“I need you in Oklahoma City,” Val instructed, pulling me from my musings. “Find Dr. Melissa Jefferson and watch her. She has my granddaughter.”
“You have a granddaughter?” I asked, sitting up.
I was wide awake now.
“Yes.” I could hear the smile in her voice, and my skin burned. “I have a son, Kytten. Twins, and no one ever told me,” she whispered.
Twins? She had twins?
Not just a daughter, but a son, too.
My left hand tightened on the phone as I held it, while my right hand scratched at my thigh. Val had two children. A girl and a boy. Like me and Thorne.
There would be no room for Thorne when I found him. No room for me once her daughter was safe.
My heart began to race. I looked around my room. It was here somewhere. I’d had to move it. Val almost found it last time.
I had to be more careful.
Pulling the drawer to my desk open, I rummaged around inside it.
“Kytten? What are you doing?”
My body jerked, and my back straightened. I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat from the tone of her voice. “Looking for a pen. I need to write down the information,” I lied.
The line was quiet. I closed my eyes. Val knew I was lying. I suspected she might know what I was doing, but she never asked me about it. She wouldn’t, not without proof.
“Kytten, we’ll find him. If he’s still out there, we’ll find him.”
My eyes watered, and the lump in my throat I’d already tried to swallow down grew. I nodded, though she couldn’t see me. I needed a release. It was all too much. Bubbling inside me like a volcano ready to blow. I had to let it out.
“I’ll call Slyce. This is too much for you.”
“NO!” I took a deep breath. I hadn’t meant to yell at Val. But she didn’t understand. Asking me to do something, then taking it away made it worse. “I can do this. Tell me what I need to know.”
I was met with silence, and I knew she still considered pulling me out. My body relaxed when she said, “Dr. Melissa Jefferson is a child psychologist in Oklahoma City. She is taking care of a little girl named Danika Franks. I want you to find them and watch over them. Do not engage. Just watch. Keep them safe.”
Keep them safe.
I could do that.
“I’ll leave in a few hours.”
“No, I need you to leave now. I don’t know how safe she is.”
Fuck.
She knew how long it would take. Did she know what had me hesitating? I only needed a few minutes alone. Time to comprehend what she’d told me. Consider what it meant for my future. I’d never stay on my bike with the way I felt right now.
“Kytten!”
“I have to pack a bag.”
“You have a go bag, Kytten,” she gently reminded me. “Do I need to come back? You know I will.” My shame grew with every word. Val was needed in New York. She couldn’t drop what she was doing to coddle me and my issues.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “No. I’ll leave now,” I said, as I dug my fingernail into my arm. I couldn’t wait.
So I had to improvise.
