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He cocked his head to the side and silently consideredmoment When he spoke, his voice still lacked any kind of real emotion or investment "Why haven’t you done for yourself what you do for everyone else? You could be in the wind, gone, and no one would be able to track you down, not even Jonathan Goddard" It was a shock to hear hiiven na of his title as more of a supervillain name, like the Joker, or the Riddlerhe was the Mayor

Frustrated, I blew out a breath and tugged onit tucked under a beanie or hidden under a ball cap, so the loose strands bugged irl half the tio I could have a new identity, a new name, and place to call hoet ahat he did to Julia? Why should he have the opportunity to do that to any other girl who’s too young and too scared to fight back? Someone needs to stop him I need to stop himbut I can’t do it on my own" I really couldn’t The man had too many people on his payroll, too many dirty cops ouldn’t hesitate to hurtmyself I wasn’t scared anymore, that I was the one in control I hated that it was all slipping away, and once again, I felt trapped It would have been so easy to send an email blast to the , there was no proof I wanted to protect her almost as much as I wanted to stop the Mayor in his tracks "I need you to helphis dark head before I even finished speaking The tattoos on the sides of his neck flexed as he clenched his jaw, sending a o not to pick fights I can’t win"

I snorted and then slapped a hand over my face to muffle the sound He watched me as I cleared my throat I couldn’t stop an eye roll when I ht you can’t win, Stark" He was too big, too smart, too shrewd, and too controlled not to couy who ever lost at anything

He shook his head again and pushed off the frae of the door like he was ready to close it in my face "I don’t mess with people who have their hands in politics, Noe It’s a bad idea They have too much to lose and kno to keep their secrets buried deep They play by a different set of rules and they don’t share the playbook They have an army of very rich, very entitled people at their disposal who have too raves all over the place, and theypeople disappear I was duer There was no cli out of it no matter how hard I tried I barely made it out withback You ets desperate to find you"

I knew he had things in his past that built up the enigma of who he was, but I had no idea that they still scared him He didn’t see

"I can’t let this go I’ they can do whatever they ith no repercussions Everyone should be held accountable for the bad things they do"

"When you have money and influence, there’s no need for accountability" He sounded like he knew that froasped as he fell back a step and started to close the door

"Wait!" I shoveddoor and slapped a hand on the surface as it inched closer to shutting outresolve "That’s it? You’re really going to ignore everything I just told you? You’re going to throw et aith doing despicable things?" I couldn’t believe it That’s not who he was ruuy He was supposed to believe in justice and fairness

He was a lie

He frowned at me and looked pointedly atit open "I don’t have a dog in this fight, Noe, and I know you’re s into when you helped that girl ghost out of town You knew the risk and you took it anyway You’re a sirl whohu and not a machine like he apparently was I had a heart It was a used one, one that didn’t run right half the tile day if I wanted to feel any da furiously His seemed to have been replaced by circuit boards and wires so the way

I fell back a step and threw ravation "You’re unbelievable, and not in the way I was hoping you were" I was no longer ireeood not to have expectations When you do, you’re bound to be disappointed Keep your head down, Noe Buy a bus ticket and put the Point in your rearview You can start over so useful with that big, sexy brain of yours"

I wanted to tell him to take his advice and stick it so far up his ass he choked on it I caone wrong in my life I was very aware of just how badly I had screwed up, but before I could say anything else, the door was uncereo-away’ and I couldn’t have been more disappointed if I tried I felt like he sucked all the opti , I kicked the closed door, taking ireasy, black streaks that my boot left on the white surface I thumped a balled-up fist on the hardwood as well and sed hard so the threat of tears wouldn’t spill over I hated feeling defeated I was a survivor I was a fighter and aany situation work for me Over the years, I’d had no choice In thiser have the upper hand, but that I was barely holding on as things were spiraling quickly out of control around s back froave myself a mental shake So, I’d struck out with Stark I knew there was no guarantee he was going to helpto walk away froaet to sit in his irls while his corrupt city burned Soh this situation sucked and was scary as hell, that so to be me

I quickly walked back down the front steps of the townhouse, pullingit back on my head as I went I tucked all my hair up in the cap and stopped at the line of decorative hedges that dotted the front of the property so I could pick upI oas in that ca enough to pull on a hoodie that o sizes too big and covered e on display and no et enius His heart washt, I wasn’t being as careful as I should have been as I walked across manicured lawns and cut across driveways full of expensive cars I wasn’t blending in or sticking to the shadows like normal because I was in such a hurry to leave Stark, and my disappointment in him, behind

I was almost out of the subdivision, almost back to the main road that led into the Point, when I heard sirens and realized the blue and red flashing lights were for ullies and ditches to slither through The road that was relatively safe I was so close to getting away I’d never been a fan of law and order, but now that there was a price on my head, I’d done my best to avoid any kind of law enforcement or people in uniform Too many were in the Mayor’s back pocket I’d let desperation cloud ment I should have known the police would be present in a nice neighborhood like this It was their job to keep out people likea run for it, but the cop car was too close and I didn’t, for one second, doubt that who would put a bullet in , I slowed and liftedcop He cliun, the other on his phone I had a sinking suspicion every cop in the city had my picture and a basic description of , and like a duht

"Can I help you, Officer?" I tried to keep my voice calm, but there was a thread of fear in it that I couldn’t hide

"Got a co I hadn’t been here long enough for anyone to coest fan, there was no way he would turn ht I knew about hi, but I knew it all the way to my bones