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Outlaw starts to nod, then shakes his head slightly. “No, she’s fucking gorgeous and you know it. Just… ignore me. Do what you want.”
I grasp his forearm before he can turn away. “If you think for fucking second that we’d—”
“Get in here!” Shadow yells from the living room.
Outlaw and I run, meeting Lightning and Harper who are rushing down the stairs, half-dressed. Shadow’s pacing back and forth in front of the couch. He holds out his phone and puts it on speaker. “Carnell. Talk to us.”
“We found Eileen. She might as well have vanished off the face of the earth after they moved her out of Lillyglade, but we identified some of his people when they popped up on CCTV accepting off the books medical supplies. She’s in a private, secure care facility about an hour away. It’s the kind of place the one percent use to keep their business out of the gossip rags. So the good news is that Harper’s mother is probably being well taken care of, but the bad news is that it’s not going to be as easy as walking in and finding her.”
Harper sucks in a huge, quavering breath when she hears that her mother is most likely okay, but then turns real fucking angry, real fast. “He has no right to make decisions for her! She might be sleepy and confused because of the medications they had her on, but there’s nothing wrong with her mind. She just needs time to recover.”
Carnell hesitates. “There’s a very good chance the staff were given a different story, and with Mesner’s money, they aren’t likely to ask questions.”
“But what he’s doing is illegal, right? You’re the police. Can’t you just go in there and demand to see her?”
“I wish it were that easy. Unfortunately, after the massive failure of the last operation, I’ve been chained to my desk. The department doesn’t think it's worth pursuing Mesner for the time being, and to be frank, nobody gives a shit that he’s paying for what looks like top of the line medical treatment for his child’s mother.”
“We can’t leave her there!” Harper looks around for support. There’s angry, worried tears in her bright blue eyes. “Right?”
“No shit,” Lightning says with a firm nod. “The question is, are we going to have help?”
“I’ll do what I can, but I might be on my own,” Carnell says slowly. “It’s not a lot, but it could be helpful to have someone who looks a little more trustworthy to the employees.”
Outlaw frowns. “Why are you bothering? What’s in it for you?”
“It’s the right thing to do. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping to push Mesner into slipping up, but an innocent woman doesn’t deserve to be locked away just so he can play God with people’s lives.”
Shadow crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Fine. Sit tight for now. I’ll call you back when we’re ready to make a move.” He hangs up without waiting for Carnell to respond. “Do we all agree on going to get her out of there?”
Everyone nods, even Outlaw.
“Good. We can clear it with Eagle-eye and roll out tonight. I don’t care how fancy or private it is, it’s a fucking medical clinic, not a high security prison. Harper, you stay here and—”
“You’re kidding, right? There’s no way I’m sitting around here while you go find my mother.”
I shake my head. “Waiting sucks, but having you with us will just make it harder to—”
“No.” She stands firm, hands on her hips and chin high. “She’s going to be scared and alone. What are you going to do? Charge in there looking like you do and say: ‘Don’t fucking scream. We’re the fucking good guys. I know you just almost fucking died and then got fucking kidnapped and you’re on who the fuck knows what kind of drugs, but just fucking trust us and don’t scream your fucking head off because you’re getting kidnapped again.’”
Outlaw blinks.
Lightning bursts out laughing.
“We don't swear that fucking much,” I object.
The glare she throws my way is withering.
Even Shadow looks like he's having a tough time keeping a straight face. “She's probably right. Her and Carnell are our best shots at doing this without having to get violent, and she’s the only person her mama would recognize. But…” He turns right to Harper, “You remember the rules, right? You’re with us, and you’re gonna do what we fucking say. Is that fucking clear?”
“Fucking clear,” she growls right back.
“Jesus.” Outlaw rolls his eyes. “Let’s go talk to Prez.”
“I don't fucking like this,” Eagle-eye growls after we've explained. “That cop already screwed you over once. He might not be a psycho like Hawthorne, but we’ve seen what that kind of obsession can do. He’ll throw you under the fucking bus to get what he wants. This better be fucking worth it.” He looks right at Harper, leaving out asking us if she’s worth it.
