And then?—
“Hey.”
I suck in a breath, almost dropping the phone in shock. “Jade?” I’m out of my seat in an instant, a laugh bursting out ofme. “Oh my God, you have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice. Are you okay? Are you?—”
“I’m fine.” Her voice is monotone. Flat.
“The shop, Jade. The shop is gone.” The words catch in my throat. It still feels unreal, feels like a nightmare. “There was a fire, and I thought… I thought you were still inside. You’re sure you’re okay?”
“That’s crazy,” she says. Too calm, the world’s biggest under-reaction. But I’m just so relieved to hear her voice, to know that she’s not dead in the alley or trapped in a corner of the shop Viper missed. “But no. I’m fine.”
Then why weren’t you picking up?
“Thank God,” I say with a shaky laugh. “I’m okay, too. But Viper got hurt. I’m with them now, we’re at the?—”
“Listen, I’m in the middle of something,” she interrupts, talking over me. “Can I call you back?”
“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, of course. I’m just glad you’re okay. I was so worried.” I take a breath, trying to calm down. “We’ll talk later, okay? I love you.”
There’s a long pause. Too long.
“I love you, too,” she says. And the call disconnects.
“See?” Ashton grins, his expression smug. “She’s fine! Just like I told you she’d be!”
But I don’t really hear him. I stare at the ground, heart stuck in my throat. It takes me a few seconds to pinpoint it, to realize why my chest is suddenly so tight.
I love you, too.
“Something's wrong,” I say softly.
“I’ll say,” Ashton mutters. He stands with a groan, stretching his arms over his head. “This place doesn’t even have vending machines, you know that? You think the cafeteria is still open? I need, like, a gallon of coffee. And a dozen donuts.”
“No.” I shake my head, tears welling in my eyes. “Something is wrong with Jade.”
Seb looks over sharply, eyes narrowing. “What do you mean?” he asks.
“That wasn’t—” I stumble over my words, trying to explain. Trying to put it into words they’ll understand. “Something is wrong!”
I love you…
… to the moon and back.
I blink, and the floodgates open. Tears stream down my face.
“I think…” My voice breaks. “I think Jade is in danger.”
EPILOGUE
DANTE
No warning.
After all the money I sank into informants—all the careers I supported and financed through the Empire City Police Department—you’d think someone would have had the decency to warn me before the FBI raided the first of my warehouses back in Empire City.
They didn’t.
Everything that happened after was pure chaos. A blur of phone calls, shouted orders, and frantic updates as my men on the ground scrambled to move product to safer locations, to reach our contacts in the city government, to figure out what the fuck was happening.
