Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
DAKOTA
As I drove my car through the tree-lined back road, Cassi chattered animatedly from her booster in the back seat of my car.
“And then we learned to make a fire using two sticks and these rocks called flints. I was the best at it and that mean jerk, Bobby Handell, couldn’t even make his spark. Ha!”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her it wasn’t nice to call other kids jerks, but Bobby Handell was a jerk. Apparently he hadn’t learned his lesson the first time my girl kicked his ass, and Cassi was gearing up to make him pay for being such a buttwad.
“I’m glad you’re having so much fun, honey, but remember what we talked about?”
The past month with Roe and Cassi had been heaven, and in that time, I’d gone from adoring his little girl to completely and totally falling in love with her.
“I remember Kota. Only hit him if he really deserves it.”
That wasn’t exactly the lesson I tried teaching her, but it was close enough. I was struggling to suppress my laughter. “Just?.?.?. try really hard not to get kicked out, okay?”
I watched in the rearview mirror as she lifted her shoulder in a cavalier shrug. “I gotta do what I gotta do. I can’t help it if Bobby’s parents didn’t teach him manners.”
Valid point . But I wasn’t going to say that out loud.
I pulled up to the drop-off for Cassi’s wildlife camp and watched with a smile as she hopped out of the car and raced to her friends. Her riding goggles and tiara tangled in her glitter braids were an interesting choice, but like everything else, she made it work.
“Have a good day, sweetie,” I called out through my rolled-down window.
She spun around and waved her hand high in the air, beaming at me. I didn’t know how Roe had handled drop-offs like this all these years, especially by himself, because each time she hopped out of my car it became harder to drive off without her.
A horn honked behind me, and I lifted my hand in an apologetic wave to the car that was trying to drop off their kid as well.
While my girl enjoyed her day in the wilderness—something she was growing to love more every day—I headed to the grocery store in town.
Cassi’s party was coming up in a couple weeks.
She’d requested a stars and galaxy theme, and I was determined to make her the prettiest, tastiest star-shaped cake no matter what.
She settled on that theme after I explained my love of stargazing to her, and how I passed that passion down to her dad.
Since then, she’d joined me in Roe’s backyard countless times, lying right by my side on a blanket in the cool grass as I helped her discover constellations in the sky.
Knowing that I’d managed to pass down my love to her made my heart swell so big it sometimes ached.
Roe was working at the garage on some custom art pieces that were going to be painted on a couple motorcycles they were working on, and Dad was hanging at the diner with Bea—something he’d been doing with great frequency over the past month—so I headed to my house to start working on the design for Cassi’s cake, knowing I’d get at least a few hours of uninterrupted work before the girls came over later to help me film some content.
Lennon, and especially Iris, had really gotten into helping me out, so now my filming days were like little parties.
They’d come over, work the camera for me, then partake in the food I cooked. Usually over a glass of wine or a mimosa.
I’d fallen into a routine I absolutely loved. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so many people I cared about in my life. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to it. Not that I wanted to. It made appreciating what I had that much easier.
My phone rang on the counter as I stirred edible silver glitter into the icing to give it that shiny galactic look. Licking a dollop of butter cream off my thumb, I grinned at the name flashing across the screen and swiped to answer.
“Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
Roe’s laughter carried through the line and warmed my insides. “Work is being done, I swear. I had to stop and give you a call because I was missin’ you something crazy.”
Oh, did I know the feeling. Since getting back together, it was hard to shake the need to spend every waking minute with the man who carried my heart in his hands. I wanted to be with him as often as possible. Fortunately, he felt exactly the same.
“Well, I miss you too, honey. But we just saw each other this morning, and we’ll see each other again this evening.”
“Yeah, but it’s not enough. It’s never enough,” he tacked on, sounding almost grumpy about the fact we couldn’t be attached at the hip twenty-four/seven.
“I get that, and any other time I’d be happy to stay on the phone with you, but I’m working on a very special, super important project right now, and I need to give it all my attention.”
“Cassi’s birthday cake?” he asked.
“Like I said, super important.”
“All right then, Honeybee. I’ll let you go.”
“Just for a little while. I love you, Roe.”
He let out a groan every time I said those words, like hearing them was the biggest turn-on for him. If we were together and Cassi wasn’t around, it never failed that telling him I loved him led to earth-shaking sex.
“I love you too baby. More than you’ll ever know.”
We ended the call and I went back to work, adding the silvery frosting to a piping bag only to be disrupted again.
On a laugh, I snatched the phone and answered the call without looking at the screen. “You know, if you keep calling like this, neither of us will ever get anything done.”
“Hello, Koty. It’s been a while.”
All the blood in my body turned to ice as I pulled the phone from my ear and looked at the screen that read Unknown Caller.
“Adam? How did you get this number?” I’d made certain to have my number changed after I left him.
Not wanting him to be able to get ahold of me.
“You know what? It doesn’t even matter. I’m hanging up. ”
“You hang up on me, you stupid bitch, and you’ll never see that biker trash’s daughter again.”
My whole body froze at that threat. “W-what are you talking about?” I asked in a hushed voice, terror clutching my throat and making it difficult to breathe.
“I have that little brat. If you want to see her alive, you’ll do exactly as I say.”
“I-I don’t believe you.”
A handful of seconds later my phone pinged with an incoming message from the same unknown number, and when I opened it, I nearly dropped the phone. It was a picture of Cassi. She had a gag tied around her head and had been taped to a chair. And the look on her face was one of horror.
I was going to kill him. That asshole took my girl. He tied her up and scared her, and for that alone, he was going to pay.
“What the hell do you want? Why are you doing this?” I demanded. “I left. I’ve been gone for months, and this is the first I’m hearing from you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Koty.” God, I hated that fucking nickname.
“I’ve been following you for months. I knew as soon as you started spreading your legs for that biker trash.
I knew when you and your dear old dad mended fences.
I’ve been there every step of the way. Didn’t you get my pictures? ”
His voice suddenly sounded like it was coming from underwater as my vision started to close in around the edges.
Those creepy photographs. Those messages. I see you . They had been him this whole time.
God, how had I been so wrong?
“What do you want?” I asked, hardening my voice so he wouldn’t hear the terror that was squeezing my heart like a vise.
“What do you think I want? I want what belongs to me.” That was all I’d ever been to him.
An object he thought he owned. “I’m about to text directions to somewhere.
You want to keep this feral little animal safe, you’ll be there in half an hour.
Oh, and Koty? Don’t even think about doing anything stupid, like calling that white-trash boyfriend of yours or any of his criminal friends to rush to save the day.
You do that and I’ll kill her, I swear.”
I heard Cassi’s muffled cry of fear, and it nearly killed me.
“I’m coming,” I assured him quickly. “I’ll be there, and I’ll be alone. Just?.?.?. just don’t hurt her. Please, Adam.”
“You always were so fucking weak. Half an hour, Dakota. Don’t make me wait.”
The directions Adam had texted led to an old, abandoned watch tower in the middle of the woods. I didn’t know how he managed to find this place or get his hands on Cassi, but I didn’t have time to think about any of that. I needed to make sure my girl was safe.
Shutting off the engine, I shoved the door open and climbed out, gently patting my back pocket to make sure the switchblade I’d taken from Roe was still tucked away.
I wasn’t going to put Cassi at risk, but there wasn’t a chance in hell I was coming unarmed.
The Dakota Adam used to know was scared all the time.
She didn’t stick up for herself or fight back, so I knew without a doubt he wouldn’t expect me to have a weapon.
That was the one advantage I had going for me. Adam underestimated me.
“Twenty-seven minutes. You’re really cutting it close.”
I looked up to the wrap-around balcony of the watch tower where Adam was standing, leaning against the railing like he didn’t kidnap an innocent girl earlier that day.
“I almost started to think you didn’t care about her.”
I gritted my teeth together to keep the words I wanted to scream at him at bay. I already knew he was capable of beating a much smaller woman, and he’d threatened to kill a child. I had to keep my anger in check or he was liable to do something stupid. “Where is she?”
“She’s up here.” He jerked his chin to the ladder that would take me up to where my girl was. “I hope you aren’t afraid of heights. That would be rather inconvenient at a time like this.”
I sent up a thank you to the universe that that wasn’t a fear I suffered from, then I started climbing.
As soon as I got within reach, Adam reached down and wrapped his hand around my arm so tightly I cried out in pain.
He jerked me up the last few rungs and shoved me through a glass door into the watch tower.
The place was covered in dust, and from the debris littered around the place, it looked like this one had been decommissioned at least a decade earlier.
Cassi’s muffled shouts met my ears as soon as I entered, and I didn’t hesitate to run right for her.
I wrapped my fingers around her gag and pulled it out of her mouth.
“Oh baby. I’m sorry,” I said as I brushed at her tears before working at the tape on one of her wrists. “I’m so sorry. Did he hurt you?”
Cassi sniffled and shook her head, and I noticed her goggles and tiara were missing. I swore to myself that if I got us out of this mess, I’d buy her a dozen more. At least. “N-no. He didn’t hurt me, but he scared me a lot.”
Yep. He was so fucking dead. He didn’t know it yet. “I’m here now, baby. And I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Well isn’t this the most touching scene ever,” Adam said snidely as he moved closer to us.
At his movement, I stopped pulling at Cassi’s tape, hoping I loosened it enough that she could get that one hand free and start working on other while I did my best to distract the psychopath I used to be in a relationship with.
Everything in me screamed to protect Cassi with my life, and that was exactly what I intended to do.
Standing tall, I put myself between her and Adam, making sure to keep his focus on me.
My little star was resourceful as hell. She’d figure out what I did with the tape and get herself out of that chair.
“Why are you doing this, Adam? If you wanted me, why not come for me, huh? Why involve an innocent child?”
Adam’s laughter sounded downright evil. “An innocent child? Please! That girl is a feral beast. She should be put down. And as far as why? It’s simple really. You thought you could just walk away from me and you wouldn’t suffer the consequences?”
His hand moved so fast it was a blur, leaving me no time to duck or brace for the brutal backhand across my cheek that took me to the ground. Before I had a chance to recover, the toe of his boot slammed into my ribs, knocking the wind right out of my lungs.
As I struggled for breath, I could hear Cassi screaming for him to stop. I knew he wouldn’t. Not on his own, so the only choice I had was to stop him myself.