Page 95 of Hearts and Hidden Secrets

CARSON

The ride was quiet.

Jonah and I sat in the back of an Escalade. There were two guards in the front, and another vehicle following us. That was for Jonah’s safety.

Once I started recognizing the landmarks, seeing that they were taking me to my parents’ house, I asked, “Are you mafia?”

Jonah didn’t answer, not right away. We traveled a little farther before he turned to me.

“I’m a surgeon.”

“But that’s not what your family does.”

He didn’t answer me, and I saw that he wasn’t going to.

My parents lived out of town on a farm. The Escalade paused at the end of their driveway. It was a long one, half a mile, but if they’d turned in, the dogs would have woken everyone. Instead, all the vehicles pulled to the side of the road, and the headlights went off as they waited.

“Do you want us to drive you up to the house?” Jonah asked.

“No.” The house was dark. “They’re probably asleep.”

“Your parents are farmers?”

“My dad used to be, but he retired a while back. He rents the land now to other farmers.” I frowned. “Why are we here? I was staying in a hotel.”

“Tanner informed me that accommodations had been made for you, so your sister wouldn’t be alarmed.”

A chill went down my spine. That did not sound good. “What do you mean accommodations ?”

“Your sister got a call, which she thought was from you, from your phone, telling her you’d be home later. You’ve been checked out of the hotel, and your sister said she’d be here this evening. Kai wants you near your sister, since he has one team dispatched to watch you both.”

I hadn’t a clue how to react to that. I ground my teeth together. “And if for some reason my sister goes to town and I’m not with her?”

“Then the team will be split in half. They’ll be thinned out, so that wouldn’t be smart.”

He sounded like his brother right now, cold to me.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. “Right.”

I was starting to hate that her body had ever come to the morgue. She died and brought him into my life. If she hadn’t, none of this would’ve happened.

I wouldn’t have met him.

I was going down a dark path, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“Where’s my phone?” I asked. Tanner had handed it to him, but I hadn’t gotten it yet.

He reached into his pocket, pulled it out. He held it, not handing it over. “Carson…”

He was going to apologize or something. I heard the softening in his tone, and my heart broke.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck!

I’d fallen for him.

I knew it then.

I hadn’t wanted to admit it, because it was the worst possible outcome of this, and now I didn’t want to hear whatever he had to say.

I couldn’t handle it.

Dammit .

I cut him off, grinding out, “Give me my phone and get the fuck out of my life.”

I could feel his gaze, but no. No way. I was not looking at him. I’d been avoiding that since hearing how he’d used me in the office. He still didn’t hand it over, so I grabbed it, and I got out before anyone could make a move.

I half expected someone to come after me—a guard or someone, but no one moved.

The vehicles didn’t move either.

They were going to watch me walk inside.

God . What was the point? To keep me safe? That was a joke.

Head down, I started up the driveway.

It was chilly out, so I zipped up the sweater Jonah had given me, the one that belonged to Kai’s woman, and I turned my phone on. I was halfway to the house when the notifications started flooding in.

SIS: OMG, where are you?

SIS: Seriously. Where are you?

There were more, all from that night. More came through, marked unread, but those had been viewed, and I had responded.

Well, Tanner had texted her back. But seeing the messages, knowing they weren’t from me and how easily she’d believed them, gave me a shiver.

The new messages were still coming through.

I clicked out and saw some from my boss.

Milo: How’s the weekend?!

Milo: I need to live vicariously through you. Tell me how things are going.

Milo: You never got back to me. Was the night crazy? Lots of dancing? Lol!

There were other texts, too—from my mom, my dad, a couple of my cousins.

Wait .

Dancing?

I stopped walking and went back to Milo’s text.

I felt like I was detached from myself as I texted her back. Never mind how late it was.

Me: How’d you know about the dancing?

I waited, holding the phone tight in my hand.

Please remind me how I mentioned it before leaving for Kansas. I must’ve forgotten. I must’ve bitched about going to Bresko’s… But I knew, I knew I hadn’t. I just told her I was going back for my sister’s wedding a week early.

She was the one who’d pushed me to take the time and go back early.

My phone buzzed.

Milo: Download this app.

My phone buzzed again, and a link came through.

I reached for it, about to click it, but paused.

I… I was fully detached from myself.

What is going on?

I looked back, and the vehicles were still there.

I had no idea what this app was, so I went to all of my social media accounts. Everything. My email. I went in and unlinked every single one. I needed to be smart. I uninstalled each and every one, until my phone was bare.

One of the vehicles turned on its headlights. They inched forward behind me, turning down the driveway. I turned my back to it, but I didn’t move from where I stood. I could hear the tires going over the gravel, and I clicked on the app.

The first Escalade sped to me, and I heard a door open.

Boots hit the ground, then I heard Jonah’s voice, “What’s wrong?”

I started to answer him, but my phone flashed, then went black. “I?—”

He was at my side, taking my phone. “What is it?”

The screen flashed again, and two sets of letters and numbers appeared.

Another door opened, a guy hollered, “Toss the phone.”

Jonah looked back. “What is it?”

“Tanner’s on the line. He said her phone was just hacked. Those are coordinates.” The guard was at our side now, and he reached for the phone. He started to toss it.

“No!” I lunged for it, but Jonah got it first.

“It’ll lead to her parents,” the guard explained. “We need to destroy this phone.”

Other guards came running.

“Toss it on the ground,” one of them yelled.

Jonah did.

One guard dumped gasoline on it, and another lit it on fire. The other guards built a wall around it so the fire wouldn’t spread, and Jonah grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

Someone said, “The last coordinates will still show up. We have to go.”

“My parents,” I breathed.

Jonah shook his head. “They’re looking for you, maybe hoping you’d lead them to me, to my family. They already know who you are, and that means they know where your parents live. You not being here will keep them safe.” He tried to take me back to the Escalade.

I dug my heels in. “How do you know?”

“We have a team here.”

I looked around, but I saw no one else.

“They’re here, Carson. Trust me.”

That was the problem. I didn’t.

Seeing my look, he threw me over his shoulder and ran.

He threw me in the Escalade and barked at the driver, “Get her out of here.”

Then he was out, slamming the door before I could comprehend what he was doing.

“Wait! What?” I was at the door, trying to open it, but it was locked.

The driver hit the accelerator, reversed, and we were heading right back out where we’d come from.

As we sped off, I looked back at Jonah, who had joined the other guards.

“They’ll make sure the fire is out and the phone is toast before heading back.” The driver glanced up in the rearview mirror at me. “He’ll be in the next vehicle. Don’t worry.”

As we sped down the road, we passed another black Escalade, waiting at a dirt road. It flashed its lights before falling in line behind us.

“Who’s that?”

“The other team sent to watch you. They’ll escort us back.”

What Jonah had said was true. They had men everywhere.

Which made everything so much scarier.