Chains rattle close to the door of my holding cell. An officer appears, face flickering in the shadowy night.
I jump to my feet, throwing myself against the iron bars like a man possessed.
“My name is Dutch Cross and I am innocent,” I growl.
“Aren’t you tired, kid?” The officer chuckles. “You’re like a broken record.”
Laughter booms from the holding cells around me.
I’m glad they can laugh.
I’m freaking thrilled this is amusing.
The officer’s eyes drop to the food tray at my feet. It’s empty. I forced myself to eat the gunk, knowing that I needed my strength—either to dig my way out or punch my way out of this hell.
“Jarod Cross’s kid sure has spunk, doesn’t he?” The officer taunts. “Look at him glaring me down.”
“I’ll do worse than glare, you piece of—”
“Finish that and you’re threatening an officer, punk.”
My nostrils flare, but I slap my mouth shut.
Smiles get wider. Eyes start glinting.
I want to punch him.
I want to burn them all.
But I can’t jeopardize an opportunity to get out.
The door of my holding cell creaks as it swings wide.
The officer moves closer. Head bent toward mine, he says, “You stay out of trouble from now on, alright?” His eyes sweep over me. “Or the next time, it won’t be you alone in here.”
My eyes narrow. Is he threatening my brothers right now? Who the hell does he think he is?
I mark his face in my mind.
The handcuffs fall away at that moment, distracting me. I woodenly rub my wrists, staring at the marks left on my skin.
“You’re free to go,” the officer says loudly, stepping back. “Get outta here, kid. Hope you learned your lesson.”
If I wasn’t in such a rush, I really would swing at him. Let him send me right back to this holding cell for assaulting an officer. Let him charge me if he wants.
But I have more important things to do.
Like find Cadence.
I haven’t seen her in seventy-two hours.
Three days. Twenty-five minutes. Seven seconds.
An eternity.
The longer I’ve been held up in jail, the more urgent I feel. It’s like there’s something inside me, prodding me forward, telling me to hurry or I’ll be too late. Too late for what? Hell if I know.
I step out of prison and I’m stunned to see my brothers waiting outside.
Zane’s face twists with relief and he rushes toward me. Even Finn looks unusually nervous.
“Dutch.” Zane grabs my shoulder and looks me over. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Did they hurt you or… did anyone…”
“No, I was in a holding cell. Alone.” I drill a hard stare into Finn’s face. “What took you so long?”
“We had no idea you were in jail.”
I grunt and tap on my blank phone screen. The cops gave me my phone back and the device is taking forever to turn on.
“Where the hell did you think I was for the past three days?”
“With Cadence,” Finn says.
A ripple of anxiety washes over me.
“After you went to see dad, we got a text from your phone saying you’d found Cadence’s location and you’d gone after her.” Finn scrolls to show me the text in question.
It’s my number.
Written exactly how I would have spoken to them.
“We thought you’d come back to Redwood with her. We didn’t ask questions.” Zane glares into the back of a tree. He looks ready to pummel something, anything. “We should have freaking asked questions.”
“When did you figure it out?”
“When Jinx wrote a post about you being with a blonde.” Finn’s voice is dry. Matter-of-fact.
“A blonde?” I grind out. For the past three days, I’ve been in jail. When would I have time to meet…
Breeze.
Dammit.
Jinx must have gotten pictures of me talking to Cadence’s best friend.
“Neither of us believed it.”
My eyes widen slightly.
“I’ve seen you with other girls,” Zane fills in. “The way you are with Brahms is different. You were—are—serious about her. After everything you’ve done for that chick, you wouldn’t jump ship. I had to hear you confirm it with your own mouth.”
My lungs burn. Well played, dad.
Our psychopathic father found a way to keep me away from Cadence, while convincing my brothers I was happily spending time with my fiancée.
“Did you hire a lawyer to get me out of jail?” I ask, stomping to the car.
“The cops couldn’t charge you with anything. You were being released today anyway.” Finn stops me and prods me back. He gets into the driver’s seat instead. “It was just a coincidence that Jinx told us your location around the same time.”
I scowl as I climb into the passenger seat. “Jinx? Why would she know I was in jail? Dad told the cops to keep it private. They didn’t even take me in through the front because they were afraid I’d get my picture taken.”
Finn shrugs. Despite his outward calm, his fingers are squeezing the life out of the steering wheel. “We don’t know how Jinx knows anything.”
“Here.” Zane shoves a burger at me from the backseat. “I’ve heard that prison food tastes like crap.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Eat it.”
“Give me your phone instead. My battery’s shot.”
“I’ll give you when you take a bite,” Zane insists.
I grit my teeth, swallowing back a wave of anger. My brothers are being ridiculous. I’m fine. I don’t need coddling. In fact, I’m burning with energy.
Zane gives me a hard look. It’s enough to convince me I shouldn’t push my luck.
My fingers close around the burger. It smells like heaven. Especially after eating that jail gunk for three days.
I take a bite for my brother’s satisfaction.
He hands over his cell.
“I’m calling Vi.” The phone is heavy in my palm. My fingers tremble. “It’s been three days. By now, she must know where her sister is.”
“Before you do that…” Finn murmurs.
“What?” I stare at the side of his face.
“Show him.”
Zane takes the phone away from me and my gut reaction is to lunge for it.
“This video appeared on my feed two days ago,” Finn explains.
Zane presses play and the video begins.
On screen is a slim woman draped from head-to-toe in a sparkly veil and face mask. Even covered up, she looks sexy and alluring. The fabric of her veil is slightly sheer and the dress underneath shows off her body.
I suck in a sharp breath. Something about the way she moves over to her piano is familiar.
In the video, the woman sits.
She takes a breath before she presses on the keys.
At the first note, I know.
“It’s her,” I whisper. The music is full of emotions, ragged, raw, and real. Like a girl stripping down bare and opening herself up for the world.
I’d recognize that music anywhere. Cadey doesn’t know how to play any other way than honest.
“She’s a featured guest in the band Pain and Punishment,” Zane says. “She’s crazy good.”
“Pain and Punishment?”
“Dad’s latest new project.” Zane scoffs. “It’s like a rip-off of us.”
“Online, I’ve seen them tagging her as ‘Soprano Jones’.”
“Soprano.” My eyes jolt to the phone. “Cadence used that name the first time she played at Redwood.”
“We didn’t want to get your hopes up,” Finn explains.
“And yet,” I peer at the road sign, “you’re taking me to the airport.”
“The band’s on a European tour. Now that we know Soprano Jones is Cadence, it’s safe to assume she’s over there now with them, ” Finn says.
“Just for the record, I don’t think you should do this.” Zane’s chest expands with a breath. “Cadence got sent away. You went to jail. It’s clear Dad’s getting desperate.” He runs a hand through his hair. “If he really went to all this trouble just to keep the inheritance, there’s no telling what he’ll do next. And what if Cadence really gets pregnant?”
My stomach twists into knots.
“I keep thinking it might be safer for you, and for her, if you two stay apart.”
“That’s not happening,” I growl at Finn.
Zane nods as if he’d expected that response. “What are you going to do when you see her? If she’s keeping up with Jinx’s app, she probably thinks you’ve moved on to someone else.”
“She knows that’s bull.”
“Does she?” Finn challenges.
“I don’t care what she believes. I’m going to remind her of the truth,” I spit, my fingers tight on the phone. “She belongs to me. And she always will.”
