How did he know? How did he always know when she was aching inside?
She took a moment, because even now her feelings were raw. “Back, nearly five years ago? I was undercover. Met these kids, Ben, Juan, Sienna. She was only six. The boys were ten and eleven. The three of them were abandoned by their parents, left to fend for themselves in a drug house. Ben, the oldest, was forced to work for a dealer. The building was so run-down—no heat, no food except what the dealer decided to give them, no one who cared anything about them. The people hanging around were all part of the crime ring I was investigating. But... I couldn’t just walk away.”
“I know you, Kara. You didn’t leave them there.”
She shook her head. “I called Lex, and he got CPS involved. I didn’t want them caught up in the system, but it would be better than living in the middle of filth and drugs. And I could still keep my cover.
“The next day, CPS came knocking... and did shit. Why? Because the asshole drug dealer said there were no kids. CPS walked through, literallysawtoys, but no kids, so there were no kids. They walked out, apologized for bothering him. The kids had been told—I didn’t know this at the time, but learnedlater—that whenever anyone official came they were to hide and be quiet, or they’d be punished. It was messed up.”
“What happened to them?”
She didn’t say anything for a long minute, trying to get her emotions in check. “It took time, but I got the boys to trust me. And eventually—even though I shouldn’t have—I told them I was a cop and I was going to find them a good home. I told them to be ready, and I would take them at the first opportunity it was safe.”
“Oh, God,” Matt said and squeezed her tighter.
“They’re okay,” she said quickly. “But it was close. Too damn fucking close.”
She would never forget the sound of gunfire, Sienna clutching her neck with her skinny arms, Ben shaking, and Juan trying to shield all of them when he was shorter and skinnier than Kara.
“I wanted them. They were so brave, so smart, so damn young... They’d been given crap parents and a crap life. Social services couldn’t find their parents at first—later I learned their father was in prison for a double homicide and their mother was dead of a drug overdose. I’d just turned twenty-six, and bringing three kids into my little condo? I wouldn’t be able to work undercover, and it’s not like I was making the big bucks as a cop.”
“What happened to them?”
“They went into the system. They were separated, and believe me, I fought to keep them together. But there were no foster homes that could take all three. They had no one. And I wanted to—but—well.” She wiped at a tear. “Anyway. After that, I told myself I would adopt. Because these kids are here on the planet, they need someone that cares because the adults in their lives are screwups, drug addicts, killers, worse.”
“Worse than a killer.”
“There are some people who are worse than killers, yes.”
“You know, sweetheart, there’s no law saying we can’t have a babyandadopt.”
“I’ll take it under advisement,” she said. But she was pleased that Matt didn’t think she was foolish for wanting to adopt in the first place. “But not now. I’m not ready, and like you said, we’re in a good place.”
“Not now,” he whispered.
Not in the next year. Hell, she was only thirty-one, she wasn’t ready for kids whether they were newborn or older.
But it didn’t make her squirm thinking about it. Because of Matt.
Matt dozed off again. She wished she could. She was so tired, the adrenaline that had been pumping through earlier was gone, leaving her physically drained and weary.
And then she, too, finally drifted off.
21
Audrey Reid lay next to her husband, her lover, her best friend, and listened to his even breathing, her hand on the steady beat of his heart.
She loved Garrett more than life itself. She would do anything to protect him, anything to save him.
But he shouldn’t have been caught.
It was partly her fault. He’d wanted to leave after the second couple, Jenny and Kevin. She wrinkled her nose. Jenny was a complete and total bitch and deserved everything that she got, walking around as if she was better than everyone.
But they stayed on staff so that it wouldn’t be suspicious, and started planning their next trip. She wanted to go back to Las Vegas, because that’s where they got married five years ago. That’s where they fully committed to each other. Body, soul, life.
That’s where they were when she first killed a man.
She didn’t count the unfortunate accident in Scottsdale. That wasn’t her fault. She just got a little carried away and, in her defense, she thought he was playing possum. She’d walked awayclean from that... but still, it was sort of exciting. She never told Garrett everything because she wasn’t certain he would understand... later, when Garrett learned their target had died, he asked her about it.
