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When the car in front of us turned down the street to head toward the police station, Blake drove past, parking down the road in front of a lawyer’s office that was closed for the evening.
I popped up, turning in my seat to look out the back window.
Marc and Brandon were pulled from the car. They were escorted inside.
They were both calm. Straight faces.
Like they’ve done this a thousand times.
“Real pros you’ve got there,” Blake said. He’d twisted to check out the back window, too. “Not afraid of a night in jail.”
My heart was in my throat, as if watching them go inside that building would be the last I ever saw of either of them. “I need to find Axel.”
Blake rolled back into his seat. “He’s going to call their Academy group. You should pay attention to who he talks to.”
“We need to find Sara,” I said. “We don’t have time for this. I’ve got a bad feeling.”
“What’s that?”
I turned in my seat, sliding back into place. “I don’t know. We can’t find Fred. We can’t seem to locate the mother. The guy…Henry. He’s confident. Like he’s already won. I mean, he had his bounty hunters over for a party, right? If he was looking for an escapee worth two hundred k, wouldn’t he have all his guys out looking for him?”
Blake corrected himself in the seat. “Are you sure he isn’t in jail already?”
“The woman said the job wasn’t done yet.”
“Maybe he’s finished up another case,” he said.
“Maybe. The grandmother paid him off to not chase after the guy any more. Maybe he’s celebrating that, but the woman said the job wasn’t done yet. He’s still watching the apartment. Future said he might try to double…double down? Capture him and get their money back, anyway. They haven’t done it yet. Why isn’t the mother looking for either of them? Why can’t we find her? It’s like they all disappeared.”
Blake combed his hair with his fingers. “I don’t know, sugar plum. Sound like this girl you saw at the party is the talker. Who was she?”
“I don’t know. I may need to ask Future.”
“So we’re going back for her? That’s risky. You can’t show your face there again.”
“I need to get a hold of Axel, too. I need to make it look like I ran away after I saw Marc and Brandon had been arrested.”
“You’re not wandering the streets alone waiting for him to show up.” He put the car into drive and started rolling down the street. “I’ll drop you off at the hotel. If they ask, you can tell them you hitched a ride.”
I took the phone out, looking at it. “I could call them.”
“No,” he said.
“I should call them now, tell them I’m on the way,” I said. “If I let you drive me, we might get caught together. And I need you to go back for Future.”
“Hold your horses there,” he said. He stepped on the gas. “One thing at a time. I’m taking you to the closest fast food place or shop on the block nearby the party. I’ll wait until someone shows up for you, and then I’ll look for Future. If they get too interested in her, she may be disappearing, too.”
I gazed over at Blake. He’d never met her, and he was protecting her from people he thought could kidnap her, even if it might not be true. “You know,” I said. “You’re not the same guy I met two days ago trying to poison a well.”
“It was three days ago when you first met me, and you can’t hold that over my head forever.” He flashed a smile, dazzling and clever. “And I am the same guy. I’m not a bad guy.”
I twisted my lips to say thank you in some way but couldn’t find a way to say it without being corny.
Blake dropped me off at a gas station that was a block away from the party house.
“I’ll wait until you’re picked up,” he said.
“Go get Future,” I said, and started to climb out of the car. “You’ll know her when you see her. Ask for her. Make sure she’s okay.”
“Hey,” Blake said, snagging my arm before I could get my second foot on the ground.
I leaned back toward him, wondering if he thought of something else we’d forgotten.
Blake leaned over and kissed me.
My first reaction was to pull back, and I almost did. I was a whirlwind of emotions. It didn’t feel like the right time for this.
Then suddenly his lips parted, and I found something. A small piece of security. An escape. From all the uncertainty around me, he felt sure.
And it scared the dickens out of me. My heart raced and I leaned further into him, parting my lips, too. It was like I needed to feel absolutely sure about something and he may have been the only thing left that made sense.
Why did I have a problem saying no to anyone lately? I was in desperate need to feel wanted and anyone showing me affection drew me in quickly.
He tilted his head into the kiss. His lips grazed along mine at first, and then went deeper, sucking at my lower lip and tracing his tongue across it. His hands released the car and he captured my face. His fingers traced my neck.
When he broke, he kept his head close to mine, nose to nose. “Every bone in my body is telling me to take you to Europe right now,” he said in a raspy voice.
“Blake…”
“But you’d probably find something out there to save,” he said. “And I’d end up crawling after you.”
I grunted. I started to pull away.
His hands cupped my cheeks and he forced me to face him. “I would, too,” he said. “Find some cause and justify it by thinking I’m doing the right thing. It’s probably why I like you. We’re so much alike.”
“We’re completely different,” I said. We had to be. He was super rich, had all the privileges given to him. He wouldn’t understand me, who had always been poor, always had to scrape to get by. If he got tired of this, he could go back to being the rich playboy he was before. I thought I’d always have to struggle to get what I needed. As it was, I was depending on other people for a place to live, for food, for everything.
He laughed and softened his hold on me, but traced his thumbs across my cheeks. “We’re both crazy,” he said. “We’re both here for the same reason.”
“I’m here for a girl,” I said, trying to get him to focus. “She’s been taken.”
He nodded slowly, the smile deepening. “It’s what I’m here for. Just not the same girl.”
My heart thundered. “I…”
He cut me off by kissing me again. My eyes instinctively closed.
I pulled away. I didn’t want to, but there wasn’t time, and the guilt was heavy.
Blake eased away from me. “Whatever happens,” he said, “don’t let them make you disappear. Don’t make me have to tear apart every damn one of them to find you. Because I will.”
I floated from his promises. “You’d find another girl. You don’t even know me.”
Blake flinched. “You’re so cruel.” He nudged me. “That’s it. Get out before I get crazy and propose to you or something.”
I grunted. “Jerk face,” I said, and I climbed out. I held the door open for a moment, thinking about apologizing but then slammed the door. Propose. Like anyone would marry me. Idiot.
He laughed loudly. He remained there in the lot while I walked into the gas station. To drive him crazy, I went into the women’s bathroom to make my phone call.
I took a moment to press myself against the wall to let my jumbled nerves settle.
THE GENTLE HEART
Once I managed to kick the spell of Blake Coaltar out of my system, I started to call Axel and then stopped. I was worried he may yell at me about this, about leaving the boys.
I dialed Corey.
He picked up after a half ring, like he’d been waiting. “Hey!” he said. “How’s the party? That still going on?”
“Corey,” I said, realizing the boys may not have gotten their one phone call after being taken to the station. They didn’t know. “Marc and Brandon go
t arrested.”
There was a slight pause. “What?”
I told him about Brandon checking out the house, Marc going in after him. “There was a fight. I was running around the side of the house, and they were getting pulled into the car in cuffs.”
“Axel!” He said away from the phone, and there was shuffling on his end. “Got you on speaker, Kayli. Where are you?” he asked me.
“I don’t have keys to the SUV,” I said. “I wasn’t sure if I should go to it anyway, because they know the car now. They know it’s the same one that was checking out Fred’s apartment. I walked down to a gas station.”
“What’s the name of it?” I think it was Axel asking, the voice was farther away.
“I…” I realized I hadn’t even looked at the name. “Sorry, I ran into the women’s bathroom to call. Didn’t check. I can go get the address.”
“Stay in the bathroom,” Axel said. “Don’t leave it. We don’t need them finding you now. Keep your phone on and we’ll find you.”
They could trace where I am. “I’ll stay here.”
“Getting her location,” Corey said.
