Infinite Possibilities (The Secret Life of Amy Bensen #2)(56)

“I’m fine. It’s just--”

“Blood sugar,” he supplies, reminding me of the excuse I’ve used with him in the past. “Right. Heard that before. The only reason I haven’t grabbed Meg and dragged her someplace and forced the bitch to talk was that I wanted to talk to you first. I needed you to trust me. And as much as I don’t want you with that woman any longer than you have to be, we need to get her alone where I can flex my substantial ability to be influential when I want to be. Go with her to a hotel. I’ll follow.”

“And then?”

“We get answers to where the hell Chad is.”

“You think she knows?”

“She seems to know a hell of a lot more than either of us.”

“Yes, she does,” I say bitterly, and the idea that Meg has played a role in hurting my brother seems to have shaken my flashback completely, leaving me with one goal on my mind. Exposing what’s in her head, not mine.

“The sooner we do this, the better,” I say, and he steps away from me, leaving me suddenly aware that his legs have been pressed way too snugly against mine.

He knows too. It’s in the air around us, wrapping us in an awareness that has me cutting my gaze and turning to the door. His hand comes down on my shoulder, and I do not feel the liquid heat Liam’s touch creates in me, but I feel warmth and strength. “If you feel threatened at all, get the hell away from her. I’ll have your back. Like Chad had mine.”

Emotion I can’t afford to feel wells in my chest and I reach for the door, unlocking it and pulling it open. I inhale and exit, leaving my new “protector” behind, and he is that. I don’t doubt it. Jared. I never did. I enter the restaurant, scanning for Meg, but I don’t see her. The front door opens and shuts and I take off running. Bursting through the doors, I have just enough time to see the rental car disappear down the drive.

A white truck pulls up next to me and the passenger door pops open. “Get in,” Jared orders.

Rushing forward, I climb inside, but it’s too late. Meg is gone, like my brother, and Jared is driving us I don’t know where.





Chapter Seventeen



“Now, what?” I ask as Jared pulls the rental truck onto the main road.

“Now we regroup,” he replies, and I can feel the probing look he gives me though his eyes should be on the road. “How did you end up with Meg?”

“How did you find me?”

“I hacked my way to nothing and clearly you dumped your cell phone because it wouldn’t ping so—”

“You had my cellphone pinged?”

“Hacker, sweetheart. Of course I did.”

“But it wasn’t in my name.”

“I saw Liam take you into the cellphone store. I added two and two, hacked the system, and got a lock on it.”

I remember the mysterious call I’d received. “You called my cellphone?”

“Liam had several lines. I had to make sure it was you.”

“You scared the crap out of me.”

“Not my intent. I have to use my tech resources to compensate for working on my own. And speaking of scaring the crap out of someone. What the hell were you thinking using the Amy Bensen ID? That’s how I found you, and I guarantee you it’s how others will, too.”

I don’t explain. I’m not done asking questions. “And you got here this fast how?”

“I was back in Texas already.”

“And Meg? Where has she been?”

“Disappeared when you did.” He pulls into a motel parking lot a few blocks from the restaurant that used to be my home. “And this is not Liam Stone quality, but it has beds.”

I grimace at the disdain in his voice when he says Liam’s name, and as much as I trust and love Liam, my brother’s worry over him worries me. “What’s your problem with Liam Stone?”

“Money. Money, and let me think. Oh yeah. More money.”

“Money’s a problem why?” I ask, despite money being exactly what has worried me about Liam in the past.

“Chad was in bed with an enemy with bucket-loads of money. Liam has bucket-loads of money and those people don’t grow on trees any more than the green stuff does. It’s a common denominator and it’s dangerous.”

“He’s not dangerous to me or my brother. He is dangerous to anyone who tries to hurt me.”

“If you trust him, then why leave him behind in Denver?”

“How do you know I wasn’t with him?”

“Hacking has a broad reach. He was looking for you just like I was.”

“I got spooked.”

“Stay spooked. It’s safer where he’s concerned. And he’s going to get that same ID flag I did. If I’m right about him, and he’s in this mess up to his neck, he’s going to come for you and we’re going to need a plan for him in this and soon.”

He clearly doesn’t know I’d reunited with Liam and I’m not telling him. “Did my brother say Liam was a part of this?”

“I’d love to lie and get you the hell out from under Liam’s spell. I thought you were out from under it, but you clearly aren’t. But you were right when you said you’ve lived enough lies. I haven’t had any conversations with your brother about Liam Stone, but I don’t like that when I got to Denver, Chad wasn’t there and Liam was.”