by KB Winters
Jasper chuckled. “Yeah, get in line man. Any news on the girl?”
Kat opened her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it, briefly updating him on the past few hours. “We’re heading to a motel near the border now.”
“Shit,” Jasper growled, knowing exactly what fate awaited her if we didn’t get there in time. “Stay safe and check in later. Emmett is sleeping, but when he’s awake I’ll call you back.”
I nodded, relieved to have all my brothers at my side right now.
“Thanks, Jas.”
“No problem, brother.” The call ended but that one word and the ease that he said it was another subtle reminder of why Kat was completely off limits.
Chapter Fifteen
Kat
Pacific Palms wasn’t too far from Searchlight and less than a mile from the freeway. My stomach lurched as we pulled into the cracked pavement of the parking lot, which perfectly matched the old and dilapidated structure that was held together with duct tape and glue.
“Exactly the shit hole I expected,” I told Terry and opened the door. The first rays of dawn threw a harsh light on the rundown building and parking lot.
“Perfect place to keep people out of your business,” Terry said quietly.
His words were terse, and I knew his thoughts were back in Glitz with Emmett.
“Luckily, I have a knack for getting people to tell me things they shouldn’t.”
His lips pulled into a semi-amused grin that I wanted to kiss because I knew he was here for me instead of back in Glitz.
“I have no problem believing that. I’ll take a q1uick look around and come back. Stay here, Kat.”
“I will,” I promised with a mischievous grin and slid out of the car.
“Kat,” he warned.
“I swear. Scout’s honor.”
Terry barked out an amused laugh. “You were never a Scout.”
“Details. The point is I’ll be right here. Waiting for you,” and carefully closed the car door. It felt like I’d been waiting for years for Terry to see me as a woman and not just Jasper’s annoying little sister.
“Good. Go on inside and work your magic, Kitty Kat,” he said through the window.
I flipped him off as I went inside, the sound of his laughter washing over me and my body tightening up in places it shouldn’t as he eased the car toward the end of the building.
The lobby was cleaner than I expected with bright white fluorescent lights that highlighted the decades old, yellowing floor tiles.
The sofa across from the reception area had seen better days, but when the clerk looked up, finally, I flashed my best Ashby smile. The one that got me just about any damn thing I wanted when I put my mind to it, like getting my MBA when Ma said it was stupid and unnecessary. Or learning Jiu Jitsu when Virgil thought it was impractical in the age of high-powered weapons.
“Welcome to Pacific Palms,” the young kid deadpanned. “How may I help you this morning?”
“Hi. I’m looking for my kid sister, and I’m wondering if you’ve seen her traveling through here?” The kid had to be about twenty so I knew exactly how to work him.
“Nope,” he said without thinking and turned his attention back to his phone, giving me a perfect glimpse of the top of his greasy head.
“Thanks,” I said a little too brightly. “When I tell the police officer I stopped here in search of a kidnapped minor, I’ll be sure to let them know how helpful,” I scanned his shirt for his nametag, “uhm…Brian was.”
He looked up with wide, bloodshot brown eyes that were suddenly filled with worry. “Ain’t no minors here.”
Bullshit.
“Then you won’t mind if I look around a little bit?” I didn’t wait for an answer, not now that I had his full attention. “Get a lot of bookings last night?”
“Yep,” he shot back quickly even though I hadn’t seen one damn car in the parking lot, just his raggedy scooter.
“Okay,” I said easily and slid a hundred dollar bill through the security window. “How many people are with the girl?”
Brian opened his mouth to lie to me again and I raised a palm to him.
“Before you even think about lying to me, Brian, I want you to think about it long and hard.”
“About what?”
His sneer pissed me off even though it was something I was used to, being underestimated.
“About how painful your recovery will be.” With one hand still on the money, I reached around for my piece.
“I won’t kill you, I promise,” I told him with a sickly-sweet smile that had him rethinking his snarky tone. “Now, how many are with the girl?”
Brian nodded and looked down at the money, up at me, and then my gun before his brown eyes landed on his motivation. The money.
“Three. A driver. Can’t tell you what he looks like, but he had a pistol in his hand. And an older man and a middle-ish age woman, bang-able but too uptight to be a MILF. Kinda like you.”
“Thanks,” I told him and slid another hundred dollar bill under my hand while I thought. The driver likely doubled as security, probably armed. “Room number?”
“121.”
“Thank you, Brian. I was never here,” I told him and released the cash.
He shrugged and took the money hungrily. “No one is ever here, lady.”
Exactly what I wanted to hear. “Nice doin’ business with you.”
“Whatever,” he muttered and went back to whatever was so interesting on his phone.
Terry waited out front just out of view of Brian. I slid into the passenger seat with a sly smile.
“Got what you need?”
“You doubt me, Ter?”
“Nevah,” he said around a playful, teasing grin.
His words warmed me, and no matter how hard I tried to shake them off, I was affected. So, I focused on the task at hand.
“Three people with her and the driver is probably armed.”
“Not a problem,” he said with a smile. “I’m always strapped, Kitty Kat.”
The more he used that damn nickname, the more it grew on me. Warmed me. The more it felt like an intimate pet name instead of a childish taunt.
“What’s the plan?” I asked.
At his raised eyebrow, I returned the same look. “Don’t tell me you haven’t driven around and figured out the best way to get Madison out of there.”
Terry’s playful smile made another appearance, and I squeezed my knees together until they started to sting.
“Yeah, I do have a plan,” he said and drove around behind the squat building while he explained.
It was a simple plan and I smiled. “Guess that G.I. Joe thing runs in the family.”
He barked out a laugh and shook his head, his blue eyes staring at me with something that looked a lot like affection. I couldn’t have that, so I looked away.
“Thanks for that.”
I groaned at his tone, wondering what I’d have to do to get him to see me as a woman, or better, a desirable woman. “Sure.”
“Here’s your phone. Ready your weapon,” he ordered and despite his bossy tone, I felt my nipples harden in response.
“When you’re ready,” he said and drove away.
I took a deep breath and counted until I found the bathroom window for room 121. The faint light at this early morning hour before the sun rose would turn out to be our ally.
TEN, I texted Terry to let him know I was in place.
NINE, he replied, letting me know he was in place. I should now call the room directly.
EIGHT, I sent a confirmation and then made the call.
A deep, slightly cultured voice answered. “I said no goddamn phone calls!” He sounded older than I realized, which meant it wasn’t Stephen McLaughlin, but likely Mueller himself.
The thought threw me off for half a second before I recovered.
“Hello Mr. Evans, this is Joanna Lemmings from Desert Telecom.”
First thing that came to mind. His growl of fru
stration let me know I hit the mark.
“Not interested. Don’t call back,” he warned and slammed the phone down hard enough to be heard through the shut bathroom window. Madison’s signal to make her move.
SEVEN, The sign to Terry that the call was successful; Madison wasn’t alone.
SIX, Terry replied he was prepared at the front door.
FIVE, I texted Terry when the bathroom light flickered to life and Madison appeared in the window with a black eye that was swollen and a gnarly looking split on her bottom lip. She clutched her side as she reached up on her toes to open the window a little further. “Ms. Ashby?”
I quirked a brow and smiled. “So now I’m Ms. Ashby? Not Kat or Rich Girl?”
She rolled her eyes and winced in pain.
“Trying to be cool since you’re being so helpful, savin’ my life and all.”
Her voice held the appropriate amount of bravado but the flash of fear in her eyes as she looked over her shoulder reminded me that she was just a kid.
“I need a hand,” she said reluctantly, embarrassment heavy in her tone.
It was a risk but I shoved the gun back in the holster and stepped in close to the window, hooking my arms under her pits to give her a good pull out the window. We both fell to the ground with a grunt.
“You all right?”
Madison nodded. “Alive.”
FOUR, I messaged Terry and his message came seconds later.
THREE, My cue to wait, which I did, impatiently.
Though not as much as Madison. “Why are we just standing around? They’ll notice I’m gone in about ten seconds,” she grumbled.
TWO, I confirmed we were waiting by the dumpster.
“It’s called a plan,” I told her and wrapped an arm around Madison so she could lean on me while we waited for Terry.
ONE, One second later he flashed the lights.
“Come on.”
I held her close and practically dragged her toward the car, shoving her in the back with a quiet slam of the door.
“That was fun!” I flashed a smile at Terry and when he smiled back, I had to resist the urge to lean forward and press my lips to his.
It wasn’t the right moment.
It would never be.
Terry turned the car around toward the street and just as we passed the front of the building, the door opened.
“Wait,” I called out as my eyes tried to focus on the grey-haired man who’d stepped out, that fucking beard etched in my mind.
“Holy fucking shit,” I muttered and reached blindly for my phone to snap a photo at the same moment the woman, Donna McLaughlin, stepped out beside him.
“Okay, go.” Immediately I sent the photo to Ma.
It was a foolish move, I realized after the fact, designed to bring more heat on the family, especially from the Feds who’d taken up residence in Glitz for the past few months. No matter what she did, I knew Sadie would want to know. Hell, she needed to know.
“Uh, Kat?”
Madison’s shaky tone alarmed me and I turned to her. “What’s up?”
“Not that I’m not grateful, ‘cause I am. Totally. But I uh need…” Her eyes fluttered shut and that was when I noticed the place she’d been holding was bleeding.
“Shit! Terry she’s hurt.” I leaned forward between the front seats and lifted the same ratty t-shirt she’d been wearing when she showed up at the hotel. A slice ran about four inches across her abdomen but the blood was black and dried, and it smelled. “She’s been stabbed.”
“Fuck.” That one word from Terry’s mouth held a wealth of emotions as he slammed on the gas and put as much distance between us and Mueller as he could.
Without thinking I climbed between the seats and held Madison’s head in my lap, stroking her damp, dirty hair. “You’ll be all right,” I whispered and hoped that was the truth.
Chapter Sixteen
Terry
“This room is too much,” I grumbled from my spot leaning against the rail of the balcony because what else would Kat Ashby find for us, but a luxury suite in the middle of fucking nowhere.
“Nonsense,” Kat said with casual ease. “We need someplace that invested in security, cameras and armed guards. More importantly someplace that has concierge medical services.” Her tone changed when she was reminded of the real reason for our detour.
“How is she?”
Kat shrugged and swirled the amber liquid in her glass before she handed the other glass to me and stretched out in a lounge chair.
“The wound is infected, but he stitched her up and gave her antibiotics. Madison is going to be fine,” she said with a laugh. “Told me she didn’t need to die in luxury. I told her tough because she wasn’t going to die today.”
That quick flash of worry in her blue eyes told me she wasn’t as sure as she sounded.
“You’re picking up quite a few strays lately,” I told her and took the plush chair beside her. The desert stretched out before us, brightly lit and full of life.
“First Bonnie and now Madison. Better be careful or you might lose that barracuda card you love so much.”
An unexpectedly loud laugh erupted from Kat. “I wouldn’t say that I love it but being bitchy saves a lot of time.” Her gaze was unfocused as she looked up at the starry night sky and sighed. “It’s not easy being a bitch all the time, ya know.”
A huff of a laugh escaped and I shook my head. “I hate to break it you Kitty Kat, but you’re not a very good bitch. Formidable, without a doubt, but not that bitchy.”
One sculpted brow arched, but the messy hair and rumpled clothes gave her a relaxed, casual air that was more appealing than Kat dressed to the nines. “Suddenly you’re the bitch expert?”
“Maybe I’m just a Kat expert.” And maybe the lack of food and sleep forced the quality whiskey to go straight to my brain. “You do a good impression of a bitch, but your real superpower is your willingness to see things through.”
She sighed and a satisfied smile crossed her lips just before she finished off her glass and stood to refill it, bringing the decanter of whiskey back with her.
“Thanks, Terry. My goal isn’t to be a bitch, but men in general are reluctant to deal with the ‘hassle of a bitchy woman’ and that suits me just fine.”
“So you’re saying that picking up strays is the real you?”
“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know, but I see people who need help and I feel compelled to help if I can.”
She shrugged like it was no big deal that a girl raised in the lap of luxury thought helping people was normal. Natural.
“I like that about you, Kat. Madison would be dead if not for you.”
“Ugh,” she groaned and let her head fall back. “Don’t remind me. I keep replaying that in my head over and over. If we’d been closer to Glitz when she was able to call…”
Her words drifted into silence and she fell deep in thought before she turned to me with a sad smile. “I’m sorry about Emmett.”
“Yeah, me too. Madison too.”
The girl was smaller than I imagined. A tiny little thing with a filthy face, a small voice, and a giant knife wound in her gut, but she’d still reached out to Kat.
“But this is the life we chose, and it goes with the territory.”
Kat nodded and crossed her legs before she turned to me. “Did we really choose it, though? I mean, I’m not complaining, but I don’t feel like either one of us had much of a choice.”
I knew what she meant, had thought about it a lot over the years, but that was a thought that led to madness, so I switched topics.
“You must’ve made a hell of an impression on her for her to call you when things looked so bad.”
“A rich bitch is better than nothing at the end of the day.” Her words were flippant but I heard the relief in her voice. “Besides, if you’d gone back to Glitz like I told you, both of us would have died trying to escape. Probably.”
“There wasn’t a chance in hell I would leave
you, Kat.”
She flashed a soft, feminine smile. “You don’t owe me anything Terry, I hope you know that.”
“Meaning my help isn’t appreciated?”
Kat shook her head and sighed. “You are determined to misinterpret everything I say, aren’t you?” She held up a hand to stop my response. “I appreciate it and I am grateful for it, but I don’t want to be anyone’s obligation. Especially yours.”
I was too chickenshit to ask her what she meant, but something that felt a lot like hope bloomed in the pit of my stomach. “You’re not an obligation, Kitty Kat.”
“Yeah? What am I, then?” There was some emotion in her eyes I couldn’t recognize, almost expectant, like she was waiting for something.
“You’re special, Kat. Always have been.”
She snorted and shook her head. “Special. Just lock me up in a tower and keep me safe.” Her dark hair brushed her shoulders as she shook her head. “Never mind.” Kat grumbled incoherently under her breath and poured about three fingers of whiskey into her glass and then mine. “So, what are we gonna do about Rob?”
“Find him and fuck him up.” There was no question what would happen to that fucker. “He knew what he signed up for and he would’ve been paid as if he’d won the fucking match.”
That was another reason I was eager to get back to Glitz. Jasper was furious and would likely put a bullet in the fucker before getting the intel we needed.
“Men and their egos. Do you think Em found out about the fight?”
I knew what she was asking, and I shook my head, but the truth was I hadn’t considered that until this moment. “I really hope not, but it doesn’t change anything.”
“Why do you stay, Terry? I mean you could go anywhere; do anything you want. But you stay here. Why?”
Because of you. Because I was an idiot. “Because this is my family.”
“Family.”
The word came out of Kat’s mouth filled with a hardness I didn’t understand. She stood and crossed to the railing, stared out for a long minute before she turned to me with another undecipherable look on her face.
“I’m not your sister, Terry.”
“Yeah, Kat, we’re not family. I got it.”