Free Burned by Natasha Deen Page A

hot for a guy at her school, and I figured it was just a matter of time before their connection ignited.
    When the cell rang, I still wasn’t worried. Annoyed but not worried. Figured she needed to be picked up. “It’s six in the morning,” I said.
    I tried to shake the sleep from my brain and caught her saying, “Did you water Charlie?”
    Seriously? She was waking me up for a weed? “Yes, I watered your plant.” I paused, and then, because I knew it would annoy her, I added, “Although I’m pretty sure it’s just a dandelion.”
    “It’s a begonia, and don’t you dare kill it.”
    I grinned as I pulled myself out of bed and moved to the kitchen. I pushed aside yesterday’s edition of the Province . Maybe I’d get the newspaper framed. Meena’s takedown had made front-page news the last few days. She was now in jail, wearing orange instead of blue. The police chief had promised a full investigation, not just into her corrupt partnership with the Vëllazëri, but also into the fire that had claimed my family. My attention focused on the sentence that let me sleep last night: “ Sharma’s daughter is now in the custody of her grandmother .” Right after the team had rescued me, I’d called 9-1-1 for Dollie. Gotten her out of the house before the gang could take her.
    I kept hoping the papers would mention Amanda, how she was connected to Meena and the gang. But so far I hadn’t seen anything. I wasn’t going to give up. Until I saw a body, I’d keep looking for Amanda.
    “Noob, you still there?”
    “Yeah, what do you want?”
    “Look, I called to ask you…”
    Her hesitation made my skin tingle.
    “I need to call in that favor.”
    The contained fear in her voice sent shivers down my spine. “Now?”
    “Well, not now, but tonight. Is that a problem?”
    “No. I mean, I never thought you’d actually admit you needed—” Wow. Raven needing help. “I mean, for sure. I’m there. How can I help?”
    “Diesel, my boss, put the warehouse on lockdown.”
    Whoa, that wasn’t good. Based on what she’d shared about Diesel and Supersize, I knew he was a bad guy. But if he was holding the kids hostage, then he was about to do something stupid and dangerous. And chances were that Raven and her crew would be destroyed. I tuned in as she kept talking, explaining what had happened to set him off, what had happened to get her to revolt. Then she said, “I’ve gotten everyone on board. They’ll do their part. I need you to go to my school, Laurier Secondary, and talk to a guy for me. I don’t have his number, and this isn’t something I can ask him over the phone.”
    “A guy.” Huh. “Just a guy, or is he your guy?”
    Her groan told me everything, but, typical Raven, she said, “He’s just a guy, okay?”
    Uh-huh.
    “I need you to ask him if he’ll do one thing for me. I need his father to be here at the warehouse tonight. At 9:00 PM sharp. Emmett—”
    That must be the guy.
    “—is absolutely not to come on his own. Just his father. Tell him it’s about the note he gave me. It’s my reply. He’ll understand.”
    “You want his father there? Not him? I don’t get it.”
    “His dad’s a cop.”
    “No,” I said and felt my jaw clench. “Ask Jace.”
    She sighed. “I’m asking Jace and Bentley for a little help in another department more worthy of their skills. Besides, I can’t send Jace to ask Emmett to help me—that will just set him off.”
    I knew it. “Ah, you mean Jace would make him jealous. So he is yours.”
    “Jo, can you do this for me or not? I know you have issues with cops. So do I. But I had some friends look into Emmett’s dad, and if I’m going to trust a uniform… he’s the best bet.”
    I didn’t like the idea of using cops, but Raven was sure this guy would be safe. In the end, I stopped arguing. Hoped that my agreement wouldn’t get her killed.

EIGHTEEN
    Jace, Bentley and I sat in yet another one of Jace’s cars and watched as the cops moved into