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Big time.
Again.
“You’re worried.”
“No shit. A little girl has been kidnapped by people who specialize in sexually assaulting children and then disposing of them. What kind of monster would—never mind, I know the answer. Me.”
She shook her head and grumbled under her breath about blind assholes.
“I never said you were a monster, Kat.”
She turned to me, fury blazing in her blue eyes even with the starless night sky darkening everything around us.
“No, you didn’t, you only implied it. Anyway it doesn’t matter,” she went on. “The point is I didn’t invite you to come on this trip Terry so please don’t question my motives. Please.”
“I’m not. I want to know why you’re so worried because this isn’t just that.” She might think I was just some dumb idiot, but I knew her better than she realized.
“Because I did some digging into these people and they’re awful. The worst kind of motherfuckers around. They do terrible shit to children and pay them off, kill them, or ship them off to parts unknown.” She shook her head and turned back to stare out the passenger side window. “The haunted look in Madison’s eyes when she talked about looking for Molly, the worry and fear that she’s already dead. It was heartbreaking, and I won’t let her down. I won’t.”
The steely determination was exactly the same as it had been when she’d fought Sadie and Jasper about going to college in California instead of UNLV where she’d be close to home. Safe.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
A small gasp escaped, and I felt her stare burning the side of my face. “Why are you sorry?”
My lips curled into a grin because Kat couldn’t just accept the apology. She always needed more. “For implying you were something you’re not. But in my defense, you do go out of your way to play the role of Rich Bitch Who Doesn’t Give A Flying Fuck.”
She smirked. “And you should know me better than that. Then again, why should you?”
Because you’re mine? Because I’ve been in love with you since we were kids?
But she wasn’t mine, and she never would be for about a million different reasons. The most important reason was that she was Jasper’s sister, and he trusted me with her. “I think I do. And I’m starting to see where I was wrong about you.”
The bitchy thing was just a part she played for the outside world, which made me feel stupid for not realizing it sooner.
“You don’t have to say that. Just…let’s get to Madison, okay?”
“We still have about fifty miles, so why don’t you tell me why you care so much about this particular girl and her sister.”
She slid me a look that was nothing but a side eye. “You know why.”
“I think I know why, but unless you tell me I have no way of knowing if I’m right.” This was a personal issue for both of us, though no one ever really talked about it.
Our actions, individually and as a whole, said a lot about the stains and scars that particular brand of abuse had left on all of us.
Kat sighed and turned in her seat again, big blue eyes so serious as they took in my face, assessing my sincerity.
“Madison tracked down the McLaughlins and when she realized where they were staying, she came to me because she thought I was in on this whole trafficking thing. Once she realized who I was and that I’m trying to stop child trafficking, she asked for my help. I actually give a damn about her and her sister, even though I don’t have to. When she was in trouble later, she called me. Me, Terry.”
The uptight, incredibly competent businesswoman was gorgeous and beyond appealing, but this passionate firebrand, ready to jump into the fire to help out a kid she barely knew? She was fucking irresistible. I nodded.
“And we’ll find her Kitty Kat. You have my word.”
The look of relief and the flash of a smile that played around the edges of her lush mouth had my foot pressing harder on the gas. Time was a key factor because there were a few direct routes straight to Mexico which meant we had to find her before the driver left the truck stop.
An hour later, we pulled into the giant monstrosity of a truck stop and Kat jumped from the car and made her way around to the back of the car. When I caught up to her, the crazy woman had traded those sexy as fuck stilettos for a pair of pink ankle socks and white sneakers. “What? You’ve never heard of a wardrobe change?”
I shrugged. “Uh, not right at this moment. In a truck stop parking lot.”
“Sneakers are made for running, Terry and I need to be able to do that,” she said and pulled a nickel Walther PPK from her purse, attaching the holster to the back of her shirt. “And this is because pencil skirts are a bitch to run in.”
