“Kady Sinclair.” Ezra repeats. It sounds oddly familiar, but I can’t place it. “Where have I heard that name before?”
“You probably heard all of your students talking about her. She’s the daughter of Richard Sinclair.” Calder gestures animatedly, waving his hands as he talks. “You know, one of the richest guys in the country. She’s also courting the Blandon Pack.”
Calder ruffles around in his backpack to retrieve a copy of a magazine. Kady and the three ugly buffoons I saw her with are plastered over the cover. “See? She’s a liar! Everyone knows her father is basically a psychopath, and now you’ve fucked her.”
“This kind of judgment is exactly why I kept my identity a secret.” Despite the venom in her voice, hurt flashes in her eyes. “People don’t understand.”
Riven’s blonde hair falls over his face as he inclines his head. “You have a pack?”
“No.” Her reply comes quickly. “They’re not my real pack. As I told Hale and Ezra earlier, it’s all a lie for the media. I might have lied about my name, but everything else I said was true.”
Calder gapes at her. “Why didn’t you tell me your pack wasn’t real when we were driving back fromTheValley Voiceoffice?”
“You’re a reporter, remember?” she barks. “I’m not naïve enough to spill my secrets to a stranger I just met, especially one who’s an asshole.” She takes a deep breath. “If you must know, my father tried to force me into a marriage. A fake pack was the only way I could think of to get out of it.”
My shoulders sag in relief. At least that’s something we can overcome.
“And you expect us to just take your word?” Calder cocks an eyebrow. “What proof do you have?”
“This isn’t a game of Clue!” she growls. “I don’t exactly have evidence lying around. I guess it’s up to you to decide whether you think I’m a reliable source.”
Their eyes lock, tension fizzing between them. Calder’s Adam’s apple bobs as the lingering smell of her perfume seems to intensify. He clears his throat. He’s obviously doing his best to pretend he’s immune to her scent, but he’s doing a bad job at it.
“Whether I think you’re a reliable source or not is the least of our concerns right now.” He swiftly steps into professionalmode. “Didn’t you hear the part where I said that everyone thinks you’re missing? There are search parties looking for you.”
Riven switches on the television. A breaking news banner flashes across the screen alongside a photograph of Kady. She looks breathtaking, in a baby-blue gown that frames her lithe figure. She smiles at the camera, but it doesn’t meet her eyes.
Ezra flaps his hand. “Turn it up!”
A reporter’s somber voice fills the room. “Kadence Sinclair went missing from Scent Valley University campus this afternoon, and police are treating this as a potential abduction. An hour ago, her phone was discovered abandoned by the roadside. Her friend raised the alarm after she received a video call from Kadence from, what she believes, was the trunk of a car before it lost signal?—”
“Oh, shit.” Kady’s face turns a stark white. “I didn’t think the call went through.”
“See?” He’s always loved winning an argument, but his triumph is short-lived as he realizes what implications this could have for us. “Shit.”
“That’s the first thing we can agree on.” Kady nods solemnly. “This is bad. Really bad.”
Trouble is coming.
SIXTEEN
Kady
“Okay.” I pace back-and-forth, my mind a frantic blur. “I need to think. I need to?—”
“You need to sit down.” Hale steers me back to their comfy sofa. “You’ve just had a heat spike. You need to rest.”
I push him away. “There’s no time to sit down!”
Especially when the couch smells so unashamedly of them—Ezra’s earthy blend that promises wild adventures, Hale’s wooden freshness that makes me feel safe, Riven’s clean and quiet thoughtfulness, and Calder who smells like a holiday you can’t stop thinking about. No, sitting down is the last thing I need.
My imagination is running wild, picturing my father going crazy, sending out Warren to hunt me down like a bloodhound. After this, Dad will definitely want me to leave SVU.
“Do you hear helicopters?” Riven peers through the curtains. “I can get my telescope?”
I groan. Yep, that’ll be Dad, sending out his fleet to scour the streets. That, or he’ll have paid the cops to look for me. I’ve only been “missing” a few hours, yet he’ll be using every bit of his influence to track me down. Worse still, I’m worried about the Stellas. Poor Delilah. After my call, she must be terrified. Faye’snerves will have her chewing her nails and blaming herself for Damon losing his job, which is bound to have happened after he left me. Sabs will be trying to hold everything together, joking about how I’ve hopefully been kidnapped by some hot masked stalker, but she’ll be anxious too.
Ezra clicks his tongue. “I told you not to ride in the bed of the truck.”
