“I didn’t know,” Brandon repeated.

Max rolled his eyes. “I’m glad we don’t need you anymore.”

The nearly silent sound of the shot cracked my world open. I screamed, and Brandon’s body jerked. Red spilled out from the center of his chest. He wasn’t moving. “Brandon!” I didn’t recognize the sound of my own voice.

I needed to run. And I needed to help him. I was steps away from the door and steps from him, exactly in the middle.

I dove for my brother. The bleeding. I needed to stop the bleeding.

My indecision cost me. I took too long. Max caught me before I could make it to Brandon, an arm around my stomach, pulling me away. “No,” I begged. “Let me help him. Please.”

“I didn’t shoot him to let you save his fucking worthless life.”

Max was too strong. He had a hundred pounds on me, and a gun. I fought, kicking out and trying to pull his arm off me. I scratched him, held on to the doorframe. Anything to keep me here because as soon as I left here, no one would know where I was.

The cold chill of metal slammed into my temple. “Fucking stop it.”

I froze again, breath heaving. I could maybe survive whatever he had planned for me. I couldn’t survive a bullet to the head.

“Give me your phone.” Dread pooled in my stomach, and Max pushed the barrel harder into my skin. “Now.”

He snatched it from my hand as soon as I had it out of my pocket, tossing it to the floor of the apartment. Brandon was still. Covered in blood.

Tears blurred everything together, and Max marched me out of the apartment. Down the stairs to a dingy blue van. Please, God, let Noah figure things out. Let him feel that something was wrong and find me.

“Get in.” Max pushed me, and I lost my balance. I hadn’t recovered it when the butt of the gun crashed down, and everything went black.

Chapter 26

Noah

The cold air was bracing as I stepped out of the office. My soul felt ragged, but better. That session had been long overdue, and Rayne and I had both agreed that, for the time being, more frequent appointments would be good. So I could deal with this.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and had the feeling of suddenly reconnecting with the world again after a long absence. A couple of texts and a voicemail from Kate. It made me smile before I even heard her voice.

Brandon... I sighed.

That wasn’t ideal, but I agreed with Lucas and Daniel. There’d been no sign of the Riders on anything we’d been monitoring. And if they weren’t coming for the money that Brandon owed them, they likely weren’t coming.