Reckless Faith

“Are you sure you don’t need me to tail you home?”

Elle smiled up at Kayden. It was midafternoon and usually Jace drove home with her after she finished at the café, but today Eastern had called him into the office, hopefully because he’d found something on Boyd or Alice. Another week had passed, and there’d been no signs of Alice or any kind of danger, but Jace was still on edge.

Before he left, he’d asked Kayden to walk her the short distance to her car. Kind of overkill in her opinion. “I’m sure. I’m going straight to Jace’s house.”

Kayden stopped beside her car, his gaze moving over the parking lot. “I only have one tour left for the day. I can ask one of the guys to—”

She touched his arm. “Kayden. It’s fine. Thank you for walking me to my car.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw before he nodded. “Straight home.”

“Straight home.”

With a goodbye, she slid behind the wheel. Before starting the car, she hooked up her phone to the car charger. It had died about an hour ago. Usually, she brought a spare charger in her bag, but today she’d left it at Jace’s house. With half her things at her place, and the other half at Jace’s, life felt kind of chaotic right now. Not so much in a bad way, just an everything-is-everywhere way.

Pulling out of the parking lot, she waved to Kayden as she went.

Today hadn’t been busy, and usually that meant her day dragged by, but Molly had filled a lot of the silences with talk and laughter. She’d joined the dating app that Elle had used, and while the awkward dates made Elle cringe, Molly found humor even in her worst ones, making for some hysterical stories.

Thank God she had Jace, because she was not cut out for online dating. Or any kind of dating in this day and age, unless it was with a certain man she’d known and been in love with since she was a kid.

Her mind flicked to Jace and what his meeting with Eastern may involve. It had to be about Alice, right? Either that, or they’d finally figured out why Boyd had targeted her.

A shudder coursed down her spine at the thought of Boyd. At least she didn’t have to worry about him anymore.

She was almost at Jace’s house when she realized her phone had turned itself back on, and she’d missed a call and voice message from her aunt. She frowned. Her aunt had also texted her just before her phone died, asking for Jace’s address. Something about delivering a package.

Using the car Bluetooth, she hit play on the voice message.

“Elle…”

Her fingers tightened around the wheel at that single word—at her aunt’s high-pitched voice. She didn’t sound like herself, and there was a shake in her tone as she said Elle’s name.

A few heavy breaths sounded across the line before Jewel spoke again. “I should be calling the police or an ambulance, but I think I’m going to pass out again and I need you to be okay!”

What the hell was she talking about?

“Someone broke into my house. A woman. She…” Her aunt paused to breathe, and Elle’s skin chilled. “She was asking questions about you. I refused to say anything, and she pulled out a gun and hit me in the head.”

Elle’s heart started to pound, her attention barely on the road.

“I woke up and she was gone, but Elle, I’m scared for you. Find Eastern Walker. Now!”

Her hands shook, fear rushing the blood in her veins. She turned onto Jace’s long driveway, cutting the wheel toward the lawn so she could turn back around and head toward her aunt’s house to check that she was okay—

When a car suddenly slammed into the back of her, sending her straight into a tree.

The airbag exploded, and she hit it hard. A buzz blasted between her ears, so loud it was all she could hear. Almost numbly, she reached for her seat belt. She’d just tugged it off when her door was opened and rough fingers wrapped around her upper arm. She cried out as she was yanked from the car, groaning at the tight squeeze of those fingers.

“Elle fucking Marshal.”

Casper?

She looked up. It was definitely him. There was a bandage over his nose, but it was his wide pupils and glassy, bloodshot eyes that had her belly dropping. She’d seen the look often when he’d been high on drugs during high school.

“Casper?” she gasped. “What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? That asshole Jace always thought he could tell me what to do, and he’s still fucking doing it. He wants me to stay away from you? Well, guess what—he doesn’t get to dictate my fucking actions.” He pinned her against the car and leaned into her, smelling her neck.

She shoved at his chest, but he didn’t budge. “Get off me!”

“You’re not, you know.” His hand slipped under her top, sliding up her waist.

She grabbed his wrist, trying to stop him. “Not what?”

“Too good for me like both of you think.”

When his lips touched her neck, she reacted on instinct, throwing up a knee hard between his legs. He groaned and doubled over, and she immediately followed up with a knee to his injured nose.

A sickening crunch sounded, but she ignored it, shoving him hard and running around the car into the trees that surrounded the drive.

“You bitch!” Casper shouted.

She’d just reached the tree line when, simultaneously, a heavy weight fell on her back and a gunshot exploded through the air.

She cried out as she hit the ground, the weight of Casper’s body pinning her. For a moment, she didn’t move, confusion clouding her head.

Who had fired the gun? Casper?

But he was on top of her. It didn’t make sense.

She tried to shove him off, but not only was he too heavy, he wasn’t moving.

Why was he so still?

Her breathing became labored, her limbs shaking. It took her three tries to shove him off and roll behind the closest tree.

Popping noises sounded around her as puffs of dirt exploded near her feet.

Shit. There was someone else here.

She shot a look around the trees to see a flash of a person. A woman.

That’s when Elle’s mind cleared and she realized what was happening. Someone was firing a gun at her—and they’d already shot Casper in the back.

Jace slammed his car door shut. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be with Elle, making sure she got home safely. But whatever this was, Eastern had said it was important.

He walked into the sheriff’s station, nodding toward the lady behind the desk before stepping into Eastern’s office. He stopped at the sight of a woman sitting in front of the desk. She turned—and recognition hit Jace hard in the chest.

Alice Kelly.

Before he could open his mouth to ask one of the million questions in his head, Eastern spoke.

“Alice got back from her retreat, and her parents got in contact to let her know what’s been happening here. She also got my messages.”

Alice rose. “The second I got Sheriff Walker’s messages, I knew I had to come.”

Jace crossed the room slowly. “What do you mean, you had to come? According to the car rental company, you’ve been here for weeks.”

She shook her head. “No, I haven’t. And I didn’t rent that car.”

What was she—

“I didn’t realize she’d do this,” Alice whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Iciness slipped over his skin. “What are you talking about?”

The woman swallowed, dropping her chin to her chest before looking up again. “My best friend’s name is Stephanie Whales. She and Dean had this on-and-off relationship. She always struggled with her mental health, and he seemed to be the only person who could pull her back from the edge on her bad days and make sure she was okay.”

His brows flickered. “What does any of this have to do with me or the rental car?”

Alice sucked in a breath. “Before I left for the retreat, I told Steph about the trip and asked her to come with me. It was a grief recovery retreat, to help me deal with losing Dean, and I thought she could use that too. While she was at my place, she found the letter you wrote to my family.”

A sinking feeling churned in his gut.

“I stepped out of my bedroom,” she continued, “to find Steph hysterical. Saying that Dean shouldn’t have died. That…that you killed him by not protecting him. I told her that wasn’t true. That he was killed by a foreign enemy, but she wouldn’t listen. It was like she needed someone to blame, and once she’d read that letter…that person became you.”

The air quickened in Jace’s lungs.

“The next day, I couldn’t find my driver’s license.” Alice lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time, just assumed I’d lost or misplaced it, so I got a new one before my trip. But after talking to your sheriff, I’m pretty sure Steph took it.”

Eastern cleared his throat. “They look similar. It’s possible this Stephanie used Alice’s ID to rent the car that tailed you that day.”

“Do you have a photo of her?” Jace asked, the dread now spidering through his gut.

Alice looked to Eastern, who turned the screen of his computer.

Jace leaned forward to study the screen. “It’s her.” He looked up at his brother. “She did a tour of the skywalk, then went to the café. She also did a Pilates class with Elle.”

She was also the woman who’d been hovering around the skywalk when he’d first started. He’d told her about the tours.

Fuck. She’d been in town all this time.

“She’s unstable,” Alice whispered. “I don’t know exactly what her diagnosis is. She never wanted to share it, but she was on medication. If she’s off that medication…”

Jace stepped back, tugging out his phone to call Elle. He needed to hear her voice. Needed to know she was all right.

By the fourth ring, he knew she wasn’t going to answer.

Shit.

He called Kayden, and his older brother answered immediately. “Jace. Everything okay?”

“Is Elle still there?” A part of him already knew. She’d finished half an hour ago, so she’d be gone, but he needed Kayden to say it out loud.

“No. I walked her to her car like you asked about fifteen minutes ago. Why?”

Jace cursed and looked up at his brother. “I need to get to her.”

He hung up and without a word, ran out of his brother’s office and toward his car. He heard Eastern call after him, but he didn’t stop or slow. Eastern would follow, but Jace didn’t care about that. He was armed, and he just had to hope like hell that Elle had made it to his place safely.