Devlin nodded to Rio. “Get on that now!” he told him. Then he turned back to Ben. “We’ll find her, man.”
Ben nodded, every muscle in his body tensing until he felt like any movement would break him in half. “Yeah, I just hope it’s in time.”
Chapter 17
Victoria
“What kind ofLaw and Ordermess are you mixed up in?” Grace asked as she drove down the Interstate, barely keeping within the posted speed limit.
Victoria could do nothing but sigh. “It’s complicated. Look, I’ll just drop you back off at your house and then I’ll go meet with Alayna. I’ll call you right after the meeting,” she told her hoping it would be enough to stop the questions she’d been barraged with since climbing into the car.
“If you think I’m just going to let you go off to meet some witness who’s been considered dead for the past few months you’re even worse off than I thought.”
“Well, I’m certainly not going to let you waddle into the middle of this mess. I’ve already involved you more than I should have, but I didn’t have any other choice,” Victoria retorted.
Grace honked her horn at a white truck that had narrowly missed hitting the front end of the car as it cut her off trying to get into the exit lane.
“Okay, arguing is stupid and its giving me a headache. Why don’t we go to my place and ask Clinton what we should do,” she suggested.
Victoria immediately began shaking her head. “No!” she exclaimed. “I mean, I don’t want to involve either one of you. I wouldn’t have even called if I didn’t need a ride.”
“Listen here, we’ve been friends for way too long for you to start keeping secrets. Especially secrets that involve somebody throwing bombs through your window and having you followed.”
Grace was so melodramatic. But she was also loyal and courageous and the best friend Victoria had ever had. At this very moment the worry over whether she’d ever see Grace and or her baby again was waging a war with Victoria’s adamance to see Alayna.
“I just need to go alone. She wants me to come and see her by myself. Now, you know who I’m going to see and once I drop you off I’ll even text you the address Alayna gave me. If you don’t hear from me within the hour, call the police,” Victoria instructed just as Grace pulled into her driveway.
Grace didn’t respond right away. She parked the car and killed the engine. Letting her palms rest on the steering wheel, she stared straight forward for a few seconds.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you, Vic,” Grace said, the crack in her voice almost bringing Victoria to tears.
She reached for Grace’s hand, pulling it into her own and holding tight. “Nothing’s going to happen to me, Grace. We’ve been friends for too long for this great duo to be split up now.” Tears blurred her eyes as she spoke but she dared them to fall, dared them to make an appearance at this moment because if they did Grace would cry as well and then they’d both be a blubbering mess.
“I have to do this. If I can get Alayna to testify Vega will be put away for life. As long as he’s on the streets there are so many people in danger. I can’t let that happen without at least trying to do something. This is my career, Grace, and it’s my life I’m fighting for.”
Grace turned to face Victoria, big fat tears dripping instantly from her long lashes. “I’m afraid for you.”
Victoria nodded, the lump in her throat too thick to speak instantly. She reached up and wiped the tears away from Grace’s cheeks. “Fear makes you weak,” she heard herself whisper. “You’re the strongest person I know, Grace. You’re the strongest and the smartest and I love you with all my heart. I’ll be okay.” Then because more words, more time, sitting here with Grace would definitely tear her apart, Victoria pulled her friend close for a tight hug. Then let her go quickly.
“Now, get back in the house and wait for my text,” she said climbing out of the passenger seat and walking around to the driver’s side.
Grace did get out of the car and Victoria touched both palms to her stomach. “Go back inside and get some rest. My niece is not a morning person, remember.” She smiled when she felt a swift kick beneath her left palm. Never had Victoria felt anything as amazing as the movements of a baby in utero.
“You text me in five minutes with that address and then you’ve got another fifty-five minutes to call me and confirm you’re alright. If you miss either of those deadlines I’m telling Clifton and I’m calling every police officer in Las Vegas to come and find you. Do you hear me?”
Grace smoothed back what Victoria was sure were unruly tendrils of her hair. The quick ponytail she’d made was hardly her best effort, but beauty wasn’t exactly what she was going for today.
Victoria nodded. “I hear you.”
They didn’t embrace again, neither of them thought they could take it if they did. So Victoria climbed into the driver’s seat and buckled her seatbelt while watching Grace move slowly into the house. When the front door closed, shutting Grace in the house, Victoria backed out of the driveway. At the corner of Grace’s street she picked up her cell phone and texted Grace Alayna’s address. Then she set the GPS on her phone and listened as it guided her to what might turn out to be the worst mistake of her life.
Alayna
This had to work. She was running out of options and probably out of time. He’d offered her money, put it in her bank account and waited for her to use it. At first she hadn’t because it wasn’t about the money. It was about love.
Alayna sighed, pressing her forehead against the grungy window at the motel where she’d been staying. It was only five blocks away from where she’d been living with her grandmother. She originally thought about going farther but couldn’t bear not seeing her baby. The idea to drastically change her appearance so she wouldn’t be recognized came in the middle of one of the loneliest nights of her life. The night she’d made the mess of her life ten times worse.
Three years ago, she’d been young and innocent, working in the mailroom at City Hall. Her aunt had gotten her the job two weeks after she’d graduated from high school and Alayna had been supremely grateful. After her mother died when she was ten she’d moved in with her grandmother and her Aunt Jaynie who’d never been able to have children of her own. It wasn’t a dream job, but she received a paycheck every two weeks and after working the entire summer she’d saved enoughto buy herself a piece of crap used car that gave her a sense of independence and a thirst to achieve.
