“Her dad is here?”
I shook my head again.No. Well, maybe.All I knew was that if Brooklyn was in trouble, Mr. Pruitt was the one to blame. “This has to be related to her dad. I… I gotta go.” All I could picture was walking into Mr. Pruitt’s apartment 16 years ago and being told Brooklyn was dead. Tears started welling in the corners of my eyes.Not again. Fucking breathe.
James kept his hands on my shoulders. “Last time Brooklyn disappeared, we weren’t there to help you. This time we are. Penny, go find Mason and Bee so they can help too. Daphne, get the lights turned up and make an announcement. Rob, go find Tanner.”
Penny and Daphne darted off. But Rob stayed put.
“Seriously?” Rob said. “That’sthe task you give me? Psh Tanner. He probably took her. He’s up to something shady, I’m telling you.”
“Then I’ll find Tanner,” James said. “You stay with Matt.” James ran off to go look for Tanner.
The music cut off and the lights turned on. Daphne tapped the microphone and asked if anyone had seen Brooklyn.
What if she’s dead? What if I lose her again? I can’t breathe.
Rob looked around, trying to spot Brooklyn in the crowd. “Is this a bad time to mention that if you’d let me fake kidnap Brooklyn then she probably wouldn’t be real kidnapped right now?”
I bent forward gasping for air.Fuck.
“Hey,” Rob said and put his hand on my back. “Take a deep breath.”
“I…”
“Don’t talk, man. Just breathe.”
His voice was oddly soothing.
I took a deep breath. And then another. I couldn’t afford to lose my shit right now. Brooklyn needed me.
Rob patted my back. “What would you and Sanders do without me?”
“I can’t lose her again.”
“You won’t. Like James said. You’ve got all of us this time. We’re not going to let anything happen to her.”
But it already had. I stood up straight. The panic had settled in my chest, and now all I could feel was this sense of doom.I can’t live without her.
James, Tanner, and Nigel all ran up to us. Quickly followed by Penny, Mason, and Bee.
“Nigel caught me up on everything,” Tanner said. “Weapon them.”
“Yes, Master.” Nigel pulled out a suitcase from behind his back and popped open the lid. It was filled with guns. He lifted one up and tossed it at me.
I dodged to the side. “Would you stop throwing around firearms?”
Nigel looked horrified. “Why did you not catch it? You’re supposed to be good at American football! And it’s loaded. You could have hurt someone.”
Me?“We don’t need guns. We need to go see Mr. Pruitt.”
Tanner shook his head. “Mr. Pruitt has nothing to do with this. He’d never hurt Brooklyn again.”
“And how the hell would you know that?”
“Because we had a dinner…” his voice trailed off. “It’s not important. All you need to know is that he didn’t put that bomb in Brooklyn’s car. And he’s not responsible for this either. He’d never hurt her. Trust me.”
Never hurt her? He’d fucking stolen her kidney and ruined my life.
“We don’t trust you,” Rob said. “That’s the whole problem, man bun. Get lost. Matt’s real friends can handle this.”
