Page 83 of Trick or Treat

“Um. Okay. It’s Black. Kurtis Black.” She sounded confused that he would want to know about Kurtis, but she also sounded a little more awake.

“How does he know Lindsey? What was his relationship with her? Where does he work? Live? Everything.” Trick got to his feet and started pacing.

“Why? What’s going on?” Cami was smart and knew something was up. Obviously, Trick wouldn’t be calling in the middle of the night unless there was something bad going on.

Trick didn’t want to tell her Lindsey was missing because she’d have a lot of questions of her own. Right now, he just wanted answers to his own. He also knew she was Lindsey’s best friend and deserved to know the truth. He took a deep breath and released it on a rush. “Lindsey’s missing. She was taken from the Walmart parking lot in a van. One being driven by that son of a bitch Kurtis. Now, I’m putting you on speaker. Talk to me.”

“Oh my God! Are you serious? That bastard took Lindsey?”

“Cami. Focus. Tell me what you know so I can get to her.” Trick didn’t have time to soothe Cami’s fears. Hell, he was having enough of a struggle trying to keep his at bay long enough to find the woman who meant everything to him.

“Yes. Yes. Yes. I’m sorry. He was a nerd in school. A computer geek, super skinny, really bashful.” Trick glanced at Kylie and noted her cheeks blushed red, no doubt thinking that’s how everyone viewed her. Honestly, the woman was too hot to ever be considered a nerd. He couldn’t believe Tuck couldn’t see the sexy siren hiding behind her too big glasses frames and baggy sweatshirt.

“He tutored her in chemistry senior year. And there was this one time a couple of popular girls were having fun embarrassing him at lunch and Lindsey stepped in and ended it. After that, I think he had a huge crush on her. She was either completely blind to it or chose to ignore it, but Kurtis always looked at her like he was half in love with her. I think she felt sorry for him and didn’t want to hurt his feelings.” Trick grunted at that information. Guys like that tended to get clingy and didn’t know when to walk away.

“He also was super jealous when she started dating her ex, Doug. Kurtis always made it a point to tell her about all of Doug’s infidelities while she was away at college. It backfired on him because it only pissed her off. After she got engaged, Kurtis left Redemption and went to Denver to college. He left town a skinny nerd and came back a successful, apparently well off, hot, GQ guy. A complete transformation. Oh, and his friend owns Bliss. He got us in there one night. He bought our drinks and watched us dance. The jerk even had the nerve to grab her and kiss her as we were coming off the dance floor.”

“What did Lindsey do?” The gravel in Trick’s voice grew deeper.

“She was pissed. She’d been getting a weird vibe off of him for a while. I think as far back as when she met up with him to catch up on each other’s lives.” Trick’s grip on his phone tightened to the point that Jackson took the phone from his hand and gently laid it on the coffee table next to Kylie’s laptop. “Anyway, after he kissed her, he said he needed to go to work. Some emergency or something. Needless to say, Lindsey wanted to leave. Immediately. She’s been all about avoiding him ever since. She said he gives off a creepy vibe she doesn’t like.”

As Cami told them what she knew, Trick watched Kylie’s fingers fly over her keyboard. Window after window popped up on the screen. “Is that enough information to go on?” he asked the computer whiz.

“Yes. Thanks,” Kylie responded absently, her whole focus on what she was doing once again.

“All right. Thanks, Cami, for all your help. Gotta go.”

“Trick!” she shouted before he could disconnect. “You find her and bring her home. Let me know when she’s safe.”

“Sure thing, Cami. Can you call Jenna and let her know Lindsey won’t be at work tomorrow?” She assured him they would take care of things at Lindsey’s work, then let him go.

He ran his hands down his face again, completely on edge. “Fuck me,” he growled. His hands shot to his hips as he once again started pacing around the small office.

“Tuck.” It was all Kylie had to say.

“Trick, brother. Let’s go. Gotta give Kylie some time to work her magic.” He steered Trick toward the door and out to the main room. He waved at the prospect behind the bar. “Shot of tequila.” He pushed it in front of Trick once it was poured. “Drink.”

He didn’t have to be told twice. Trick picked it up and tossed it back, enjoying the burn down his throat and to his stomach. “Fuck. We gotta find her before he does something to her.”

Jackson’s big hand landed on his back, jarring him and pushing him forward. Trick frowned at him for being so pushy. He was half tempted to take a swing at him just so they’d end up in a tussle and he could expend some of his pent-up energy. “Trick, you gotta hold it together. We’re going to find her. Give Kylie some time.” Trick nodded, unable to swallow past the lump in his throat. They were right, he had to hold it together.

18

“Hello, Jacob.”

“Hello, Kurtis. How are things going in Redemption?”

“Going very well. The last shipment is heading out within the hour,” Kurtis informed his boss. “After that, we’re packing it up and heading out. This place has been exhausted. We’ve been here too long. Time to go.”

“Where will you be heading next?”

“Maybe further west. Maybe south. California’s sounding good about now. I’m so sick of the cold and the fucking snow.” Kurtis rocked back in his office chair, his gaze focused outside. It was dark beyond the window and the sun would be coming up soon. He hoped to be packed up and heading out the door before then. Of course, the whole place would have to be burned to the ground on the off chance any evidence was left behind.

His boss laughed, thinking his comment about cold and snow was funny. “You mean to tell me you haven’t missed your old stomping grounds?”

Kurtis snorted. “Not at all.”

When he’d first left Redemption for Denver, he’d quickly become friends with a guy named Chuck. Chuck soon introduced him to Jacob. Jacob quickly became a mentor of sorts. He taught Kurtis all the ins and outs of his trafficking empire. Kurtis had been a quick learner, soaking in everything Jacob had to teach. He taught him how to scope out the women to be taken, how to lure them in and how to use one for his own pleasure. There was nothing wrong with spending a night or two with a woman before shipping her off to her buyer.

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