Chapter 26 #4

“Or what?” Terra removes her hand, holding up her phone.

She doesn’t care if she dies here today.

Maybe she’s hoping for it. “You want to know what mommy dearest was up to, don’t you?

Don’t you know I’m the only person alive willing to give you that information?

” She glares at me, then to the tree at my left.

“Fuck her,” Grant growls in my ear. “I’m close to getting that information on my own. Do not, I repeat, do not negotiate.”

“You think you’ve won?” She’s still smiling, and far too calm as she slowly inches away from us. “You think this is over?”

She presses a button on her phone and brings hellfire down around us as our tree detonates, raining limbs and branches to the ground below.

The fucking bitch put explosives in my tree.

The blast is loud enough to make my ears ring. Hot enough to send a wave of searing heat as a fire ignites.

Clover screams as I grab her with both hands, running with her in my arms, when a second explosion has me dropping to the ground and covering her small body with my own as more debris flies through the night sky.

Shouts sound in my earpiece, but I can’t decipher words over the ringing in my ears.

Then I see Roman’s face—watch the angry twist of his lips as he directs our men through a thick cloud of smoke settling over the forest—and I know.

Terra’s gone.

Disappeared into the woods like the smoke she’s left behind.

“Daniels, pursuit. Jones and Henson, perimeter. Do not let her off this property.”

I rip the earpiece from my ear. It’s only causing more confusion as I help Clover sit up. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Fine,” she says, but she’s shaking so hard her words are almost unrecognizable. “She—she blew up our tree.”

“I know.” Pulling her closer, I check for injuries, then lift her into my arms. We have to get the fuck out of here.

“Not the whole tree,” she says, almost laughing. “Just the branches.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I see she’s right. The explosion must have been thirty feet high. No wonder we didn’t find them.

“She got away,” she says. She’s in shock. I think I might be too.

Knowing your mother hates you and actually having her try to kill you are two very different things.

“Our guys will find her,” Grant says, falling into step beside us.

“She really wanted to kill us,” Clover says. “So—so what if I’m not her end game? What if it isn’t me she’s after?”

“What else would she want?” Grant asks, wrapping his arm around Chief and helping him through the brush.

My vision blurs, and I pause to shake my head. Grant’s worried gaze scans every inch of us as though he’s preparing to perform first aid if necessary, but I’m not injured. Memories are glitching in my mind so fast, I’m dizzy.

“She said I was weak, just like my father. What line did I cut her out of? What matters most to her?”

Understanding dawns in Grant’s expression. “This isn’t just about Clover. It’s about money,” he says. “Because what does money equal in her eyes?”

“Power,” I grunt. “I’m not married. I have no children. Obviously, Terra’s death certificate is a fake, so if I die, she’s technically my next of kin.”

Roman jogs to catch up to us. “She’s gone. She had another fucking escape hatch. But she dropped this when she ran.” He holds up an evidence bag.

Inside is a photo of Clover. I glance down at it as all-consuming hatred eats me from the inside out.

“That’s from today,” Clover gasps. “From our safe house.”

“How is that fucking possible?” Grant shouts. “We took every precaution securing that location. Where are her accomplices?”

Roman shakes his head. “They wouldn’t put down their weapons. Our guys had no choice but to fire.”

“Valen,” Clover says quietly, wiggling in my arms until I carefully set her on her feet. “She’s never going to stop, is she?”

Her voice breaks on the last word, and when she stares up at me, I see something that guts me more than all the fear and panic attacks combined. I see exhaustion. The soul-crushing kind that comes from fighting the same battle for so long you’ve forgotten what peace feels like.

“I—I can’t do this anymore. I can’t.”

I want to lie to her and tell her everything will be fine.

But I can’t because Terra just proved she’ll stop at nothing to reach her goals, and she’s never, ever going to let Clover go.

“We have to figure out what she has on Mom,” Sterling says. “I have a bad feeling that this is all connected somehow, and the sooner we find the missing pieces, the sooner we can ensure everyone’s safety.”

“We have to move,” I say, reaching for Clover’s hand. “And this time, we’re not trusting anyone but family. No more guessing. Terra isn’t better than us,” I growl. “She’s just had a lifetime of practice hurting people. She thinks she has nothing left to lose, and that makes her dangerous.”

I glance over my shoulder. Our tree is still standing. Scorched and damaged beyond recognition, but still standing.

Just like us.

As we reach our vehicles, I say, “What she doesn’t realize is that having everything to lose makes you so much more deadly.”