If Jason didn’t call me back soon, though, I’d have his fucking head on a spike. It had me considering an alternate possibility that was an absolute last fucking resort—calling Raife. The Switchblades MC had connections in LA, and most clubs had some kind of tech guy either on the payroll or as a member. I hadn’t spoken to my brother in years, but for Val and Juanito, I would call in the fucking cavalry.
Val and Diego stared at me with anxious expressions, and Val’s lower lip trembled. I ached to reach out and trace my fingers across those plump lips, but I shoved my hands in my pockets. “I’m staying down the road at the Edgewater Hotel,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere until we find him.”
When I locked eyes with Val, a jolt of heat went through me. With the way her eyes darkened, it seemed the feeling was mutual.Maybe there’s still a chance for us.
I turned to go, but before I could, Val grabbed my hand, her eyes shining. “Thank you.” Just two small words, but the emotion behind them threatened to overwhelm me.
“You’re welcome.”They weren’t the words I longed to say to her, and the truth of my feelings surged to the tip of my tongue. It took everything in me to turn around and walk down the stairs rather than pull her into my arms and crush my lips to hers. But now was not the time.
I retired to my hotel room and showered, washing off the flight and the nerves of the day. The hot water scalded my skin until the room filled with steam. Bracing my palms against the tiled walls, I took a deep breath. With just one look, one touch, all of my suppressed feelings for Val had come flooding back. Today had proven that the spark between us was still there. Even so, there was a very real chance Val wouldn’t forgive me. But getting the board’s approval and bringing Juanito home had to show her that my feelings had always been genuine, right?
When I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a fluffy towel around my hips, my phone pinged with a text. It was Jason.
We have their location.
I fired off a response.Send it to me.
He’d traced Hal and Antonella through storefront and red light cameras to a roadside motel almost five hours southeast in Calexico. They were making a run for the border. We had a limited window of time to get to Juanito before they disappeared—and before he suffered any negative effects from going without his medication.
My phone pinged again, a message from Daphne this time. When I read the words, I reached out a steadying hand, my stomach swooping.
You got the votes! Congrats!
I couldn’t wait to tell Val the good news—on both fronts.Get Juanito first, make up with Val later. When he’s safe.
I dressed in a black tee shirt, dark jeans, and boots, then unzipped a pocket in my suitcase. Pausing, I eyed the matte black metal of the Glock handgun. As a teenager, I’d had weekly outings with Raife at theshooting range, so I knew my way around a target. At the thought of my brother, I gritted my teeth. I’d rather be safe than sorry, so I tucked the Glock in the waistband of my jeans. I hoped it wouldn’t be necessary, but Antonella and Hal wouldnottake Juanito away from his family. Rage boiled in my blood at the thought of what kind of people would abscond with an innocent child.The malicious, abusive, evil kind.The thought caused me to hesitate. I didn’t know what I’d be walking into in Calexico and I could hold my own, but I wasn’t—well, I wasn’t Raife.
So swallowing my pride, I dialed him. It almost rang out, and then a gruff voice answered with a coarse “What?”
“Raife. It’s Nolan.”
The longest pause in the history of pauses ensued. “What?” he repeated.
At least he didn’t hang up.I cut to the chase. “My friend’s little brother was abducted by his drugged-out mom. We tracked them to Calexico. I could use some backup, if you have any guys in the area. We’re on a tight timeline because the kid needs his meds soon or he’ll die.”
“You need help, call the cops.”
“Cops won’t be fast enough. And…”
Another lengthy pause. “And you want the pleasure of delivering your own kind of justice.”
“Something like that.”
A grunt was his only response. The man was about as conversational as a brick wall.
I was running out of time and the more I thought about it, the more that going to that motel on my own, guns blazing, was an idiotic idea. I needed people at my back who had experience with this kind of thing. So I did something alittlerisky. “I got Cressida out of jail after your reckless ass landed her there in the first place, so you owe me.”
The line went deadly silent. Playing on his lingering feelings for Cressida and reminding him that we were still engaged—at least for a few more months until we publicized our breakup—was a bold move. And I was ninety percent sure it would backfire. But this required the big guns.
After an interminable moment, he spoke. “Let’s get one thing straight, Nolan. You don’t know fuck all about what happened that night, and I don’t owe youshit. So fuck you. But I don’t like people who prey on kids, so I’ll call my contacts at the border to do a ride-by. They won’t get involved unless shit goes bad. You best hope it doesn’t, because that’ll cost you extra. Text me the address.”
“Will do.”
I thought he’d hang up, but then he asked, “So the wedding’s still on?”
My “yes” was on the tip of my tongue. Had to keep up appearances. But he was helping me out when he didn’t have to, so I threw him a bone. “Ask me again in a couple months.”
Another ambiguous grunt. “Now say thank you, and fuck off.”
