Page 134 of Broken Bonds

“Bring your notes.”

I rub my forehead. “I’m not going to enjoy this meeting, am I?”

“We have another complication. Please, just get here ASAP, and bring what you have so far of your research. Thanks. Love you.”

“Love y—” But he’s already ended the call.

I sigh. Motherfucker.

Not calling him that—this time—just in regards to this whole…shit-show.

Dropping my phone onto the couch, I scrub my face with my hands. The early morning hasn’t done good things for my mood, and I haaate it when my day’s upended.

I hate it even more when my day’s upended multiple times in the span of a couple of hours.

Jax hasn’t asked me to make calls to arrange a surreptitious body disposal, so hopefully whatever this new hiccup is, it’s not… life-threatening? I mean, more than Mal’s life is already under threat.

That’s just a guess about his call, that it’s probably regarding Mal, considering what I know Jax’s dealt with so far today.

This does not bode well.

But before I go, I follow up on an email response I received with a quick phone call, to make sure I have my information straight, because I have a feeling it’ll be needed.

As I pack my laptop and gather the growing stack of notes I’ve accumulated, handwritten and printed, I try to shove back my growing unease and focus only on what’s right ahead of me.

Todd’s our friend and, even more than that, he’s adopted family. He’s pack. I don’t want Mal to live the life I endured throughout my youth, never able to settle in one place, always looking over my shoulder.

Although in Mal’s case, the threat is far more immediate and coming from multiple fronts.

I only hope what I’ve learned so far will help us figure out how to save this pup’s life.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Mal

A Plan

Part of me wants to pace while I wait for someone to tell me what’s going on even though I know that won’t accomplish anything except force me to focus on the fact that I have no clue what will happen in the next little while. Meaning I force myself to play a game on my tablet, although—unsurprisingly—it’s not holding my interest.

I feel Todd’s presence close by, likely in the house, but I can’t hear his thoughts. I don’t know if that’s because of the walls between us or he’s trying to shield his thoughts from me or what.

When I hear what I assume is Jax’s truck arrive a few minutes later, I struggle to stay put and not head next door.

I’m certain when it’s my time in the hot seat, I’ll be summoned.

Maybe twenty-five minutes later, I hear another vehicle arrive, a smaller one, not a truck. A few minutes after that, I sense Todd’s presence grow closer, and I’m already opening the apartment door before he can knock.

He looks…grim.

That fills me with a low-key terror threatening to upend my stomach.

But he pulls me in for a kiss that doesn’t feel…desperate.

He finally smiles. “We’re not in trouble. Come on.” He laces fingers with me and leads me back to his house, where Jax and Shawn sit at the kitchen table.

Todd doesn’t release my hand until we’re both seated, me on his left, Shawn on his right, and Jax directly across from Todd. On the table in front of Shawn are a closed laptop, a pile of papers, and a notebook.

Before I can speak Jax holds up a staying hand. “We have a lot of info to go over right now, Mal. No, you’re not in trouble, and neither is Todd, so please relax as much as you can while we cover everything, all right?”