Chapter 60
“Aidan? I wasn’t expecting you,” Cash said with a frown.
Aidan put his hands on his hips. “No? Were you ever going to call and tell me what the hell was going on? Because I had to hear everything from Greer and Hack. All I get is a text message from you asking me to keep an eye on Bonnie while you go out of town and that’s it!
No follow up explanation. You don’t answer my messages or calls. ”
Cash winced. He actually had a good point.
“Do you know how worried I’ve been about you?”
Fuck. Cash hated that. The last thing he wanted was for Aidan to worry about him. He’d done enough of that over the years.
“Fuck. Yeah, I messed up. Life got . . . crazy.”
“Yeah, you want to explain that crazy to me? And why you didn’t even let me know that you were back from Las Vegas?”
“Sure, but not out here,” Cash said. “You better come in. Ahh, did Greer tell you about Addie?”
“The girl that you found hiding in the back of Crystal? That you’ve apparently been guarding at a safe house? Who everyone seems to have met but me? Yeah, you could say that. Would have rather heard about her from you.”
Cash had already said he was sorry. He wasn’t saying it again.
“Well, she’s inside. She’s living with me now. She’s mine and I love her. So you’re going to have to take your irritation down a notch. No raising your voice, no scaring her. Got me?”
Surprise filled Aidan’s face. “You love her? You’ve known her less than two weeks.”
Cash shrugged. “When you know, you know.”
“I guess that’s true. Well, introduce me to your girl. She’s really going to live here with you and Ralen?”
“Ahh, that’s something else I’ve got to tell you. Ralen is back in Mexico. I’ll explain later. But you should also know that Addie can get anxious easily and find it hard to talk.”
Aidan nodded. “I’ve been told that.”
“Oh, and also, she’s just wearing my T-shirt.” He didn’t like that other people would see her in just his shirt, but he guessed his brother was safe.
However, as they walked into the house, he realized that he had more to worry about than Aidan seeing his girl’s legs.
“Where is she?” he said as he searched through the townhouse.
“Could she have gone somewhere?” Aidan asked.
“She’s got no clothes and she doesn’t really know anyone. Besides, we’d have seen her leave. Someone must have crept through from the alley down the back of the garden. Fuck. Fuck!”
“Who would take her?” Aidan asked.
“The Team. The Team might take her to get to her sister. What the fuck am I going to do?”
Addie woke up with a groan.
Why did her head hurt so much?
Blinking, she glanced around. Where was she? What was going on? She didn’t recognize this room. Where was she?
Out of the shadows, someone stepped toward her. Was that Cash?
But no . . . her heart raced. That wasn’t Cash.
Who was it?
It suddenly came back to her. Someone had been talking to Cash out front and she’d heard a noise. When she’d gone to investigate . . . someone had hit her.
This man.
Who was he, though? His face was covered in a balaclava. No one wore a balaclava unless it was freezing or they were about to do something very, very bad.
Oh, hell.
“We have to find a way to contact The Team,” Cash said. “They took her. They must have.”
He paced up and down his living room floor, unsure of what to do. Why the hell had he left her? He should have stuck by her like glue. And why didn’t he have cameras that went further than the front and backyard?
Brody was sitting at the kitchen table and going over the footage right now. Footage that showed a man dressed in black carrying Addie over his shoulder down to the back alley.
In broad-fucking-daylight while he stood in the front yard talking to Aidan.
He was never going to forgive himself for that.
“Is there anyone else that would take her?” Ink asked. “Anyone that you’ve fucked off?”
“No. No one I can think of.” It had to be The Team. “Fuck, I’m going to call Dante and Ortega. Maybe they’ll have a contact I can use.”
“I can try and find some cameras that capture the alley, but I don’t like my chances in a residential area like this,” Brody said. “We don’t know what vehicle he was driving, who he is. Where he was going.”
Cash let out a loud yell, and turning, smashed his fist right through into the wall. He ignored the pain, the blood dripping down his fingers as he pulled it back out. It’s what he deserved for not taking proper care of her. For thinking that the risk was only really to Monroe and not to Addie.
“Calm down, Cash,” Aidan said firmly. “This isn’t helping.”
“I will not calm down. I’m only going to be calm when I have her back in my arms. Don’t tell me you’d be fucking calm if it was Livvy who’d been taken.”
“Of course I wouldn’t, but I also know that smashing your fist into a wall isn’t helping.”
“Neither is arguing like this,” Ink said firmly. “It seems odd that it would just be one person, though. Wouldn’t The Team work together? Although maybe they figured one person was less likely to be noticed.”
“Fucking ballsy to do it in the middle of the day,” Aidan said. “Can someone explain who the hell The Team is?”
“No one knows who they are. There’s just some rumors about who the leader might be.” Ink turned to Brody as his phone rang.
Brody answered. “Hey, I’m fine. I know. Sorry . . . sorry. I should have told you . . . yeah, at Cash’s . . . Addie is missing . . . she was taken by a man in a balaclava about forty minutes ago. How did you do that? Okay . . . okay . . . wait . . . I’ll put you on speakerphone.”
“What’s going on?” Cash asked.
“Once more, I’m just proving that not all heroes are necessarily good guys,” the Fox drawled through the phone. “Brody is right now locating Addie.”
“What do you mean?” Cash asked. “How?
“I have video footage of the car she was taken away in,” the Fox said.
“How would you have video footage?” Cash asked.
“There are cameras all around your block and apartment that I might have put there a while ago.”
“Why would you have cameras around Cash’s place?” Aidan asked.
“I like to keep an eye on possible enemies.”
“I’m not your enemy,” Cash said. Fuck, he’d likely be dead if he was.
“No, but you work for somebody very interesting. His half brother is someone I’m keeping an eye on. I wanted to know if one of them visited.”
“They never really visit,” Cash said. “And Ortega isn’t your enemy. He’s not here to hurt anyone. Well, other than the people who fuck him over or anyone he cares about.”
“So he is here?” the Fox asked.
“He’s not currently in Montana, but he’s close by. I think you might need to discuss terms with him because he might need to come to Billings sometimes.”
“Yes, terms,” the Fox said silkily.
“About these cameras?” Cash asked. The Fox and Ortega needed to work things out themselves.
“I believe in being prepared and it’s just as well I do, though, right?”
“I have the license plate,” Brody said. “The car was stolen but that same car was just reported for dangerous driving by a member of the public who also gave its current location. Which is about , blocks away. I checked it out, it’s a house that’s currently listed for sale.
We’ve just got to get there before the police. ”
“That won’t be hard,” the Fox said.
“Let’s go then,” Cash said, turning toward the door. What if they hurt his girl? He would never forgive himself.
Hell, he wouldn’t want to go on living without her.
“You’re welcome,” the Fox called out.
Cash turned toward the phone because the Fox was right. It was just as well he had a suspicious mind.
“Thanks, Fox. I really do mean it. I love Addie and can’t imagine my life without her. I owe you.”
“You do. Don’t worry. At some stage, I’ll come calling.”