Page 18 of Fractured Hearts

“Delgado was her mother’s last name. Her father didn’t want to be on the birth certificate,” Ezra explains.

“Who was her father?” Maverick asks.

“Malcolm Sinclair.”

“Anderson’s dad?” Declan blurts in disbelief.

“One and the same,” Ezra confirms.

I have about a million more questions for him, but my phone starts ringing. Considering everyone that would call me this late at night is in this room, I decide not to ignore it.

“It’s Harrison,” I say before answering.

“Jo!” he says before I have the chance to speak. He sounds like he’s out of breath. “Patrick is coming for you. You need to get out of there!”

Everyone leaps to their feet. Maverick pulling me up and tucking me behind him as he looks around the room.

“I’m not home, I’m⁠—”

“I know where you are. We just found where Patrick is hiding at the same time we broke into his phone. Jo, his apartment is covered in pictures of you. He even printed out the texts you sent him when you thought he was Jon. The last ping on his phone was ten minutes away from Jason’s house.”

“Fuck!” Maverick yells. “We need to go!”

“Where is he now?” Kai asks. He’s blocking my right side while Declan is covering my left. I would tear up if I wasn’t so panicked.

“I don’t know. He must have realized we hacked his phone and tossed it. I called the cops, but you need to get out now!”

That’s the last thing I hear him say before I’m thrown across the room, hot air burning my exposed legs, ears ringing. I cough as I try to blink. My friends are scattered everywhere, along with pieces of what was the wall of the kitchen.

That motherfucker set off a bomb!

“Maverick!” I yell, finding him a few feet in front of me. Ezra is already on him, pulling him to his feet. The moment he sees me crawling for him, he grabs me.

“Get her out of here!” he yells, shoving me into Ezra’s arms.

“No!” I shout at the same time Ezra yells, “Come with us!”

“He wants her! He’s always had a weird thing for her. I have to stay and make sure everyone is okay. I can already hear sirens.” Maverick is pleading with Ezra.

“Maverick, please!” I beg, trying to reach for him, tears streaking down my face.

“Get her somewhere safe!” he tells Ezra. Turning to me, he cups my cheek and gently places a kiss on my forehead. “Please, angel. Go with him.”

“Fine!” Ezra barks, turning and running out the hole that used to be the back of Jason’s house. He expertly dodges hanging wires and debris.

“Maverick!” I scream again, fighting Ezra’s hold. His strong arms keep me in place and soon we’re far enough away from the house I can no longer make out Maverick’s form.

sixteen

EZRA

Jo has gone silent. I don’t know her well. I don’t know her at all really, but I can tell her silence isn’t good for my health.

“I can walk,” she finally says.

“No,” I grunt back at her. I’m pretty sure her ankle is fucked up from the size of it and the backs of her calves have some bad burns. She’ll notice the pain once the shock and adrenaline wear off.

“Put me down, you oversized ape!”