Clearly, I’m not going to get any help from my brother.But Lily was worried, and now I am too.How can I find Jewel, though?I’ve done everything.Lily already said she’s gone to the police, and they told her she’d probably run away, but we both know it’s something more than that.
I get out my phone for the hundredth time to text Freya about this, but I just can’t.Not when she’s hurting so badly.
Amirah: Miss you, friend.Love you xx
That’s what I message instead.At least this way, when she’s ready, she knows I’m here for her.
Down the hall, glass smashes.Lucas’s laughter drifts to me from a distance.
I smile.There’s one person who might be willing to help me—he’s certainly not focused on The Brotherhood like Gage is right now.Lucas is distracted.He’s angry, confused, and it’s perfect for me.
My fists clench at my sides as I rest back against the wall.Fuck Gage and him being too busy to help me, telling me to drop it.I’ve been fuming since I spoke to him last night.What an asshole.He just wants me to stay hidden and protected behind closed doors, but I’m done with that.I’m trying to help find out where Jewel is.I need to do something, anything, to solve this for Lily.
Cursing travels down the hallway, along with the sound of another glass smashing.I kick off the wall of my bedroom, then move into the hallway.Lucas comes stumbling toward me.
I grab his arms, and he falls into me, laughing.
“What the hell, Amirah?”he grumbles, righting himself.His eyes are bloodshot and the tang of whiskey sours his breath.
“Have you sorted everything out with Freya?”I ask and he scoffs.
“No.”
Both of them are hurting after she killed his mom, and it kills me.I’ll always have my best friend’s back, no matter what, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel for Lucas.His heart was broken in the worst possible way.He’s like an older brother to me.He’s always been around, ever since we were kids.
But maybe his being broken means he’ll have more energy for this than Gage did.
“I need your help,” I say, looking past him down the hallway.Voices and footsteps get closer, and I grab Lucas’s arm, pulling him into the bathroom and closing the door behind us.
“What is it, Amirah?I’ve got a bottle to finish.”Lucas takes a long drink.
I grab my phone out of my pocket, bring up the photo Lily sent me of Jewel, and zoom in on the logo.“Can you tell me if you’ve seen this logo anywhere before?”
Lucas grabs the phone from my grip and studies it for a painfully long minute.His eyebrows draw inward.“Looks like Bill’s Freight,” he says.
I open, then close my mouth.I didn’t think he’d recognize it so quickly.But he’s right.I’ve only been down to the docks once or twice with Gage, but I remember that logo on one of the containers.
I snatch the phone back off him.I have to go check it outnow—Jewel could be there.
Lucas grabs my wrist, stopping me.I glare at his bloodshot eyes.He’s a mess, and I feel for him, I really do.He just lost his parents.I grew up around them.All they wanted was power, and they’d do anything to make it happen.I never liked Nadine—she was a bitch—but to Lucas, she was love, and this has to hurt.We are both basically orphans.
“Amirah,” Lucas says in a deep voice.“You can’t just show me this, then leave.What’s going on?”
I yank my wrist out of his grip.
Do I tell him about Jewel?It would be easier to find her with his help, but now that I have a lead, and it’s pointing to the workers on the docks, I’m nervous to share too much.What if people don’t talk to me for fear of him?The Brotherhood controls the docks.But I have to try, and I don’t think I can do this alone.Lucas has always protected me, just like my brother.I need his help.
“I have to find out what happened to my friend.She’s the one in this photo,” I say, and Lucas stares at me for a long second, as if he’s connecting the dots between the photo and my mission.
“And you’re going down to the docks now, aren’t you?”he asks, and I nod.“I’m coming with you.”He moves past me before I can say anything, and I follow him quickly down the stairs.
He pushes his feet into his shoes at the front door and stumbles before grabbing the door for support.“They got some stuff down there I want, anyway,” Lucas says, and I reach for his pocket.He pushes my arm away.
“You’re drunk.You can’t drive.”
He tosses me his keys, then we head out the front door and into the crisp afternoon air.
I slide into Lucas’s bright-red Bentley Mulliner Batur, and Lucas slams the passenger door shut.I hit the start button and shift gears, dirt flicking up around us.I shrug.The gardener can deal with it tomorrow.
