Chapter 21 #2
I rushed to the end of aisle, ready to bolt for the exit, when a hand snaked around my upper arm and locked me in place.
James.
“You’re gonna let her go,” he said low.
I glared up at him, fury boiling over. “The fuck I am. Let go.” I tried to jerk free, but his grip tightened, hard enough I’d probably have bruises tomorrow.
“We’re gonna get her,” he said through gritted teeth, holding my gaze. “Just not yet.”
“In two weeks when we figure out where they’re stashing her?” I spat out, yanking again but getting nowhere.
“Tonight,” he snapped. “After we follow them to wherever he’s takin’ her.”
I stopped fighting.
He was right. It was the better plan. And I felt like an idiot for not thinking of it myself.
I turned to Cassandra, who looked like she was about to call 911 on James.
“He’s with me,” I said. “About her drinks—I can pay—”
“Go!” Cassandra shouted. “The guy’s backin’ out.”
Sure enough, the guy was looking over his shoulder as he reversed out of the space. I didn’t see the girl in the front seat.
James released my arm and sprinted for the back, and I was right on his heels. We jumped into the car. He backed out within seconds and shot toward the road.
The white Buick had just turned right onto the street. James pulled out behind it, leaving several car lengths between us.
After about a half minute of silence, he said, “I understand.’
“Understand what?” I asked, still pissed at myself. “Why I threw common sense out the window and almost blew everything?”
“Why you wanted to rush out there and beat the shit out of that guy.”
I shook my head. “I was being stupid. I wasn’t thinking like a cop.”
“That’s bullshit,” he said flatly. “You were thinkin’ exactly like a cop. If you’d had a badge, you would have done the same thing. Only instead of beating the shit out of him, you would have slapped cuffs on him and read him his rights.”
“I’m not sure that’s much better,” I grumbled. “We just established less than two hours ago that I need to stop thinking that way.”
“Why did you become a cop?” His tone demanded an answer.
“Fuck you, Malcolm,” I sneered. It was the last thing I wanted to talk about right now.
“Why did you become a cop?” he repeated, shooting me a dark glare.
“Because I wanted to help people,” I said bitterly. “Like a goddamned Pollyanna.”
“Don’t do that.” His tone softened. “Don’t shit on yourself for that. Because I know you were a good cop, before you became a damn good detective.”
I snorted. “And how do you know that?”
“Because you care about people,” he said. “The ones who can’t help themselves.”
Some of my anger bled off. “How would you know that?” I asked, my tone still sharp.
“I saw the way you tracked down that missin’ girl two months ago. And I knew you weren’t just lookin’ for Hugo Burton because it was your job. You wanted to give his kids closure.”
I breathed in and out a few times. “So?”
“Don’t you get it, Harper?” He shot me a steady look. “That’s why we work so well together. You’re the heart of the two of us.”
I cracked a sardonic grin. “I suppose that makes you the brains?”
“No,” he said, deadpan. “It makes me the muscle. We’re both the brains.”
I considered what he said. “You have heart.”
“Not as much as you,” he scoffed. “And I’m not saying you’re all heart and I’m all brawn. I saw you hold your own with Tex, and I’ve seen her wipe the floor with plenty of well-trained fighters.”
“She was going easy on me.”
He barked a sharp laugh. “She doesn’t go easy on anyone, which is why she offered to spar with you again.” He glanced at me. “What I’m tryin’ to say, and apparently doin’ a shitty job of, is that we balance each other out.”
“But I still fucked up back there,” I said. “You’re right. I was missing the bigger picture.”
“You were thinkin’ like a protector,” he said, “Don’t apologize for that. I’ll pull you back when your protective instincts override the plan, and you’ll be there to rein me in when I want to go scorched earth.”
I turned in my seat to look at him. “What if I want you to go scorched earth?”
“Then grab a flamethrower and join me,” he said, “And when I think you’re doin’ the right thing protectin’ someone, I’ll be right there, kickin’ ass next to you.”
A flood of emotion rushed through me. What I had with James felt too good to be true.
But I was also thinking about that girl—who was probably in the backseat of that white Buick, two cars in front of us.
“I think I made things worse for her,” I said, my voice breaking. “I think he hurt her.”
“And I’ll make him pay for that,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “We’re gonna save her, Harper. But by lettin’ her go for just a short while, we can follow him back to wherever he plans to have her work and get her there. This way, we can save a bunch of other girls too.”
He was right, which made me feel like even more like a fool for trying to run after her. “Do you think she’s going to tell us where they are? She might not even know.”
“Maybe not, but the asshole drivin’ the car in front of us sure does, and he’s gonna tell us where they are and a whole lot more.”
“You’re gonna…” I wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence.
“Capture him?” he asked, then shot me a dark look. “Get information out of him? You bet your ass we are.”
“Information gathered through torture isn’t reliable,” I felt obligated to say.
“The fuck it’s not,” he grumbled, then nodded to the car in front of us. “He’s gettin’ on the highway and heading for the interchange. He might be part of Knox’s crew after all.”
If only we could get that lucky.
But I was stuck on the fact that James planned to beat information out of him … and the reality that I wasn’t as horrified at the thought as I should have been.
Then again, he was forcing a child to have sex with men in truck cabs. I wasn’t going to lose any sleep over him getting exactly what he deserved.
Sure enough, the white car pulled off the highway and into a truck stop, driving to the back lot. He found a spot behind several rows of trucks and backed in, probably so he could watch the girl as she worked the trucks.
James parked on the side of the store, the handler’s car within view.
“Do you think he’ll recognize you?” James asked as he turned off the engine.
“No. If he noticed me at the convenience store, it was brief, and I doubt he’d think a blond woman in her thirties would follow him to a truck stop.”
He shot me an evil grin. “To his detriment.”
Something fluttered in my stomach, heat blooming in my core. “You need to stop saying things that get me hot when we’re in the middle of a stakeout.”
Surprise filled his eyes, then he laughed. “To his detriment turned you on?”
I laughed too. “It was more like the way you looked at me as you said it,” I pushed out a frustrated sigh. “It’s beside the point. What’s our plan?”
“You’re gonna let me handle this one?”
“You probably have more experience with kidnapping than I do. I have none.”
If he was offended, he didn’t let on. “I’ll take the driver, get him in the trunk of his car, and knock him out. I’ll drive his car to a secure location, then ask him a bunch of questions.” He nodded to me. “Your job is to convince the girl to come with you.”
“And then?”
“Then you figure out where she can go, even if it’s temporary. If she knows where other girls are bein’ kept, do not go without me.”
“Why would I go without you?”
“Because I’m going to be tied up for a while with our friend over there, and you’ll be making sure the girl doesn’t bolt.”
“You plan on questioning him by yourself?” I asked, unease crawling up my spine.
“I’ll be fine. He’ll be temporarily incapacitated.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t like it.”
“I’ll be fine,” he repeated. “I’ll have Carter send in some backup. You focus on the girl.” He lowered his face to mine. “And just the girl. Promise me you won’t go after more girls if this one knows where they’re kept.”
“James…”
“You have to trust me on this, Harper,” he said tightly. “Even if you successfully roll in and save half a dozen girls, we both know there are more out there. If Knox knows we’re on to them, he’ll move them, then the information I get out of Creeper over there will be worthless.”
He had a point. We were working with limited time. When Creeper and the girl didn’t show back up, his boss—Knox or whoever else—would be on high alert.
“Okay. I’ll wait for you. I’m not taking her back to our room, though. Who knows what her mental state is. I can’t have her knowing where we’re staying in case she changes her mind and decides she wants to go back to Creeper and his crew.”
He gave me a dark look. “I suspect Creeper won’t be around to go back to, but you’re right. You still got the credit card you used a few days ago?”
I ignored the statement about Creeper. “Yeah. In my bag.” It felt like my trip to the Walmart in Hot Springs had been a few weeks ago rather than yesterday.
“Text me when you figure out where you’re goin’ tonight. But don’t send the address in a text or voicemail. Wait until I call.”
In case things went south.
My heart began to race. We’d done questionable things together, but this was by far the most dangerous.
He held my gaze. “You good?”
I nodded. “You?”
He smiled, an honest-to-God smile that lit up his entire face. “Never been better.” He leaned over and kissed me, slow and soulful. When he pulled back, he said, “Don’t leave with the girl until you see me sitting in Creeper’s driver’s seat.”
I nodded, swallowing hard to steady myself.
He pressed the keys into my palm. “Time to get some answers.” Then he opened the driver’s door, climbed out, and walked around the front of the building.