“A billion dollars,” he says after a moment.
“Yeah, right. Like you have a billion dollars lying around.” I laugh, but no one else does.
I glance between them, frowning. “You don’t have a billion dollars, do you?”
He clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “I can’t believe you still don’t know who I am. After all the hints I’ve dropped.”
“What hints?” I narrow my eyes. “Who are you?”
“Seriously?” Key cuts in. “You don’t know?”
I shake my head.
“I mean, I get you don’t use social media, but you don’t own a TV either?”
We come to a natural break in the forest canopy, and for the first time on our walk, we see the tree-covered mountainside we’ve been steadily climbing, with the retreat center far below us in the distance. Beyond that, the road up to it winds along the mountainside before eventually disappearing behind the ridge of the adjacent peak. Above us, a few crows drift lazily in the still air. We pause, taking it all in.
“Who is he?” I ask again, but Holly suddenly points toward the road. “Are those cop cars?”
We all turn, following her finger down to the distant ribbon of road. Three police cars race along it, blue lights flashing as they snake through the bends.
They’re heading straight for the retreat.
CHAPTER 20
Reid
“Sir, we have a problem.” One of the security guards, Andy, pushes open my office door. I look up from my screen, eyeing him.
“What problem?”
“The cops are here.”
A shiver runs down my spine. It’s an old reaction, wired in deep, one that never really goes away. Time dulls it, teaches you how to hide it, but it never disappears completely. I don’t like cops. Never have. Never will.
The same way I’ll never fully escape my past.
“Is it the sheriff?”
“Yeah, but he’s brought backup. Three cars.”
I frown. Three cars are excessive. What the hell is going on here?
“What do they want?”
“We don’t know. They just said they want to talk to you.”
“Alright.” I push to my feet, tension tightening across my shoulders. “I’ll be right there.”
Andy heads out ahead of me, but before I reach the door, Amanda rushes past him and stops in front of me.
“It’s me, isn’t it?” she asks, eyes wide with panic. “They’ve come for me. I won’t go back to him. Don’t let them take me away.”
“Calm down. We don’t know what they’re here for yet.” We both know it’s probably about her, but there’s no point letting her spiral.
“Andy,” I call. He stops. “Take Amanda to her room. Stay with her.”
He nods. “Sure thing, boss.”