by Lori Foster
The more Kennedy learned of Bernard, the more she understood why Reyes had let him have his way. “We were actually supposed to share responsibility for the cat.”
“Yeah, well, that’s one instance where I can’t blame Reyes. When you get to know Bernard—heck, when you see him with Chimera—you’ll know what I mean. Now, the kittens, they got divvied up. One for me, one for Madison, and one for Reyes.”
“There’s no kitten at Reyes’s house.”
“I know.” She smirked. “Bernard is holding out on him, claiming Chimera will be lonely if she doesn’t have at least one playmate. With how busy Reyes is, he hasn’t pushed it.”
Probably a sound arrangement. Kennedy was honest enough with herself to admit she couldn’t care for a cat now anyway. She didn’t even have a home.
The despondent sigh escaped her before she could stop it.
Sterling bumped her again. “I know stuff is rough right now, but Madison’s unearthed some phenomenal info. Things are moving along.” She slanted a look at Kennedy. “You’re not in a hurry to leave Reyes anyway, are you?”
In a hurry, no. Still, he had a right to the life of his choosing. “I’ve imposed on him for so long already.” If they could get the danger sorted, then she could regain her independence and if, at that point, Reyes was interested, he could let her know without the sense of obligation guiding him.
“Eh, these guys love playing the big macho protectors. Reyes is probably getting off on it.”
“Ahem.”
Going rigid, Sterling winced.
Kennedy looked back to see Cade grinning, Reyes frowning, Bernard utterly unperturbed, and a very handsome older man rolling his eyes.
Parrish, she assumed.
Regaining her aplomb, Sterling turned and said, “Deny it, Reyes. I dare you.”
“And ruin your fantasies about me?” Far too intently, he approached Kennedy. “Hungry? Bernard says he’s outdone himself.”
“I said no such thing,” Bernard replied as he took steaming dishes from a rolling cart and set them on the large round table. “It goes without saying that I always do my best. Today is no different.”
Parrish caught her gaze and somehow held her captive. She couldn’t blink, couldn’t look away...
Sterling came to her rescue. “Dude, stop trying to intimidate her. She’s been through enough.”
At that, Parrish glanced at Sterling. “Already defending her? Why am I not surprised?”
“Because you know I’m awesome like that?” She winked and dropped into a chair.
Cade touched Sterling’s hair as if endlessly enthralled by her, then he took the seat beside her.
Reyes pulled out a chair for Kennedy, and once she sat, he started to do the same, but Parrish beat him to it. Somehow he got around the table without her noticing, then he crowded in, boldly claiming the chair beside Kennedy. She now had Sterling on her right, and Parrish on her left.
Narrowing his eyes, Reyes grumbled but moved on, choosing to sit directly across from her.
“Where’s Madison?” Kennedy asked, trying to act unaffected by the musical chairs.
“My daughter gets lost in her research.”
With the food now on the table, Bernard said, “I’ll let her know breakfast is served.”
Once he’d gone inside, Reyes chuckled. “Boy, he’s really turning it on today, isn’t he?”
Cade said, “He’s out to impress.” Shooting his father a look, he added, “Unlike some people.”
“I don’t need to impress,” Parrish stated. Turning slightly in his chair, he held out his hand to Kennedy. “Since my son doesn’t see fit to introduce us, I suppose I’ll handle it myself. Parrish McKenzie. And you’re Kennedy Brooks.”
Like she didn’t know who she was? “That’s right.” She accepted his handshake, not at all surprised that his hand was as big as Reyes’s. She got the impression that this older McKenzie was every bit as capable as his sons, just a little more seasoned. “You and Cade share a similar look.”
“It’s true.” With a final, gentle squeeze, he released her hand and slid his napkin from a bronze napkin ring. “Madison and Reyes have their mother’s coloring.”
“But still your height,” Kennedy noted. “Or was she tall as well?”
“She was...” Parrish hesitated as he looked inward. A smile touched his mouth. “Average height, I suppose, but she often appeared taller because she had such presence.”
“Then I suppose they inherited that from her as well.”
He gave her an odd look.
It occurred to Kennedy that she’d just made it sound like the senior McKenzie didn’t have that same presence. Trying to recover, she tacked on, “And from you as well, of course.”
“You’re quick-witted, Ms. Brooks.”
“Kennedy,” she insisted.
“Do I make you nervous?”
“Yes?”
“You aren’t certain?”
“I’m still taking your measure,” she admitted. “I can’t decide if it’s being here, your attempts to intimidate, or the fact that Sterling hinted there’d be news today that has me a little on edge.”
“Probably all of the above,” Sterling said. “Just remember that I told you Parrish was harmless.”
At that, Parrish made a rude sound. “You’re the only one who thinks so.”
Leaning forward to see around Kennedy, Sterling said, “Give it up already, or I’ll have to switch seats with Kennedy and your son won’t like that. Then he’ll be butting heads with you again, and we’ll never be able to enjoy Bernard’s wonderful meal.”
“It’s fine,” Kennedy said, shooting a desperate look at Reyes.
He shrugged, then lifted a lid off a covered plate. “You have a few choices here, Kennedy. Apple pancakes for starters, either with maple bacon or sausage links—”
“Or both,” Sterling said, taking up the platter of meats to serve herself.
“—fresh fruit, a couple types of eggs, croissants—”
As he spoke, Reyes uncovered the feast, setting the lids on the cart behind him. Kennedy could barely take it all in. The amount of food presented was extravagant and, in her mind, wasteful.
When Reyes wrapped it up, he glanced at her and smiled. “I guess Sterling has the right idea. I’ll get you some of everything.”
“Small portions,” she said quickly, watching as he loaded her plate. Her stomach was currently jumpy enough that she didn’t want to chance things by overeating.
Parrish stood to fill her glass with orange juice, and then her coffee cup with a rich, steaming brew. “Cream and sugar?” he asked.
“Please.”
Reyes passed her plate to her, now heaping with treats. She breathed deeply of all the combined scents, and decided she was hungry after all. “Oh, this is nirvana.” Just as she forked up a bite, Madison came hustling through the doors. “Sorry I’m late, but I just made the most astounding discovery.”
“Does it have anything to do with a certain cop?” Reyes asked. “’Cause I have it on good authority you were flirting with him.”
Madison shot a glance at Kennedy. “Maybe a little.” To her brother, she said, “So what? Detective Albertson fascinates me.”
That earned a severe frown from Parrish. “It goes without saying that you shouldn’t—”
“Yes, I know your preferences, Dad.” Pushing her plate away, she opened the laptop and turned it toward Kennedy.
The bite in her mouth turned to sawdust. Kennedy tried to swallow and couldn’t. She gulped down coffee, burning her mouth in the process, and then just stared.
She hadn’t been prepared. Hadn’t even suspected what Madison would show her.
There, enlarged on the screen, was the very man who’d fled the wrecked car on the day she’d finally been rescued.
&nb
sp; Memories flooded back in on her, chilling her to the bone, then flushing her with heat. Only a photo, she reminded herself. He’s not here. He can’t touch you.
Reyes wouldn’t let him.
She couldn’t look away from his hated face. In a voice that didn’t sound like her own, she whispered, “That’s him.”
A second later, Reyes snapped the laptop shut and circled around the table to put his hands on her shoulders. “Jesus, Madison. A little warning would have been nice.”
Disconcerted, Madison rushed out an apology. “I’m so sorry. I was just excited with my find.”
Kennedy managed a nod. “It’s okay.” It really was. She wanted to be kept informed. She just... The casual way they dealt with everything surprised her. “I appreciate all the trouble you’re going to for me.”
Sterling squeezed Kennedy’s hand, and it felt like she understood. Really understood.
Possibly because she’d been through the same thing.
“I knew you were on his trail,” Sterling said, “and that you’d narrowed down his location. But now you’ve found him?”
“I believe so.” Madison nearly buzzed in her seat. “I’m sorry to throw more at you, Kennedy.”
“I needed to know.” With Reyes at her back, she felt better equipped to deal with the shock. “It’s just... I had hoped he was dead.”
“For sure, that’d be better,” Sterling agreed.
“Eventually,” Parrish said with quiet assurance.
Once she recovered from Parrish’s comment—had he just promised her that her abductor would die?—she reclaimed her backbone. Everyone was watching her. Somehow, in the midst of this amazing meal, she’d hogged all the attention...by being pathetic.
“Where is he?” she asked Madison, trying for a note of interest instead of dread.
Now that she’d dropped her bombshell, Madison began filling her plate. “He’s in Cedarville.”
“Hmm,” Sterling mused. “Close enough for us to come up with a plan.”
“Probably chose that location for being near where I-70 and I-25 interconnect,” Cade said.
“Giving him plenty of escape routes,” Reyes added.
They were all so knowledgeable about human trafficking that Kennedy felt like a dunce. She’d suffered it, she’d learned what she could, but she didn’t have their ease in discussing it, their quick assessment of the current situation.
“Given that he’s not that far from Jodi, I’ll set up surveillance around that entire area,” Madison said. “I’ll also get into any computers he has, see if I can find an agenda or financials or anything helpful.”
“How?” Kennedy asked, both fascinated and boggled.
Madison lifted her brows. “How will I set up surveillance, you mean?” With a shrug, she said, “I’m good. I think I told you that already. I’ll access any cameras in the area to see who’s coming and going. They’re staying at a Roadway Motel, in one of the separate cabins. Cheesy little dump, but surely they have some sort of security cameras, usually at the front and back doors, and sometimes in the lobby. Once I see what vehicle he’s using, one of the boys can tag it for me. Then I’ll be able to see them whenever they’re on the road.”
“GPS,” Kennedy said, remembering that they’d done the same with Jodi’s car.
“Exactly.”
Bernard reappeared in the doorway, his critical gaze taking in her still-full plate. “Ms. Brooks, you aren’t enjoying your breakfast?”
It felt very much as if she’d just been chastised. “I’m sorry. Madison was discussing business and I got distracted.”
“Madison is always discussing business, and if you don’t wish to go hungry you need to learn to eat while she does so.”
Damn, now even the butler was giving her a hard time. She scowled.
Unfazed by that, Bernard added, “Once you’ve finished eating, I’d be happy to let you visit with Chimera and her adorable kittens.”
As far as incentives went, that was a good one.
“Thank you, Bernard. I’ll get busy eating right now.”
He tipped his head in a nod of acceptance and went back inside again.
Kennedy glanced at Sterling. “He doesn’t eat with the others?”
“Sometimes. It all depends on Bernard’s mood.” She gave a crooked grin. “They treat him like family, even when he really ramps up the airs, as he’s doing for your sake.”
He wanted to impress her? Kennedy couldn’t think of the last time that had happened. Then again, it was better than being rudely scrutinized by Parrish.
The conversation turned casual while everyone paid homage to the magnificent breakfast. When she’d finished, Bernard appeared again with fresh coffee. He refilled everyone’s cups, removed the empty dishes to the cart and again excused himself.
Kennedy had just sat back in her chair, the fragrant coffee held between her hands, when Madison again opened her laptop.
“Now that Bernard is appeased, I have one more detail to share.”
“Course you do,” Reyes said, already frowning. “Think you can use a little more tact this time?”
“Not really, because it’s a bombshell.” She turned to Kennedy. “Prepare yourself.”
Good Lord, what now?
With a huff, Reyes came around to her seat. Standing beside her, he said, “Let’s hear it.”
“Delbert O’Neil isn’t alone at the motel.”
Kennedy did her best not to react to that, but dread poured through her. “That’s the name of the man who escaped the car that day?”
“None other.”
Sterling sat forward. “I heard you say ‘they were at the motel’ earlier, but I assumed you meant him and a cohort. Don’t tell me he has women in that room.” Before Madison could reply, Sterling pushed back her chair. “Damn it, Madison, why didn’t you say so right off?”
Cade stopped her with a hand lightly clasping her shoulder.
“Not women.” Cade watched his sister carefully. “Not for a second would Madison let that slide.”
Madison gently confirmed to Sterling, “No, I wouldn’t.”
“Damn.” Sterling dropped back in her seat. “Sorry.”
“No apology necessary, I promise.” To the table at large, she explained, “Delbert isn’t alone...because he has Rob Golly with him.”
Kennedy’s jaw loosened. Her brain scrambled to make sense of that. Jodi’s abductor and her abductor had teamed up together? She reached back for Reyes’s hand and immediately felt his fingers close around hers. “How is that possible?”
“It seems obvious to me,” Parrish said, his expression a mask of cold rage, his tone softly lethal. “One of them knows that you and Jodi are friends, and he’s looking for assistance to—”
“Don’t say it,” Sterling whispered.
But Kennedy already knew. Those evil men wanted revenge, against her, against Jodi. They wanted it enough that they were collaborating. Though her throat felt tight, her voice sounded strong when she said, “I understand.” She stared back at Reyes. This was his expertise, after all. “What should I do now?”
Reyes gently tugged her from her seat and into his arms, where he held her close. “Easy enough.” He stroked a hand up and down her spine. “You let us deal with it.”
“Deal with it how?”
He shrugged. “Like Dad said, we kill them both.”
* * *
FINALLY, HE’D GOTTEN AWAY. Del wiped his brow, wondering when, or if, he’d be the next target. Psychopaths didn’t take kindly to having their plans disrupted.
The second Golly had left the cabin to get coffee from the diner next door, Del had pulled on his pants, grabbed a few of his belongings and dodged out to the parking lot where he got behind the wheel of his junker car.
After weeks in that deranged fucker’s company,
Del could practically taste the freedom. Cigarette butt clenched in his teeth, he inserted the key and turned it. Thankfully, the car started.
He realized his hands were shaking and his heart beat double time. Was this how the women felt when they were captured? Oddly enough, that realization excited him.
Usually he feared no one. When threatened, he reacted with deadly force. But the dude who’d been sharing the shack with him had too many people on his payroll, too many contacts who would know to look at Del first. He was part of a bigger machine, and if he crossed Golly...? Del knew he’d rather have cops after him than that vicious bastard.
At least the cops wouldn’t torture him as payback, then dump his broken body off a cliff.
What Del wanted now was to grab Kennedy, maybe enjoy her for a day, then he’d shut her up for good—and get as far from Colorado as he could manage.
First things first, he’d call on Jodi. One way or another, she’d tell him what he needed to know about Kennedy, and then all his plans would fall into place.
* * *
AFTER REYES AND Kennedy left the deck for a stroll down to the lake, Cade glanced at his father. “What do you think?”
The senior McKenzie flattened his mouth. “Reyes isn’t you. This could be nothing. Passing interest, maybe.”
Sterling snorted. “Come on, Parrish. You’re too sharp to believe that BS.” She sipped her coffee. “I think he’s in love and just hasn’t realized it yet.”
“Love?” Parrish dismissed that with a scowl. “That’s a massive leap from mere interest.”
Over the cup, Sterling narrowed her eyes at Parrish. “See, I expected you to have learned from past mistakes.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
Cade loved watching his wife put his stodgy, overbearing father in his place. She managed it in her frank, no-nonsense way, and even Parrish wasn’t immune.
“Play nice, already,” Sterling suggested. “Quit trying to alienate her, because you might just alienate Reyes, too. If she’s going to be around, and I’m betting she will, what purpose does it serve to piss her off?”
