“No, we can’t—I can’t go there. I can’t give myself the option of hope when there is none. I’ve lost too many guys, too many good friends, and I can’t hold on like this.”
She cupped his face and pulled him down for a kiss. “I’m sorry, love. I understand. I just…”
“I get it. I don’t want him gone, either. But hope is a double-edged sword, and if you lean too hard on it, you’ll get hurt.”
He rested his forehead against hers, wishing like hell the police were wrong about Thario. His buddy had changed the most of anyone he knew. Thario had gone through it after the bomb and seemed like he was coming out on the good end of life.
But life didn't last forever, and for Thario, it was all over. If only he could wish his buddy back to life, but entertaining fantasies would only make it worse. Thario was gone too early, like so many others.
Sharp sent a text, asking a few of the guys who knew Thario to come over. He didn’t explain why, but he knew they would want to know about Thario.
Chapter 2
Rowan heard what Sharp said,but she didn’t want to believe him. The pressure in her head built to almost unimaginable levels. She had to get out of this house and away from all these people. There was no way she could deal with listening to more talk about how sad it was that Thario was dead. She didn’t want to believe he was gone. He couldn’t have died.
She stood and rushed to the back door, flinging it open. Warm air hit her face, and she kept going, ignoring the calls from Shine to come back.
The air seemed too thin in the heat, and her head swam. She closed her eyes as she opened her mouth to drink in the air. Thario was a good friend. He'd saved her, like so many others. They'd connected and become friends.
She yanked her phone from her pocket, staring at the screen. She didn’t want to believe Thario was gone. Someone had to have murdered him.
The door opened behind her, and she turned, seeing Nichole with red-rimmed eyes looking about as terrible as Rowan felt.
“I can’t believe it,” Nichole said through her tears.
They clung to each other and were joined by the other women. There were ten of them there. The rest of the people who knew Thario were either out of town or busy with life. Sharp hadn’t told them why he was calling them all together, just that they needed to come over. The others would be here if they knew.
Asher stood apart from them, shaking her head. "I can't believe it until I see him. There is no…" She had her phone out, staring at it. Her eyebrows bunched together as if she was thinking hard.
“I know I don’t want to believe it, either,” Elowen said.
Asher held up one hand, like she was begging for them to wait. Rowan took a step closer, her breath catching.
“What is it?” Rowan asked.
Asher glanced up from her phone, her eyes wide. “I got an email.”
“From?” Nichole asked.
Asher gave a short shake of her head. “It’s a code he told me about. It’s sometimes used in searches when the person doing the in-depth investigations is in trouble.”
“Is it from Thario?” Rowan asked.
Asher nodded and then glanced back at her phone. “It was sent just a few hours ago. I don’t know anyone who would send me this code other than Thario. It has to be him.”
“What is the email address?” Rowan asked.
"Just numbers. It looks like it was set up hastily. I've never received anything from this email address. But they sent the code and some other numbers."
The door opened, and Griz stuck his head out. “Hey, we’re going to—” His eyes narrowed, and he stepped outside. “What’s going on?”
Asher had been afraid of Griz when she first met him. He was intimidating, but now she knew he was soft as a marshmallowand sweet as one, too. She held out her phone, knowing he would take her seriously.
“I got this note in my email. It’s a code Thario told me about that is used when someone looking for a person in danger finds themselves in danger. Then there are those numbers after the code.”
Griz frowned as he stared at the phone. “Those are coordinates. It’s not too far from here.” Griz blew out a breath, his frustration evident. “Do you think this was from Thario?”
Asher shrugged. “I don’t know. But if we don’t look, we won’t know.”
