Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 227

CHAPTER 131-1

I barely slept that night, because the photograph of Uncle Will standing beside Victor kept replaying in my mind.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the same three men standing together, and kept thinking about the warning written beneath their picture.

Never trust the man beside me.

By six in the morning, I had given up trying to sleep.

I slipped out of bed while Jace was still asleep and I quietly headed into the bathroom so I wouldn’t wake him. I showered, brushed my teeth, and pulled on a pair of jeans and a clean Lawson Customs shirt.

When I returned to the bedroom, Jace was sitting against the headboard.

“You’ve been awake for hours, haven’t you?” He asked.

“Pretty much.” I said as he rubbed his face.

“The journals?” He asked.

“The photograph.” I said and his expression changed immediately.

“I’ve been thinking about it too.” He said.

We headed downstairs together, and I made coffee while Jace prepared breakfast. We ate quickly, because neither of us wanted to waste time.

The journals were already waiting on the table and placed the photograph beside them.

“We need to figure out what we’re missing.” I said and Jace nodded.

“We start with the pages.” He said and I opened the first journal.

There were hundreds of pages, and several sections had already been removed.

I had noticed the missing pages before, but I hadn’t considered the possibility that there could be a pattern.

Jace sat beside me while I opened another journal. Then another and we started making notes.

Journal one had missing pages from the middle of the book. Journal two had several pages removed toward the back. Journal three had an entire section missing. Journal four had two pages torn out.

“There’s no pattern.” I said as Jace looked over the notes.

“Maybe there is.” He said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Look at the dates.” He said and I turned back to the first journal.

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The dates were written at the top of every entry and I followed them carefully.

These pages are from 2008.” I said and I opened another journal.

“These are from 2009.” I said and I flipped through the next one.

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“2010.” I said as Jace leaned closer.

“Keep going.” He said.

I did and then I stopped.

“2011.” I said.

Another journal.

“2012.” I said and we looked at each other.

I slowly pulled the journals into a line across the table.

“Wait.” I said as Jace nodded.

“Exactly.” He said.

I looked at the missing sections again. Every missing page came from the same period. Five years.

From 2008 through 2012 and my stomach tightened.

“That’s not a coincidence.” I said.

“No.” He said as I ran my fingers over one of the torn edges.

“Someone deliberately removed pages from this exact period.” I said and Jace nodded.

“But why?” Jace asked.

“I don’t know.” I said.

I turned another page and there was nothing obvious. The entries before 2008 were intact. The entries after 2012 were intact. But those five years had been selectively damaged.

Some pages remained while others were gone. It wasn’t random. Someone had chosen specific information and I looked at Jace.

“Do you think Uncle Will removed them?” I asked.

“No.” He said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because whoever removed them didn’t take the entire journals.” He said as he pointed toward the damaged sections.

“They took individual pages.” He added and I nodded slowly.

“If Uncle Will wanted something hidden, he could have destroyed the entire section.” I said.

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“Exactly.” He said and I sat back.

“Someone else wanted those pages.” I said.

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