McAllister Justice Series Box Set

by Reily Garrett

  Soft footfalls disrupting the absolute stillness signaled she’d just missed Matt’s exit. He was headed downstairs. A note beside her pillow caught her eye.

  I’ve gone into work for a meeting. I’ll be back by four. Lucas will be outside or downstairs to keep you company until I return.

  Downstairs, muffled raucous laughter decimated the silence and drew her attention. Curiosity pulled her out of bed and closer to the doorway to better hear the murmured discussion.

  Lucas coughed amid a rich belly laugh. “Dude, I’ve seen you do a lot of things, but carrying a dildo isn’t one I ever expected. Is there something you’ve wanted to tell us—say—for a number of years?”

  A faint click then a string of curses prodded her imagination of Luc taking a candid for the family album.

  Then, sudden quiet. She imagined Matt standing on the bottom step, caught red-handed holding Richard in one hand and slapping his forehead with the other. Hopefully using the other hand. She imagined him slapping himself with Richard.

  “No. Dammit.”

  Again, she imagined Matt shaking his fist at his brother, then realizing that hand clenched around her toy. “The girls decided to go shopping and this is what they bought.”

  Matt’s face would be bright crimson by now, his other hand scrubbing over his jaw. “Jesus. We shouldn’t let Katt and Lexi be together without supervision. I don’t think my heart can take it.”

  “Aw, man. You have so much to learn. I look forward to watching the journey.”

  “This isn’t funny. Look at the size of this thing!”

  Katt snickered then clamped her hand over her mouth. A decided quietness descended over the downstairs. Oh, shit!

  “If you’re having problems... I know a guy.”

  “I don’t need bulking up, and I don’t need medication.” Frustration echoed within Matt’s voice. “Fuck.”

  “Speaking of which, where’s Katt?”

  “Too tired to run, for now. Keep an eye on her. She’s damned determined to prove herself.”

  The declaration was a point made from pride, as if she were a thing to be controlled by any means necessary, sex being the most convenient. Reality struck her in the face as the rest of the conversation diminished with space and the front door opening.

  Bile filled her mouth before she made it into the bathroom. Purging emptied her gut of burning liquid but not her mind from the caustic thoughts singeing her pride.

  “Oh god...” The humiliation of her mother’s abandonment didn’t compare to the overwhelming grief sweeping her thoughts aside. If their intimate encounter’s purpose was to keep her will subverted, it succeeded on a temporary basis.

  He’d sworn he’d never brought women back to his house. On the other hand, she no longer had a home, and taking her to a motel would’ve made his deception obvious.

  Further thoughts drowned out with the sound of Matt’s truck roaring to life.

  There was no way to sneak downstairs and circumvent Luc. Her only choice entailed jumping out the window and praying she didn’t break a leg. Since she knew the alarm code, she could return later for Gila.

  Caden and Kaylee had returned her car and left it in the driveway, thereby fulfilling her need for transportation. Thanks to an independent streak that was as stubborn as it was curious, she’d learned enough about engines to disable Luc’s truck. She could get out before Matt returned.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? You were supposed to watch her.” Matt shoved his younger brother against the refrigerator, one hand holding his sibling in place, the other balled into a fist at his side.

  “You told me she was too exhausted to want to go anywhere. I guess it was a very nice, very wet dream you enjoyed.” Luc shoved his sibling’s restraint away. “Look, I’m not imagining my truck’s distributor’s cap lying beside the tire. She obviously doesn’t want you to follow. So—what happened?”

  “I. Don’t. Know!” Matt’s roar sent Damien to his feet, a combination rumble-whine in his chest.

  “Maybe she still wants to prove herself... by catching Denny.”

  “Oh, shit. Check the gun safe. I’ll check the nightstand. Sunday night, she took my Glock, which was lost in the fire. I put my Ruger in the bedroom.” The urge to kill anything or anyone that threatened Katt took hold. “She told me you guys set her up with a gun.” Matt took the stairs two at a time. Multiple levels of fear crowded other thoughts to the periphery of his awareness.

  “No. She’s asked about it, but we pulled the plug on that idea,” Luc’s distracted voice drifted up the stairs.

  The sheets lay strewn in haphazard fashion across the bed, a reminder of how blissful hours could turn to icy panic. A slight breeze stirred the curtains covering the sole route to freedom, the window that included a fifteen-foot drop. In her haste, she must have discarded the idea of using bedsheets tied together.

  She’d left the drawer open with his note folded over its edge, letting him know she’d taken the handgun.

  “Fuck. Katt, what the hell are you trying to do?”

  From downstairs, Luc’s voice echoed, “Your Sig Sauer is here. Either she left on the spur of the moment, or she didn’t want this one.”

  “She took my Ruger plus the spare magazines.” Matt surveyed the downstairs on his approach, remembering when Katt had taunted him about his brothers and the conversation concerning a handgun. Probably looking for acceptance and to use their imagined approval as leverage. “I can’t think of anything else she’d want. Did she say anything this morning? Did you see her at all?”

  “No. I figured she should be up by around ten, so I sent Damien up to greet her. He scratched at your door and whined. When I went to let him in. She was gone.”

  “She won’t go far without her little horror.” Gila sat in his cage. Even the little monster condemned with its dark gaze.

  “Did you put a tracker in her new backpack?”

  “No, dammit. Not yet. Didn’t think I needed to.”

  “I take it she wouldn’t go to her dad’s house or to the diner?”

  “Hell, no. She won’t endanger her friends, but there was one thing in her dad’s house that meant something to her. We’ll make a stop first then head there.”

  Time blurred in Matt’s haste to get out of the house, his brother on his tail. Damien hopped in the backseat of the truck, impatient huffs marking his passage from one window to the other.

  “Did you get to talk with the captain before I called?” Luc asked.

  “Yeah. He realized Katt is our only living link between the murders and Denny. He assigned me to protect her.”

  “Huh, imagine that. I’m sure he knows at least something about her. She’s starting to make a name for herself after helping us with the crap at Biobotics two months ago.”

  “He’s a nosy son of a bitch.” Matt slewed onto the asphalt from his driveway.

  “You’ve met her dad. What’s he like? And why does she avoid him like the plague?”

  “He’s a drunk. I don’t know if he’s a mean one.”

  “You mean physically?” The censure in Luc’s tone dropped its pitch.

  “Don’t know. She won’t talk about him, or about her mother. I know her mom took off when she was eight. I’ve offered to help find her, but Katt said she’s come to the realization that finding her mother won’t change anything.”

  “So? You know that’s bullshit. She wants to at least know why.”

  “I’ve been working on it.” Matt scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Damn. She shouldn’t be out here at all.”

  “What are you going to do about it?” Luc’s open-ended challenge proved rhetorical.

  “Anything I have to.” Infinite acres of woods and shadows lined the road, the graceful arching overhead providing a solemn tunnel. He’d considered it the entrance to his refuge, one he finally wanted to share.

  “She doesn’t have that much of a head start. Where are we headed?”

 
“First to the diner. She has a girlfriend, a waitress.” He was grateful for his little brother’s ensuing silence. “Alena might know where Katt would go.”

  A deep sigh didn’t slow his heart rate when he skidded to a stop on loose stone in front of Katt’s favorite restaurant. He hadn’t laid his heart on the line to have it ripped out by whatever trivial misunderstanding had sent her on the run.

  He’d claimed her, mind and spirit. They were one, and she needed a reminder of that fact. His brother’s grimace, meant as a calming influence, radiated the same anxiety filling Matt’s thoughts as both their gazes skimmed the parking lot. Panic pushed him to move faster.

  The little bell over the entrance jingled before his brother reached the bottom step.

  Inside, the staff enjoyed a lull between meals, time to replenish supplies and chat with the few lingering customers. Matt caught Alena’s eye and strode for the counter. “I need to talk to you. Alone. It’s about Katt.”

  Emerald eyes flashed in alarm. “What’s wrong?” Nodding to her friend behind the counter, she added, “I’ll be back in a sec. Okay?” Receiving a nod in return, Alena took her apron off and gestured Matt to the back door.

  Once outside, she turned to greet Matt and Luc. “What’s happened?”

  “Nothing that we know of, but I can’t find her. Where would she go?”

  Bared teeth and flaring nostrils declared the best friend more than capable of a verbal flaying. “What the hell did you do now?”

  “What? Nothing.”

  Alena grabbed a fistful of Matt’s shirt, twisting it along with a smattering of chest hair. “She’s in love with you, you stupid shit. If you’ve fucked with her mind, you better watch out. One day you’ll turn around but won’t see what’s coming at you. Understand me?”

  Luc took a step back, shock written in his expression.

  “Listen, Alena.” Matt disengaged the fist in his shirt. “Katt and me... we’re complicated.”

  “Then simplify it. Real fast. Got it, buddy?” Alena turned away amid a string of curses. “Jesus. The first man she takes up with turns out to be an asshole. Son of a bitch!”

  “First man?” As in virgin?” Luc’s widened gaze turned to Matt. “You dumb shit.”

  “The first man she cared anything about, enough to lean on, if only a little. And he’s an asswipe.” Alena jabbed a finger in Matt’s direction.

  “Where would she go?” Repeating the question depleted Matt’s emotional reserves.

  “If she’s in some kind of trouble? Not to a friend, that’s for sure. I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

  “Who would?” Luc murmured.

  “The one who’s known her since first grade. Call Laredo. He knows more about her than anyone.”

  The distant screech of a hawk echoed Matt’s frustration. Without another word, he turned and headed around the building’s side toward his truck. Once inside, he snagged his cell.

  Luc jumped in the other side. “You got this kid’s number?”

  “Oh, yeah, I sure as hell do. He’s moving to San Diego, but Alena was right. This guy knows her better than anyone. They grew up together.” The call went straight to voicemail. “Fuck!”

  “Where to now?”

  “Her dad’s house.” Dirt and rubble skittered as he swung back onto macadam. “She took her new computer, so I don’t know if she found something related to the case, maybe found Denny’s cabin. Call Lexi, see what she can find.”

  Each twist and turn along the rural route provoked a larger measure of panic. To Matt’s relief, his brother kept his own counsel.

  When he cut the engine in front of Culver Nugle’s house, Matt murmured a warning, “He might not be drunk since he goes to work at four, but be prepared.”

  “Good to know.” Luc hopped out and dusted off his jeans, his version of mental preparation for a fight.

  It appeared someone had made an attempt to cut the grass, but left the edge trimming for a later date. Weeds smothered a small red bloom fighting for sunlight against the dilapidated picket fence. So much in front of him paralleled Katt’s life, her struggles, triumphs, and the way fate kept throwing shit in her face.

  Matt hammered the door with the meaty part of his fist. From inside, the sound of someone scrambling lent no satisfaction.

  “Keep your pants on. I’m coming.” A small click of a lock. The chain link breeching the opening resembled the pathetic state of the resident. Culver Nugle rubbed the isolated lock of gray hair from his forehead. “It’s you. What do you want?”

  “Open the door. Now, or I’ll break it in.”

  A brief pause with the door closed caused Matt to wonder if he’d hear the lock click, but the subtle clink and slide of metal affirmed the man held a small semblance of self-preservation.

  Without preamble, Matt pushed inside, mumbling introductions, “Luc, Culver. Culver, Luc.”

  Luc’s calm voice drifted off as Matt made a beeline for Katt’s room. Seconds later, he returned with her diary in hand.

  “What do you mean, my daughter’s missing? What’s happened?”

  Open mouth and short inhalations signaled the father’s first signs of caring. Maybe there was hope.

  Matt shoved the diary into Luc’s hands then jerked Culver up by the collar, forcing him to stand on tiptoe against the door. “You haven’t been a father to Katt since she was eight. However, while I’m finding her, and I will, you’ll straighten out your act, dry out, and step up to the plate. Tell her what she wants to know about her mother. The truth. You owe her that much.”

  Luc’s heavy hand pulled Matt back to reality.

  “Matt, we’re not doing any good here. He doesn’t know where she’d go or names of other friends. He’s had no contact.”

  Slamming the door behind them failed to divert Matt’s anger. His phone buzzed en route to his truck. “Yeah.”

  “Why can’t you pull your head out of your ass? I just talked with Alena.” Laredo’s anger vibrated through the phone.

  “Where would she go?” Matt didn’t waste time with fluff. “I have her diary, but I haven’t busted the lock yet.” He considered tossing his keys to his brother, but hedged, needing to be proactive, in control.

  “Don’t. The combination is the day her mom left. Try five-fourteen-zero-four.”

  The sequence popped the lock. “I got it.”

  “I don’t know of any special place she has. Used to be, she’d come over to my apartment, walk in, and make herself at home till I got back.”

  “Is there anywhere else that has meaning to her?”

  “Yeah... One. But I don’t have an address. It’ll be in that diary, though. It’s the place where Katt’s search for her mother went cold. An old abandoned motel.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Katt hunkered down in the driver’s seat, pulling her jacket tighter against the sorrow invading her soul. It occurred to her that history might repeat itself. Her thoughts shifted, looking for similarities that would declare mother and child alike. Never thought I’d fall for a pity fuck. Matt had actually boasted about exhausting her.

  He wasn’t her first sexual encounter. No, that experience belonged to a bigger fool. A boy from college who believed her apartment made for better quarters than his dorm. It seemed she was destined to find new ways of making similar mistakes.

  The old, abandoned motel had once served the area well. She could imagine a beautiful setting with snow blanketing the trees surrounding the isolated structure. A place in the country to enjoy nature while sitting in the lobby in front of a fire.

  Now, it sported a sagging roof structure ready to collapse with a strong breeze. Broken windows allowed all types of vermin to enter and huddle against the snow and freezing rain during winter storms.

  It was the last known location of her mother, an address written on a scrap of paper her father had crumpled and thrown away, retrieved and cherished as a focal point to begin her search years later.

  The thought never occurre
d that maybe her mother had a reason to abandon her husband and child, other than the selfish pursuit of fulfilling basic desires. Her father refused to speak of it through the years. Maybe there existed a small kernel of redemption if she could find and face her mom, demanding the truth.

  Her father had been a different man back then, full of hope and laughter, a kind word, a gentle hand. Heartbreak and grief changed him, twisted him into a shell that mocked the withered soul within. She ached for the loss of both parents. If not for Laredo, she’d never have survived. Now, he’s gone, too. After being with Matt, she couldn’t cry on Laredo’s shoulder.

  Pain engulfing her right lower leg demanded she take off her sneaker. Jumping out of a second-story window hadn’t been her finest move, but necessary all the same.

  A knee-jerk reaction brought her to this point in time where she needed to catch her breath and formulate a plan. She had no home, little money, and no friends she could call for help without putting them in danger. The thought of calling Lexi crossed her mind, but the white-hat hacker would enlist the McAllisters’ help. That wasn’t going to fly. Never again. A quick check of her backpack ensured Matt hadn’t hidden another tracker.

  Swiping his pistol hadn’t been her finest move. She’d face those consequences with a smirk on her face after finding Denny. It lay tucked in the bottom of her new backpack.

  Using the last of the paper napkins in her glove box, she wiped her eyes and blew her nose. Crying wouldn’t solve her problems, now swollen as large as her ankle.

  “I have no place to stay.” On the way out of town, she’d used her ATM card to empty her checking account. Thanks to wilderness training, she could make do for a while, but whether or not her ankle was broken, it needed medical attention. The minute she showed up at any clinic or hospital, they’d find her, at least digitally.

  Screwed. She was totally and completely screwed. “Hell, I don’t even have Gila with me.” Just as well, since she couldn’t afford to feed him for long.

  Twisting sideways allowed her to prop her foot on the backpack occupying the passenger seat. Pain shot up her leg as she tried to find a comfortable position.