Rose opened her mouth to respond but Liam was faster. His tone had a new, undeniable hint of excitement.
Not happiness at what was happening but at the idea of having a new lead.
“The article talks about her bravery and breaks down what it means to be an action hero. He goes over his favorite stereotypical problems that the heroes go through during their time in the spotlight. There’s… There’s a list.”
Price was done with sitting. He hurried over and shared in reading.
Rose didn’t need to see it again. After remembering hearing about the article, she’d pulled it up with a quick Google search. She and James had read it several times while waiting for Liam and Price to show up.
James proved how well he had been paying attentiontoo, as he recalled the three situations that had more than caught their eye when reading it earlier.
“The classic group of lackeys that eventually turn on each other. The bomb strapped to someone the hero loves. And then—”
“‘—the drowning scene, bonus points for the hero being trapped in some kind of vehicle while it’s happening,’” Price finished, reading directly from the post.
Whether the coffee had finally hit his system, or the article had, his eyes were wide-open now.
“We don’t have a body of water near here large enough for that, but I imagine a bathtub will do in a pinch,” Rose said.
Liam shook his head. Price mimicked it.
“So, what are we guessing here?” he asked. “That Damon is pretending you’re in some kind of movie where you’re the lead?”
Rose didn’t have any solid proof—she didn’t even know much about the man himself—but as soon as she had read the article, she felt it to be true.
It was a theory but a theory that made sense.
“Because of that viral video, for one moment in time I was praised around the world for being a hero,” Rose said, finally getting to the bottom line. “And I think, now the brother of the one person I didn’t save wants me to die like one too.”
Chapter Thirteen
Liam and Price took off with promises that they, along with Darius, would figure everything out. Rose stood by the window, peeking around the curtain like a little kid watching her parents run off to have fun without her.
She turned around, clearly dejected.
It was another endearing moment for the woman.
James doubted she was in the mood for the compliment.
“You said you trust them, and they do good work,” he reminded her without preamble. “So we should let them go and do that good work.”
Rose heaved out a long sigh.
“I did say that, and I do trust them, but I want tohelpthem too,” she wallowed. “This whole thing is about me, after all. Just sitting around here with you isn’t doing anything but wasting time.”
James made a pained sound and clutched at his chest.
“Wow, Wildcard. Way to hit me where it hurts.”
Rose openly scanned his expression. She must have judged his words as the joke he intended. She waved through the air between them with slight annoyance.
“You know I don’t mean being with you is a waste,”she corrected. “I mean us sitting here with nothing to do is a waste.”
Another moment of endearment.
He smiled into it.
Rose was too distracted to note it. Her brow was crinkled, and her gaze seemed to hollow. Those gears that never seemed to stop turning were going faster again.
