Page 67 of Bronco

I cup one side of her face as she turns to face me. “Is this why you didn’t say anything sooner?”

She shrugs. “What use would it bring?”

“It would be a lot of use if he wasn’t breathin’ anymore, then he couldn’t hurt anyone else.”

“That’s true, but then you’d be in jail.”

I snicker. “You clearly don’t know me as well as you think.”

“I don’t want to cause any trouble, and my past is in the past.”

“But what about Erica and Olive?”

“You’re right. I’m worried about Erica. I’m going to go and talk to Star on Monday. I need to find her.”

“That’s a great idea,” I say. “They were living in Missouri, right?”

“Yes, Erica got a job as a teacher’s aid, and I wanted to travel a little. I did that for about a year, and fell in love with New Orleans. The vibrancy of the city, the freedom I felt; I’ve never felt that anywhere else.”

I love her passion for this city, it makes me want to hear more about her hopes and dreams.

“Tell me about the cult you were talking about earlier. What’s the name of it?”

“No, Bronc, it’s not important. I don’t need you to rush in and play hero. It’s done. I left, and I never want to see him, or anyone else from that place, ever again.”

I’m making her upset, but her closing off about this won’t change how I feel about it. I want him to suffer. I want everyone to suffer for hurting her.

I kiss her on the forehead. “I’m here if you need me. I’ll always be here.”

“I just want to forget it happened.”

“And what about Erica? What if she’s gone back there?”

“No, she’d never do that. She’d never leave Olive.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yes. She must be in some kind of trouble, though. This is out of character for her, and to just leave like that? She left me a note for pity’s sake!” She takes a long breath. “We’re like sisters,we tell each other everything. At first, I thought she just had to settle something by herself, and I gave her good grace to do it, but now I’m getting scared. Her phone is cut off, her emails don’t go through…”

I brush the hair back off her face. “We’ll find her.”

“I hope so. I don’t know how long I can keep this charade up with Olive. She’s not dumb.”

“I know, she’ll work out something’s up eventually. Just gotta talk to Star, then go from there. I can go with you if you’d like.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it, but you don’t have to take time off work just for me. I can handle it.”

She has no idea the lengths I’d go for her. All she has to do is ask. “Whatever you want, but if she is in some kind of trouble, are you ready for that?”

She lets out a breath. “I honestly don’t know. Erica is my best friend, I can’t imagine what I’d do without her. I just want her back, safe, with me and Olive.”

My gut clenches. I’ve got some contacts of my own, so I’ll do some digging behind the scenes. Linc, who works closely with Rock and Jett sometimes, will be able to find stuff out without alerting the club. Not that I want to keep things from them, but everyone’s so busy right now. Linc is an option if it comes to that.

“It’s gonna be okay.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

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