Chapter 16
“All right,” Dotty whispered to her. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Tell us what’s going on,” Monroe said from her other side. “Where did you find the hottie bad boys?”
“You do realize we can hear you up here?” Ralen said, turning with his eyebrow raised as he stared at the three of them.
Dotty opened her backpack and pulled out her phone. “Oh, shit. It’s dead. What the hell is Callahan Security?”
“It’s a security company. Callahan comes from the owner’s last name,” Butch said.
“Right,” Dotty said. “How did you get the bruised face and bandaged hand?”
“Someone else did this,” Addie pointed to her face. “They were trying to g-grab me. And my hand is from coffee. It’s fine.” She took it off and showed them the tiny red mark.
“Someone tried to grab you?” Monroe asked with alarm.
Addie looked around for Monroe’s handbag. “Where’s your handbag?”
“I lost it,” Monroe said. “That was a brand-new bag, and it cost me three hundred dollars.”
“Three hundred dollars on a handbag?” Butch said incredulously.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that? I bet you spent more on detailing this truck,” Dotty said.
Addie took hold of Dotty’s hand. Dotty had never done well on a short amount of sleep.
Butch just grunted.
“Just as well I didn’t have much in it,” Monroe said. “I left everything back at the hotel other than my license, my phone, and the hotel keycard.”
“What about bank cards?” Butch asked.
“I have them all on my phone.”
“What if your phone dies?” Butch asked.
Monroe’s mouth opened, then closed, and she frowned. “Why would my phone die? Anyway, someone would have a charger that I could use. People are so helpful like that. Everywhere I go, people are just so lovely.”
Yes, Monroe tended to see the world through rose-colored glasses. There were plenty of shitty, awful people, but Monroe would just find a way to turn that around into something positive.
Anyway, that explained how someone had gotten into their hotel room.
“And now that just means I don’t have to cancel any of my cards. See? Win-win.”
“Except for the fact that your three-hundred-dollar bag got stolen along with your phone,” Ralen pointed out, staring back at them.
“I don’t like that we don’t know where we’re going,” Dotty finally said.
“And I don’t like that I can’t access my phone, and I don’t like that I’m wearing the same clothes I wore last night.
I really think we should just go to the hotel.
But don’t worry, we can call an Uber. There is no reason for you to take us anywhere. Addie, your phone is charged, right?”
Addie nodded. “We can’t go to the hotel.”
“Well, why not?”
“Someone broke in and t-trashed it.”
Cash wasn’t happy that Addie was in a different vehicle from him.
He wanted her with him, and he didn’t want to think too closely about why that was. But as he drove behind Butch’s incredibly huge, ridiculously shiny truck, he did realize that the other man was driving safely.
Lucky for him, or Cash would have to take him out in a very painful, gruesome way if he did something that put Addie in danger.
Not just Addie, of course. Ralen as well, and Addie’s sisters.
Shoot. What was wrong with him? Why was he thinking about her like this?
It was almost as if she were his girl.
Well, she wasn’t, and she was never going to be. She wasn’t the type of girl that Cash needed. He shook off that thought and parked behind Butch’s truck. By this stage, everyone was out and standing on the sidewalk.
Butch and Ralen seemed to be trying to herd the women inside, but Addie was resisting. She was staring straight at him with her arms wrapped around herself.
Fuck, she looked so small and lost. He fought the urge to race toward her and gather her up in his arms. Instead, he moved calmly and steadily over to where they all stood.
“Come on, let’s get inside where it’s warmer,” he said.
It wasn’t actually that cold of a day, but the three women looked like they were freezing, and he guessed that was because they hadn’t had enough sleep, or probably enough to eat.
“When was the last time you all ate?” he asked.
Monroe shook her head. “We were given something in jail. It was unrecognizable.”
“I ate it. I still can’t tell you what it was,” Dotty said. “You didn’t eat it?”
The question was directed at Monroe. The other woman shook her head. For some reason, both Dotty and Addie seemed concerned by that, but he didn’t blame Monroe for not wanting to eat something served up in jail.
“Come on,” Butch said gruffly as he walked up the stairs to the main entrance.
Addie sighed and took hold of her sisters’ hands. As they stepped inside, they were greeted by Sable, who stood there with two more bags, like the one she’d given Addie earlier.
“Oh, good. You all made it back safely from jail. Here, I’ve got gift bags for you. I’m Sable, by the way. If you need any help, come see me. The rest of them are pretty useless, except for Brody and Ink, they tend to know what they’re doing.”
Butch just glared at her and then stomped past. Sable shook her head as she stared after him. “Don’t worry about him. He’s always in a grumpy mood. Pretty sure he was born that way.”
“I’m going to take everyone down to the safe room so they can have a shower and brush their teeth, maybe have a cup of coffee or something. Do you think we can get some pastries or something in, Sable?” Cash asked.
“I’m already well ahead of you. There’s food waiting in the boardroom for you all. Ink wants to have a meeting and find out where everyone is at. Take twenty minutes to shower and get changed into your clothes, then meet him there.”
Ralen saluted her with a grin. “You are amazing, Sable.”
Sable simply stared at him before turning away.
“Damn, your charm’s failing you,” Cash told him.
Ralen nodded. “I think she’s immune. Every so often I meet someone who is immune. Doesn’t happen that often though.”
“You met someone today who’s immune,” Dotty told him.
“Really? Who’s that?” Ralen asked.
“Me. Now, where is the shower? Someone take me to it. And then I need an explanation, or we’re all out of here.”