Chapter 25
I took off my wig and pulled out all the pins, rubbing my fingertips over my scalp, then took my laptop to the bed, still dressed in case I needed to get to James in a hurry. I tried to stay up until he returned, but the last time I checked the clock, my drooping eyes read a little after four.
I woke to a brush of lips against my temple. When I opened my eyes, the sky was lightening in the windows and James was heading for the bathroom.
“Hey,” I called after him. “How’d it go?”
He stopped and turned back to me, then sat on the edge of the bed. He looked exhausted. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I was just relieved you were here.”
I squinted up at him in confusion. “You thought I’d take off?”
He leaned over and gave me a tender kiss. “I hadn’t seen you in hours, and Knox wants to get his hands on you. I was furious with Carter for lettin’ you come back here. He put you at risk of Knox findin’ you.”
I scooted upright, more awake. “It wasn’t Carter’s decision, James. I came back here on my own.”
“You left Little Rock with the girl. You should have stayed put.”
I shot him a scorching glare. “Why the hell would I stay out of Little Rock? We need to stay in town to bring down Knox and his operation.”
“You were alone!” he said, temper riding his words. “Anything could have happened to you!”
“I was wearing my wig. No one knew who I was. Not even Keith when he walked into the Brass Magnolia.”
He stared at me like I’d grown a second head, then he got off the bed. “You went to the Brass Magnolia?” he asked in a cold tone.
“I wasn’t about to come back here and watch Netflix while you were interrogating Buddy.” I paused. “Did you get anything useful from him?”
“That’s not important right now,” he said, fuming.
“It’s the only thing that’s important right now,” I countered. “What did you find out?”
“Why did you go to the Brass Magnolia?” he shot back.
“The same reason I went to the Velvet Room. To check in with my contacts.”
He looked stunned, then his voice rose. “You went to the Velvet Room?”
“Calm down, Malcolm,” I snapped. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m not some amateur sleuth. I used to be a fucking police detective!”
He turned away and began to pace.
“Why are you so upset?” I asked, getting to my feet. “You had a job and I had one too.”
He spun around to face me. “Your job was to get the girl away from the situation. Not traipse all over Little Rock!”
“Traipse?” I demanded. “Are you fucking kidding me? You were doing something far more dangerous than I was!”
“I had backup!” he said, shaking his head. “I wasn’t doing it alone! If Knox had found you…” His chest heaved.
I walked over to him, my anger softening as the reason for his reaction began to sink in. “You were scared something would happen to me.”
Outrage washed over his face. “I thought I made that pretty damn clear.”
“You weren’t worried,” I said more to myself as I reached him, putting my hands on his chest. “You were scared.”
“Again,” he growled. “I made that clear.”
I looked up at him in disbelief.
Frustration flooded his eyes, but then he stiffened and it bled away. His hand sank into my hair at the nape of my neck, his fingers fisting around the strands. “Harper, why is it so damned hard for you to believe I care about you?”
“Because,” I said, frustrated. “You’re you.”
His chest muscles tensed under my palms. “You think I’m incapable of caring about someone?”
“I know you care about people, even if you don’t like people to realize it. It’s just hard to believe you care that much about me.”
“Harper.” He shook his head. “If I’d known you were traipsin’ around the city—”
“Again, I wasn’t traipsing—”
“—I would have lost my fucking mind. It was bad enough when I thought you’d just come back to the hotel.”
I searched his face. “You have to trust me, James.”
“I do. But no matter how careful you were, there are a dozen ways he could have taken you.”
“It’s done,” I said. “Now what did you find out?”
“Did Keith recognize you?”
I rolled my eyes. “I told you I was wearing my wig.”
“So? I’d recognize that ass anywhere.” His free hand grabbed a butt cheek and pulled my body flush to his.
“I was sitting on a barstool, so it’s unlikely.”
He made a face.
“Besides, he didn’t recognize a side profile of my face, and he was about a foot from me. I doubted he’d recognize my ass.”
“Jesus Christ,” he groaned, leaning his head back and staring at the ceiling. Then he leveled his gaze on me. “Are you trying to give me a stroke?”
“I was fine. He didn’t recognize me, even when he tried to hit on me.”
His jaw clenched so hard, it was a wonder he didn’t crack a tooth.
“Listen, that part’s not important—”
“The fuck it’s not,” he growled.
“He was meeting another detective. Bobby says they come in around that time a lot lately, around the same time, and sometimes one or two other guys meet them.”
“So?”
“So, what are they doing drinking twenty-dollar-a-pour whiskey, multiple times a week, around midnight? Keith was ordering his second drink within five minutes. He told Bobby he’d had a hard week.”
“I don’t want to talk about him,” he grunted, his fingers on my butt digging in.
Heat washed through me, and I tried to focus. “Then let’s talk about Buddy. What did you find out?”
“I’d rather show you how much I need you to be safe,” he said before his mouth crashed into mine.
I lost myself in the kiss, pouring just as much of my fear and passion into him.
He backed me up then pushed me onto the bed, already working on the button of his jeans.
I knew he was exhausted, but he didn’t act like it as he showed me how much he wanted me to stick around.
Afterward, I lay in his arms, and I realized he smelled like a different soap than the one we had in the hotel, and he’d been wearing a different shirt. “You took a shower before you came back.”
“I couldn’t walk into the hotel looking like I’d beaten the shit out of someone.”
I’d noticed the scrapes and bruises on his knuckles. “You wore a different shirt back.”
“I got a change of clothes.”
I didn’t want to focus on why. I’d have to at some point, but not now. “What did you find?”
“Buddy’s a talker when he’s given the right motivation,” he said.
“He doesn’t deal with Knox. Nixon is his contact, but he knows Knox’s name.
His job is to handle the girls—recruitment, keeping them in line, making sure they bring in money.
He was told if he did well, he’d move up to what Nixon does. ”
“Which is?”
“Nixon moves the girls from city to city. But he also moves more than just girls.”
I looked up at him in confusion. “What does he move?”
“Still people, but think domestic help—nannies, housekeepers, gardeners.”
“Immigrants?”
He nodded. “Desperate illegals. The people who buy them want cheap help and they’re tired of the turnover.
This way, they make sure they can keep them for as long as they want.
” He shifted slightly toward me. “Believe it or not, the domestic help is bringing them more money than the girls right now.”
Fury ignited in my chest. “I bet. Rich assholes eager to be slave owners.”
He grunted. “Sounds like Nixon has a big mouth, because there’s a shipment from Texas coming tomorrow night. He even told Buddy they’re using a warehouse in the commercial district. But supposedly Knox is gettin’ nervous and might postpone it.”
“Emily said Nixon came to the house and told Buddy the same thing,” I said. “What about the house where Emily was staying? Did you get that address?”
“Yep. Already sent it to Carter so he can trace to the owner.”
I glared at him. “I could have done that, James.”
He pulled me closer. “I know, but I’d planned to keep you busy when I got back. So he got a head start.” He gave me a slow kiss to prove his point.
I settled into him. “You know the house won’t be registered to him.”
“Maybe it’s owned by one of his blind LLCs. If not, once we find out who owns it, there’s a chance we can backtrack it to Knox.”
I definitely planned to try.
“If we can intercept that truck and tie him to a house that holds the girls,” I said, “would that be enough for your HSI contact?”
He studied me for a moment. “Maybe, but I want the accountant.”
I gave a slow nod. “Have you heard anything from the people watching Natalie? Does she have anything?”
He shook his head. “They say they haven’t heard her take any calls out of the ordinary. Of course, she could have emailed or texted.”
“We can’t hold out hope that she’ll come through.”
“No,” he said, his tone heavy. “We’ll need to figure out another way. I’ve been wracking my brain, but I haven’t come up with anything yet.” He paused. “Did you get any new information from your visit to the dancer?”
“She said she was going to get the video after work last night.”
“Do you think she’ll come through?”
I pushed out a sigh. “I think she’ll try. She’s legitimately concerned I won’t be able to get her charges dropped.” I held his gaze. “Are you sure you can do it?”
His gaze was steady. “If she comes through, and the guy in the footage is connected to someone in Knox’s organization, then they’ll be dropped.”
I wanted to ask more, but he looked beyond exhausted. I lifted a hand to his face, my fingertip tracing the dark circle under his left eye. “You need sleep, James.”
His gaze scanned over my face, settling on my lips. “I can sleep when this is over.”
“Bullshit. Are you forgetting our conversation last night about how your concussion could make you a liability?”
Fire filled his eyes, and he held my gaze. “I was just fine last night.”
“Maybe so, and I’m glad to hear it, but you still need rest. Even without a concussion.”
I knew he wanted to protest, but instead, he tugged me tighter. “I’ll take a nap. Then we’ll figure out what to do next.”
I planned to have him sleep longer than a nap but knew better than to tell him so. Instead, I snuggled into his side, his arm wrapped around me, and soon his breathing became slow and shallow. I drifted off to sleep soon afterward, wondering when I’d become a cuddler.