Page 87 of These White Lies

“We know you have it. Give it to me, and this will be over.”

“Please,”Keith wails, and my stomach turns.“Oh god, don’t. Please don’t.”

Something crackles like electricity. Another scream.

Keith is sobbing now.“I swear I don’t have it anymore. But it’s safe. If you just let me call?—”

“Your ex-wife?”The woman sounds irritated.“Was she in on it?”

“She’ll give it to you, just let me call her.”Keith’s voice is panicked, and there is a shuffling sound before two suppressed gunshots.

I jerk in my chair, and Brady’s fingers flex around mine. Reminding me I’m safe.

“Let’s see what the ex-wife has to say…”

Another voice joins the two previous ones, ordering a car to be brought around. Then it’s just the sound of fabric rubbing against Keith’s phone.

I feel sick.

“Two men and a woman.” Vincent’s voice is impartial.

I swallow past the knot in my throat and push the chair back to rise. I’m seriously concerned my legs won’t hold me as my ears buzz loudly, blocking out what the others are saying. Brady releases my hand and finds the center of my back. His palm is firm, and I lean against it before I think better of it.

Sera notices, her narrowed gaze darts between us, but she says nothing.

“I think I know what he’s talking about,” I manage. I have to swallow again against the metallic taste in my mouth, and I realize I’ve bitten my cheek hard enough to bleed.

“We got engaged on my grandmother’s property in Blue Ridge. She used to throw these big family get-togethers there. Keith loved them, mostly because he didn’t have a family of his own.”

Or he had until he decided that my rural family was beneath him and the image he was trying to cultivate in Atlanta. At first, I continued visiting without him, but eventually it becameawkward. I was constantly making up excuses and finally stopped going to spare everyone the embarrassment.

“There’s a hollow in the tree by the pond. That’s where he hid the ring when he proposed.”

“He totally gave you up,” Sera says. “What a cowardly piece of shit.”

“Sera—” Brady barks, but I interrupt before the room can get more tense.

“You’re not wrong. But in a way I’m responsible. I always solved the problems he created.”

An odd look creases Sera’s face, before she averts her eyes.

Finn breaks the silence. “The property is in Blue Ridge?”

I nod. “It was sold a couple of years ago, after my grandmother passed, but Keith wouldn’t have known that.”

“We’ll head north tomorrow. I already have plans tonight.” Brady doesn’t need to spell it out. His tone says everything. He’s going after Carrow.

Fear crawls low in my stomach, and my lungs seize with anxiety, but I bite down on it, and allow him to lead me back upstairs to my room, Keith’s voice following me up the steps. By the time Brady closes the bedroom door behind us, I’m a mess. Standing in the middle of the room, I wrap my arms around myself.

Brady prowls toward me, crowding my space, until he’s backed me against the wall. His hands settle firmly on my arms.

“Breathe,” he commands.

I stare up at him, having difficulty processing his words.

“Breathe with me, Firefly.” He pulls in a long, deep breath and then blows it out slowly through his mouth. He lifts one hand to nudge me under the chin with a smile. “Come on, I look stupid if I’m doing this by myself.”

His words break through the panic racing through me, and I mimic his breathing until the vise around my lungs is gone.