Liar (Madison Kate #2)(2)

I grimaced, but he was right. I was next level wound up and anxious. Maybe kicking the shit out of one of my best friends would help. Fuck knows I'd stopped winning against Arch about seven years ago when he started getting massive.

"Sure," I replied with a sigh. "Sounds good. Just keep your wits about you out there, okay?"

Steele flashed me a cocky grin, lifting his sweatshirt to show me his Glock 19 in a concealed holster. "Let them fucking try me, bro. I've got this."

I snorted a laugh, clapping him on the shoulder. He was probably more dangerous than both Arch and I combined. If MK's stalker really did want to follow through on their threats, they'd get a rude awakening.

"Guys," Archer called out, pausing Steele halfway through the front door. As much as he wanted to act unaffected by MK's silence, he cared. "She discharged early."

Archer's words were like a blow. "What? Like, earlier this morning? Why isn't she home then?"

He looked at me with a flat, don't-be-fucking-stupid expression. "No, like three days ago."

My heart pounded a bit too fast. "How? How could they discharge her? Was Samuel—"

"No," Archer shook his head. "No, Samuel and my mom are still in Italy on a yacht with their shitty friends. They're due to return in a few days, but last I spoke to them, Sam had no plans to come back early."

"So how was she discharged early?" Steele demanded. "I thought you—"

"She discharged herself," Archer cut him off, his jaw clenched and the vein in his temple throbbing. "She's a legal adult, and there's no reason why she can't."

He was right. She didn't need a direct family member to discharge her if the doctors declared her well enough to make that choice for herself. Stubborn girl.

I asked the question we were all thinking. "Where is she, then?"

Archer's eyes hardened further. "I have no idea."

"How is that possible?" Steele challenged him, and Archer's fist clenched at his side. I'd bet money he was thinking about punching Steele right in the face.

Stepping between them, I tried to diffuse the tension. "Back down, dude," I told Steele, giving him a hard glare. He scowled back at me but folded his arms and took a step outside to create a bit of space.

I turned back to Archer. "What do we know?"

"Just that she discharged herself and was picked up by an Uber. I'll find her, though. Even if it just helps you two stop sulking around here like your puppy got run over." He cocked a brow at Steele and I, like we were the ones sulking.

I scoffed a laugh, shaking my head. "Right. You're doing it for us."

Steele muttered something under his breath, then gave us a tight smile. "I'm out. Catch you losers later."

His breath fogged in front of him as he flipped his hood up, then jogged down the front steps and across the fresh dusting of snow on the driveway.

"We need to find MK before Steele slides back into that dark place again," I commented quietly as both Arch and I watched our friend jog down the long driveway.

Archer grunted a noise of agreement, his arms folded over his chest. "I'll find her," he said with total confidence, "but she's not going to willingly stay here."

He went back into the house, leaving me standing there shivering and mentally cursing the infuriating girl who’d walked into our lives a year ago and set off a fucking pipe bomb.

Archer was right. She wasn't coming home. Not if she had any choice in the matter.

So... we'd simply have to take her choice away.

After all, we could do that.

Or Archer could.





2





Madison Kate





It'd been three days since I'd discharged myself from Shadow Grove General Hospital. Three days since I'd taken Bree's offer of help... and her credit card.

Now I was doing something that could possibly be my stupidest decision to date. Or hell, who knows? Maybe it'd be the best thing I'd ever done for myself.

My Uber pulled away from the curb, leaving me standing out in front of a rough kind of bar, deep within what used to be West Shadow Grove. It looked identical to how I'd seen it just a few weeks earlier, when some deeply repressed memories had resurfaced.

My new phone vibrated in the pocket of my jeans, and I pulled it out to answer, all while stalling what I'd been on my way to do.

"Hey girl," I said, shivering despite the warmth of my leather jacket. "What's up?"

Bree was the only one with my new number. I'd have happily not had a phone at all, but she’d talked me into it from a safety perspective.

"Your boys were just over here," she replied, and my stomach lurched. I’d known they'd work it out sooner or later—that I'd discharged myself and wasn't coming home. But that'd been quicker than I'd given them credit for. "Don't worry," she continued in a rush. "I didn't tell them anything. I didn't even lie because I don't know where you are. Why won't you tell me, again?"

I snickered a laugh. "For that exact reason. They'd get it out of you, somehow. Fuck, they've probably already worked out I'm using your credit card, and I'll find them on my doorstep when I get back."