Come Out Swinging (Reach for the Moon Book 2), Sam Hall [leveled readers .TXT] 📗

need to follow proper process, make everyone in town think we were fair and just, otherwise why allow us this position of power in the first place? “I’ll be OK,” I said, shoving the knife in the back of my waistband and moving to go. But his hand whipped out to grab me, and he hauled me back, just for a minute.

“I respect your decision and know you’re well equipped to get in and out without a scratch, but I…I need you to come back safe.” Those brown eyes slid down to meet mine. “Seeing you hurt… That can’t happen again, Paige, it can’t.”

For a moment, I just stared up at him, soaking in something I never thought to see on his face—vulnerability. I moved in close, putting my head on his chest and feeling his arms go around me, because that’s what used to happen when I was younger, but I could feel the difference here, so, so much. There was a specific pleasure that came from his hand stroking through my hair and over my skin that neither of us had felt before, rising and rising until I wasn’t so sure I needed to be going out tonight.

“I’ll be fine. I’m gonna text you the address, but no one comes unless I say or this takes too long,” I said. “I don’t like outing people, so I need you to be discreet with this information.”

“Just come back to me, and I’ll do anything you want. Anything.”

That had me pausing. He’d meant it as an offhand thing, I was sure, but I had to be uncool and freeze. He just capitalised on the moment, repeating himself. “Absolutely anything.” His hand slid down the side of my face. “Just be back here in one piece.”

He touched his lips to mine briefly, causing me actual physical pain to pull away, but that was OK. This was all gonna hurt until I had my answers. Pain is the body’s way of telling you you’re taking damage, Zack had said. That’s OK, just finish things decisively, and then you’ll have all the time in the world to heal.

Here was I hoping he was right.

“You look—” Aidan was waiting on the curb when I pulled over, approaching my door when I stepped out and looking me over.

“This isn’t a date, Aidan,” I said.

“Yeah, right.” He snorted. “Glad I didn’t bring those flowers I bought or this woulda been really embarrassing. So let’s…” I looked down to where he offered his hand, and he dropped it when he realised. “Sorry…” He swallowed, and the sight of the boy most girls sighed over at school looking off centre was an incongruous one. “Come in.”

Cheryl had a house out on acreage, so we walked up her long driveway to a nice house, a pretty garden illuminated by a single yellowing lightbulb near the front door. He didn’t look back when he rapped his knuckles on the security door, a chorus of thuds alerting us to who was inside.

“Go to bed!” a woman shouted as she opened the door, her harried expression softening for a moment when she saw her brother. She looked a little older than at school, but not by much. Her hair was clipped short into a stylish but practical pixie cut, a single earring with a metal feather flickering in the low light. But her face changed when she saw me behind him, her smile fading.

“Muuum, can I have a drink of water?”

“One drink, then bed,” she snapped, moving to fill the doorway and prevent us from seeing beyond. “Paige, what brings you here?”

“We need to talk,” Aidan said gently. “Please, Cheryl.”

She’d been expecting this, I realised. She didn’t like it, her eyes going everywhere but me, but she opened the door and stood back, ushering us in.

“Mum! Mummy! Mum!” A couple of little girls came barrelling out of the hallway down to the bedroom, stopping short when they saw us. “Uncle A—”

“If you don’t get your butts in bed this instant, you will not be going to the birthday party on the weekend. I’ll take Tyson’s present to school and give it to him there. Am I clear?”

Whoa. Female wolf shifters get an amazing mum growl when they have kids, but Cheryl was next level. The girls’ eyes went round, and they spun on their heels and walked straight back to their room.

“I’d offer you a cuppa, but I’m assuming it’s not that kind of conversation,” she said, going to the fridge. She grabbed out three rum and Coke cans and handed one to me. “From memory, you drink rum, right?”

“I didn’t realise you’d noticed,” I said, taking it and cracking it open when everyone else did. Sweet, caramelly cola with a bite of alcohol. If I closed my eyes a little, I could imagine us underage drinking at someone’s party.

“Oh, I think you’ll find most people are aware of the Spehr girls’ preferences,” she said. “So what did you want to talk about?”

She was playing it cool, but her façade was brittle and I was about to crack it.

“Speaking of Spehr girls, I need to talk to you about Selma.”

Her can was set down heavily on the crowded kitchen bench. She stayed where she was, leaning against the cabinets, but every muscle tensed.

“Your cousin? What would I have to say…?”

I’d printed out some of the surveillance photos again, this time leaving the faces intact, and I put them in a neat pile in front of Cheryl. She raised a hand to look through them, a faint tremor giving away her feelings about this. She looked at one, two, three, then pulled one out and peered closely at it.

“Well, that’s me,” she said, pointing to one body twined tightly around others.

“Shit, Cheryl…” Aidan hissed.

“What? You like your lesbian porn with a whole lot less sister in it? Who fucking took these photos?”

“My dad, I assume, or someone else did and gave them to him. We found a USB hidden away in his desk.”

“Jesus