Page 37 of Unholy Vows
Malachai
I closed the balcony door behind me, shutting out the hollow laughter of guests competing to be heard and the delicate chime of crystal champagne flutes colliding together.
The light from the party spilled through the French windows, and I caught a glimpse of Layla talking with another woman. Then Noah’s voice crackled through my phone speaker, dragging my focus away.
“Malachai, are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“I found a small anomaly in the surveillance footage.”
My spine straightened, and I blocked out everything else around me as I waited with bated breath for Noah’s next words.
“And?”
“It’s barely noticeable, a tiny blip, but it is there. It’s also consistent with the timeframe you provided and the access point you identified. With a little more time, I should be able to isolate the breach and trace it back.”
“Should be able to?” I asked.
Noah chuckled.
“When have I ever failed you, Malachai?”
He hadn’t, but that did nothing to lessen my frustration. I wanted answers, and I wanted them yesterday.
“And the other thing?”
My gaze slid to Layla through the glass. The two women laughed, arms linked, as they headed for the bar at the far end of the room.
“Ah, yes. The legend of BeastMode458. Who comes up with these ridiculous names, anyway? You’d think they were all rejected WWE characters.”
“Noah —”
“I mean, come on. PredaMATE? YourWildHunter? Kingofthebeasts? What are we, twelve? With game like that, these guys are never getting laid?”
“Noah.”
“I weep for the future of online flirting. I know they’re going for the edgy, seductive vibe, but that ain’t it!”
“Noah!”
“At least step it up, my man. Even Feral Beast is an improvement on BeastMode458.”
Noah scoffed, his derision clear in the sound.
“NOAH!”
A scuffling noise followed by a grunt echoed through the speaker.
“Jesus! Did you have to shout? I dropped my phone, you psycho.”
“Yes, fucker, I did. You wouldn’t shut up about the damn usernames, and I don’t give a shit how interesting you find them. Just tell me about the account.”
“You wound me. Right in the feelings I don’t have.”
“I’ll wound more than that if you don’t get to the point.”
“Alright, alright. Keep your pants on, Mr. Murder Mood.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
This is why I kill people.
He won’t be able to help you if you kill him , I reminded myself.
“So, BeastMode458, used layered encryption, proxies, VPNs: the usual coward tech. But the VPN glitched for like three seconds, and I got a trace.”
“Location?”
“General region and a rough device fingerprint. From there, I cross-matched with social media patterns, device metadata, blah blah geek stuff —”
“Noah.”
“Fine! I found a face match from a bodybuilding forum.”
“So, help me God, Noah, if you do not give me a straight answer in the next thirty seconds, I am going to climb through this fucking phone and strangle you to death.”
“No, you won’t. You need me too much.”
“Not that much.”
“And besides, we’re friends.”
We were not friends. If the inconvenience his death would cause wasn’t so significant, I would not hesitate to kill him for fucking with me and wasting my time.
“Anyway.”
Noah kept prattling on, blissfully unaware of my homicidal thoughts.
“His name is Ryan Carter. Used the same device during one of the VPN drops. I checked his social profiles, which were mostly workout vids and too many shirtless mirror selfies.”
Ryan Carter .
“Carter?” I frowned. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Not surprising. The guy’s boring. No red flags, no actual skills.
Nothing in Ryan’s history suggested he could pull something like this off, so I dug a little deeper.
I found a brother who used to work as a cybersecurity engineer.
Has a juvie record, too. He specialized in digital privacy, so if I had to make an educated guess, I’d say the brother set everything up for him. ”
Ryan Carter? Ryan Carter?
I was missing something.
“Malachai?” Noah prompted when I didn’t respond.
“I’m here, just processing.”
I ran a hand over the back of my neck as I tried to latch onto the thought that kept evading me.
“Could the same guy have scrubbed the surveillance footage? Sounds like a similar process.”
“I’m not ruling anything in or out until I have more information. However, the level of competency suggests it’s a possibility.”
“Thanks, Noah. I owe you one.”
“You owe me like seven, or is this eight?”
“If you were really my friend, you wouldn’t be keeping count.”
“Fuck off. No friend is that good. I’ll be cashing in those favors someday.”
I shook my head as a soft laugh escaped me.
“Send me a photo of Ryan.”
“Will do.”
I was about to end the call when I remembered I didn’t know the brother’s name.
“Wait, what’s the brother’s name?”
Shuffling sounds came from the other end, as if Noah was rifling through papers.
“Guy called Cameron.”
Noah paused, and more rustling sounded down the line.
“But he goes by Reece. Reece Carter.”
I was storming toward the party before I even realized I’d moved.
“What did you say?”
“Reece Carter. That’s the brother’s name.”
Reece Carter, as in Layla’s fucking client, Reece Carter.
How the fuck did I miss it?
I didn’t bother saying goodbye as I hung up the phone. Once I reached the door leading inside, I yanked it open, scanning the room for my Little Sinner, but Layla was nowhere in sight.
The woman she had been talking to stood by the bar, giggling with some silver-haired guy who looked like he’d moisturized with moonlight.
I marched over, cutting into their conversation without introduction.
“Where’s Layla?”
The woman eyed me as if she were contemplating whether to answer my question. My tone wasn’t winning me any favors either, but I couldn’t rein in my aggravation.
“She went into the corn maze.”
When I gave no indication that I understood her meaning, her features tightened in concern.
“To meet you,” she prompted.
“What?”
“She got a text telling her to go into the corn maze. That you’d be waiting.”
“She said the text was from me?”
“Well, no, I just assumed because she was all excited and giddy. Said you had a surprise for her.”
A surprise? Oh, I had one. For Reece fucking Carter.
The woman trailed off, but I wasn’t listening. I barely muttered my thanks before pushing through the crowd like a wrecking ball in black.
My gaze frantically searched the crowded room for Reece.
But he was missing too.
Layla was gone.
Reece was gone.
Sprinting towards the door, I ignored the woman’s concerned cries.
My Littler Sinner needed me because she had just walked into a trap.