And maybe that's exactly what I need right now.
A reboot.
And to let go of the past…and let go ofhim.
CHAPTER 34
ADELINE
THINGS GO FROM bad to worse.
None of James's brothers have heard from Barbara, and everyone is getting worried. The brothers are scattered throughout the United States, and so the youngest, Benjamin, has agreed to go see her today to make sure everything's all right.
It's in the afternoon on Monday when the phone rings in the store. I'm quick to answer it. "Martin's Convenience Store. How may I help you?" I ask in a cheery voice.
"Adeline, this is Benjamin. Is my brother there? I need to speak to him right away."
My blood freezes and turns to ice in my veins, and I know in my heart of hearts that something happened to Barbara. "Is she…did something…is she okay?" I ask, stammering through the question.
"She'll be okay, but something terrible happened." He sighs deeply into the phone. "Please, Adeline. Is James there?"
"Yes, of course," I say, numbly. I take the phone into the back office where I know he'll be. Without a word, I hand him the receiver.
James doesn't even question me, because I know he can tell something's wrong from my expression. "Hello?" he asks. "Ben, what -?" James listens carefully, his eyes growing wide and then narrowing. He begins to pace the small room, clearly trying to make sense of everything that his brother is telling him.
I wring my hands as I wait for answers.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," James tells him before ending the call. He sets the phone down and then presses his palms against his eyes. "My…my mom…"
"What happened?" I ask, needing to know but also terrified for his response.
"Someone broke into my mother's house the other day and beat her. She almost died," he says, choking on his words. "But luckily, Dr. Benson went over to check on her last night. He found her, took her to the hospital. Ben's there with her now." He shakes his head, and then his weary, brown eyes meet mine. "Benjamin said my mother wanted to warn you that you're in danger."
And with those words, my entire world stops once again.
CHAPTER 35
LUCIEN
MY PHONE BEEPS, slowly bringing me out of a deep and drunken sleep. Groaning, I roll over and check the time. It's three in the morning. The last thing I can remember is drinking a fifth of scotch and then passing out in an intoxicated stupor.
A ragged moan tears from my throat as I mentally beg for the beeping to stop. My head is pounding in time with the incessant electronic sound, and I curse loudly before swiping one, two, three times at the phone with my hand.
The device falls off the nightstand and clatters to the floor, but the relentless beeping doesn't stop.
Fuck.
Crawling to the edge of the bed, I reach for the phone. It takes a few attempts before I'm able to grab it and bring it up to my face with it dangling perilously between my fingertips.
But when I read the screen and realize what the alert is, everything around me ceases to exist.
The GPS tracker on Adeline's watch has been activated.
Suddenly feeling a lot more awake and a hell of a lot sober, I clamber out of bed and jog to my office, forgoing the cane and limping the entire way, but making it in record speed.
My physical therapist would be so damn proud.
Sitting down at the computer, I wake it the fuck up and input my passcode. Muttering under my breath, my fingers move a million miles a minute on the keys as I bring up the watch software program and read over the newest data.
