That’s where he’d take her. He couldn’t take her back to his place, but this option was a stupid one to pick as well. I know Crane is seeing this information as quickly as I am and putting it together. Carlton is no real criminal. He’s a man that’s lost touch with reality. As much as I don’t want to relate to that, I do to a degree.

If he’s had a thing for Liza, then watching her with Crane was likely his breaking point. It would be mine if I’d seen Eve with someone else. I’d hope I could handle myself with a bit more tact. You’re supposed to find a way to get rid of the competition. Not put a target on your own fucking head. Carlton is an amateur.

Crane takes off toward his SUV, jumping in. He’ll get her. This dumbass Carlton is no match for Crane. He has no idea who or what he’s dealing with. Carlton is as good as dead. The sooner the better.

Without thinking, my feet are moving on their own accord, heading across the parking lot toward Eve. Clark heads for his patrol car.

“I think Crane is going to get her back. Not Clark,” Eve mutters. She’s still wringing her hands together.

“Yeah,” Mayor Grable agrees. I can see the worry in her eyes, but she’s trying to remain calm.

“Eve.” Her name comes out harder than I mean it to, but I don’t speak often. She turns around slowly to face me, her eyes filled with tears. She tries to fight them back, but they explode free. Her legs give way. I catch her before she can hit the ground, pulling her into my body.

I cradle her in my arms as she sobs in my neck. The mayor’s brows lift all the way to her hairline at the sight before her.

“I’ve got her,” I tell her. The mayor only nods before she too takes off. The search for Liza is in full swing.

“It’s going to be okay, angel. Crane will bring her back.” The soothing words come from somewhere inside of me I didn’t know was there. Then again, when it comes to Eve, I’m not quite myself. Or maybe I’m finding myself again. The person I was before I’d become almost a machine for the most part.

My humanity is coming back to me. I’m not sure what it is, but what I do know is that now that I have Eve cradled in my arms, there is no going back. Not that there ever was. There was going to be something sooner or later that forced my hand.

There is no going back. Ever.

4

Eve

Marco isn’t wrong. Crane finds Liza, but Carlton is dust like the rest of his house. At least that’s what I heard. The fire trucks raced out of town to try and put the fire out, but there was nothing left by the time they made it there.