“He thinks so. The strange thing is, when we looked up who he thought the guy was, turns out he’s something of a ghost.”
“What does that mean?”
“A contract killer.”
She blinks at me. “Everyone keeps saying that the Veil Line help women who are in dire situations. If the man she ran from has connections like that… Jesus, you don’t think he’ll find her do you? Is that why Liz wouldn’t tell you anything?”
“Liz doesn’t know anything more than the Veil Line want her to. Kansas is looking into the man who did it. King wants us to be careful. He doesn’t want to bring anything down on the club.”
“You spoke to him about it?”
“Mace did.”
“Right,” she chews on her fingernail as she thinks it through. “He’ll be back here tomorrow?”
“Should be, I’m not sure what he’s into tonight but he wants to make sure you’re safe.”
“Eli, Vance is a prick, he hurts women, but I don’t think I’m in any danger from him. And now that Cara has a better attorney, we don’t stand a chance of beating them.”
“It’s not only about him, sweetheart. Whatever Mace’s club has inadvertently got caught up in, it’s more dangerous than we thought. Part of me wants to stop looking for the Veil. These people are willing to torture and kill to find out where she went.”
“Do you think Marshalltold them?”
“No.” I witnessed firsthand how desperate Marshall was. “I don’t think he would have given her up. The way he was killed tells us that. And now I’m…”
“What?” she uncrosses her legs and turns to face me, shifting a little closer.
I set my beer down on the side table and lean forward, clasping my hands between my knees.
“What is it, Eli?”
“I never should have gone to see Liz.”
Cassie sits with that a moment. “This… killer,” she says quietly. “Do you think he was watching us?”
My shoulders rise and fall. “It’s not likely but if I’ve put them in danger… We can’t keep an eye on them too,” I turn to look at her.
“You’re probably right, why would he think to follow us, to see where we went. And they seem like the kind of people who can take care of themselves. I mean haven’t they already left the area?”
“Yeah, I made sure.”
“But you’re still worried?”
“The Veil knows what they’re doing. They’ve taken Marshall’s sister and disappeared but if whoever is backing the man that killed Marshall is determined enough,” I sigh heavily. “I don’t want to compromise them. And I sure as shit don’t want them calling us, drawing attention to us,” I sit back and look at her again. “To you.”
“I’ll be fine, Eli.”
“Yeah. Forgive me if I want to make sure.”
“They mean a lot to you, don’t they?”
Typical of her to take the focus off herself. Cassie thinks she is invincible, but no one is, not even me, or Mace. Hell, even the club landed itself in dangerous territory a year ago. We fought hard to protect our own. I’d do it even harder to make sure Cassie isn’t hurt. Or my friends at the carnival.
Cassie’s hand touches my knee, the warmth of her palm seeping through the fabric of my jeans. “How did you end up with them?” she asks.
She waits as I grapple with the idea of telling someone about my life before Devil’s Chaos.
It’s been almost two decades since I ran from the boy I was. When Elias Adelman ceased to exist. He became the boy who was lost, to parents who made a show of caring, but were probably glad I was gone, because there was less chance people would find out what a monster my mother truly is.
