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A depressing thought I refused to think about until I was staring at cold, lifeless eyes.
“I didn’t mean any—”
“Forget it. Obviously, they’re not gonna let her answer the damn phone.”
It was time to admit when I was beat and call in reinforcements.
“Hey Cal, I need your help for a quick minute, maybe two.” He was the most brilliant person I knew, especially regarding techy shit and my kid brother was always willing to help.
The line was silent for so long that I thought maybe the connection had dropped. “Hello? Cal?”
“Cal is busy.” Bonnie’s voice was stiff but I ignored it in favor of more pressing business.
“Right, sorry Bonnie. Can you get him please? It’s kind of an emergency.”
“I said he’s busy,” she said much more slowly and with a whole lot of fucking attitude.
“And I said put Cal on the fucking phone, Bonnie! I don’t have time for your pregnancy horse shit.” She started to say something else but I was too fired up and too pissed off to listen. “I’m looking for a little girl who was kidnapped by your church perverts. Do you think you could possibly have my brother call me back when he’s not busy?”
I hung up before I said something I might have to apologize for later and dialed Sadie.
“Kat? Where the hell are you? It’s crazy around here and you’ve disappeared.”
“I guess Jasper’s been too busy to explain,” I said and gave my mother a quick rundown of the past few hours. “She called twice, the final time right before Ravager fucked us royally. I assume he’s being dealt with?”
I could hear my mother’s hot breath through the phone. “As soon as we find that bastard, he’s mine,” she growled, her voice vibrating with anger. Rage. “Any luck finding the girl?”
“Not yet. We just missed her at two different stops. I was hoping Cal could do his computer wizardry to track a number but Bonnie’s being a real bitch right now. What’s up with her?”
She’d been quiet at dinner lately, but things were too crazy in my life right now to worry about a sullen pregnant woman.
Sadie sighed. “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s pregnancy hormones. Maybe it’s everything else on top of being pregnant. I’ll keep an eye on her; just tell me what you need.”
I couldn’t help but smile at how Sadie always managed to be top dog of a huge empire while also playing the part of doting mother. She was a fucking hero in my book, and one day I hoped to be just as bad ass. “I just need to track down Madison and then we’ll come home so I can deal with…everything else.”
A sympathetic sigh sounded down the line and that one sound nearly unraveled my resolve. “It’s not your fault, Kat.”
“I know,” I said. “But I still need to help her and to do that, I have to find her.”
“You can’t save everyone, Katherine, dear, but I know you know that, so I’ll just say this. Be safe. Please.” There was a commotion on the other end of the line and then shouting. And then Sadie.
“Lord have mercy. What happened to him?” My gaze slid to Terry, who’d been pretending not to listen. The phone crashed to the floor and there was mayhem on the other end of the line. It was pure fucking chaos and my heart beat so loud it muted everything else, even Terry’s words.
Please don’t let it be one of my brothers. It was the closest I’d ever come to praying but I figured the good the Ashbys did in the world had to outweigh all the bad.
“Emmett! Who did this?” Virgil’s voice came through loud and clear and I tapped the speakerphone button. A few smacks sounded loud in the quiet of the car and then Virgil’s voice again. “Emmett just give me a fucking name, man. A name!”
“Ma!” I shouted, my voice frantic and worried. “Pick up the damn phone!”
Someone picked up the phone about a minute later. “Kat?”
“Maisie, thank fuck. What’s going on?”
Maisie sniffled, and I braced myself for bad news. “Someone beat up Emmett. Really bad, Kat. He looks…bad.”
Shit. I turned to Terry again and the dark look on his face said he was ready to head back to Glitz, with or without me.
“He’s all right, though? Is the doctor there?”
“On his way,” Maisie said through her own tears. “He’s just real bloody and bruised, not stabbed or shot or anything. Virgil said Terry is with you?”
“Yeah, he heard everything.”
Maisie gasped. “Shit, I’m so sorry, Terry. We’ll take care of him.”
“Thanks, Maze.” His voice was tight with tension, with emotions he’d never let show in front of me or anyone else.
“Keep me posted,” I told her and ended the call. Terry’s fists were balled tight, and I knew what had to be done. “Take the car and head back to Glitz. I’ll rent one.”
