Under Control by Em Petrova Page A

even searching for, but she’d know it when she saw it. Maybe she’d find a scribbled note with the recipe of his bomb cocktail or the phone number of a friend he might be staying with. The sarcastic thought couldn’t even raise her spirits.
    Going through his possessions made her feel out of control. Her chest felt too tight, and she barely could draw a deep breath. But she pushed on, sifting through the contents of his desk and finally some kitchen drawers where papers were stored.
    When some mail toppled over and struck a cup holder, scattering the contents across the counter, she went dead still. Listening. Hands shaking.
    An unbearable urge to call Gabriel or Joey just to hear their voices flared inside her. But what could they do for her now? If Blaine came in, she was on her own.
    What was she doing here? She’d gone crazy for sure. Her bold move was born from the need to find the guy who’d tried to kill her and anybody standing near her in that fire station. Now that she’d had time to think more clearly, her recklessness made her blood run cold.
    She had to get out of here.
    On the spur of the moment, she grabbed a tablet off the counter and made for the door. In the back of her mind, she’d made the decision to stay away from Gabriel and Joey. But now that seemed hasty. She reached for her phone.
    »»•««
    “Where the hell is she? If she ever comes back, we’re handcuffing her to the bed and taking over the investigation. We’ll find that bastard and take care of business.” Joey barely contained his urge to bellow. They’d been waiting hours for her to check in.
    Gabriel stared at his cell screen, knuckles whitening on the edges as he didn’t find the answer he wanted. “Dammit, she disabled her GPS. I can’t find her.”
    “Hell.” Joey paced to the window as if looking out on their sleepy suburb would supply some sign of Jayla. A bird flitted between shrubberies, but other than that, there was no sign of life. He whirled from the window. “This is crazy. We need to go after her.”
    “She isn’t ours to keep locked up and powerless. You saw how determined she was. I have a feeling nobody should keep Jayla powerless.”
    “Yeah, her ex did that from what I can tell. Unfortunately, she swung the opposite direction and decided she should be wearing superhero tights. She’d look hot as hell in them, but letting her step into this dangerous role is damn stupid.” He finally growled with frustration.
    “We didn’t exactly let her. She took off.”
    “Let’s call the police.”
    “No.” Gabriel’s expression was calm, but the light in his eyes was as wild and untamed as Joey felt inside. “We have to trust her.”
    “She’s up against a volatile criminal who wants her dead.”
    “Look, I know you’re agitated. So am I. But we can’t bring the authorities into this.”
    Joey stared at his lover for a long heartbeat. “We can go after her,” he said again.
    Gabriel met his gaze, a tendon in the crease of his jaw twitching. “I know we hardly know Jayla, but she has a good head on her shoulders.”
    Will she come back to us? How insane that Joey even thought such a thing. He was definitely more entangled in this mess than he’d originally believed. He scuffed his knuckles over his jaw and went back to staring out the window.
    Hours passed and still no word from Jayla. A heavy stone of worry in his chest became a lead weight. Gabriel readied himself for his shift at the firehouse, and Joey had a few minutes before he needed to walk out the door. Thankfully, he’d only be pouring drinks for people—his thoughts were too scattered to do much else. At least he wasn’t responsible for keeping people alive as Gabriel was.
    At times like these, he was happy to have a menial task he enjoyed. Maybe his mind wouldn’t linger over Jayla’s whereabouts or safety.
    Like hell.
    Three hours into his shift, he was out of his mind with worry. He and Gabriel shot off texts speculating on her