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Right into the waiting arms of not one, but two evil organizations.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Kaylie gripped Lia’s hand tightly within her own, unwilling to let her go even for a moment. She knew this bus station well. She’d cemented it as her best getaway option as soon as they settled on the outskirts of Alexandria. And every so often, she and Lia practiced the routes to get here.
Kaylie memorized the bus schedule each time it changed even slightly. Which was how she knew that in exactly forty-seven minutes, there was a bus to Atlanta. She’d already purchased the tickets from the disinterested teenager working the window. They’d settled in the stiff plastic chairs that lined the depot along with a handful of others.
“Can I play my tablet?” Lia asked.
“In a little bit,” Kaylie said, her eyes scanning the bus station again.
An elderly black woman in the corner was intent on her knitting. A ragged middle-aged man with a US Army hat, three jackets on, and a worn duffel bag strapped to a bicycle was staring at the clock. A mother with two elementary-aged kids was dozing off in the corner. It was exactly how it had been on other early-morning visits.
But the familiarity couldn’t ease the ache that furrowed deep into her stomach. It was a tangled ball of guilt and worry and shame and every other dark emotion that had been plaguing her since she brought Tank into her mess. She should have known better. Even with Drew’s panicked message, she should have been brave and taken this bus to Atlanta or Seattle or anywhere else but running to Tank.
He was going to be so angry when he found her gone from Black Tower. She’d never been somewhere so high-tech and secure. But unless they had jail cells she hadn’t seen, the building was a fortress meant to keep people out, not trapped inside. No one had batted an eye at them when they’d walked out, everyone focused on their own jobs. She didn’t know what they were working on, but it was clear that they had priorities other than her own fight with the leader of the Moreno family.
“When will Mr. Anthony be here, Mommy?”
Kaylie’s heart fluttered at his name and the sweet way Lia stumbled over the th sound.
Through the painful squeeze of her throat, she forced her voice to be calm and lighthearted. “Mr. Anthony can’t come, sweetie.”
Lia’s bottom lip pushed out with a slight quiver. “But he said he’d keep us safe. He promised.” Her whisper betrayed her fear and devastation.
“I know. But Mommy will always keep you safe, right? It’s you and me, girlie. Forever.”
That promise had always been enough for her daughter, but this time Lia turned away from Kaylie, snuggling Elphie instead. “I want Anthony.”
Kaylie’s own echo of the sentiment was silent but no less sincere as she watched a man enter the bus station. She would never forget the way Anthony’s arms circled her, holding her together when the world seemed to be crashing around her. No matter what happened when they got to their next home, part of her heart remained with him. But she had to do what was best for Lia, and she wouldn’t be the reason Anthony got roped back into the world he’d worked so hard to leave behind.
He deserved that much.
She kept her eyes trained on the single man who’d walked in, every muscle in her body ready to fight if needed. When he paid them no attention, she relaxed slightly.
Lia asked for her tablet again. Kaylie rifled through her Disney princess backpack to find it. She lifted her eyes back to the room, checking the positions of each person. Knitting. Staring. Dozing. And where was—
Lia’s startled cry brought Kaylie’s attention back. Horror flooded through every cell as she saw the man next to her daughter, his hand wrapped around her tiny ponytail. He wrenched her head back, and the pain on her daughter’s face made Kaylie furious.
“Let go of my daughter,” she seethed. She reached out to push him away, every fiber of her being screaming at her to throw herself between the predator and her precious little girl.
“Ah, ah. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The man’s lips twisted into a cruel smile as he shifted his other hand out from behind his jacket to show the gun he held, aimed directly at Cecelia’s head.
Lia’s voice was pure terror as she whimpered. “Mommy!”
“Shut up, you little brat.” His angry words and tightened grip only made Lia cry harder.
“Stop, please.” She wasn’t above begging. Not when it came to Lia. “We don’t have anything. Let her go!”
The man sneered at her. “I don’t know what Paulie ever saw in you. You’re nothing but—”
Suddenly, something crashed into the man from the left. There was a tangle of muted green and gray—the vagabond Army veteran had tackled the man. Of course, the cruel attacker was someone Paul had sent. But he no longer held Lia’s hair.
She looked back down at the scuffle in front of her. The gray-bearded rescuer met her eyes. “Go,” he urged before landing another punch.
She hesitated only a moment, then grabbed Lia and started toward the door. The crack of a gunshot sounded behind her. She glanced back in time to see her attacker push the limp body of the homeless soldier off himself and point the gun at her.
