Page 54 of You are the Reason

“Hey!” Walking right up into her space I tug on the drawstrings around the hood. “This is mine!”

The smile on her face tells me she knows. “Mine now,” she says with an evil grin, stepping around me. I’ll have to steal it back off of her later on; it’s my favourite.

“Come on, kids,” Soph hollas from the front door. “I’m starving!”

* * *

We walked a few blocks down to one of Kinsley’s favourite little spots. The spring breeze would have been a nice addition to the morning if my hay fever wasn’t at its peak. I sneezed multiple times on the way, after the fourth time, Sophie finally offered me an antihistamine.Is there anything that girl doesn’t have in her purse?

Now, we are sitting around a table, whilst Mrs Campbell — who insists we call her Betty — fusses over Kinsley and brings us our coffees. The girls are telling me about the day they first met each other here and I can’t help but feel a sense of admiration for how far Kinsley has pushed herself out of her comfort zone with this new friendship. It was only a little over three months ago that the girls met in this very cafe, and now Sophie can hug her without Kinsley dying on the inside.

The rest of the day goes by quickly. After breakfast, which has turned into lunch by the time we leave, Sophie says her goodbyes, and yes, Kinsley willingly hugged her. She really is letting Soph in. Good. Kinsley needs other people in her life. Especially with Tanner temporarily MIA.

If I’m honest with myself, I’m shit scared that during our attempts to take Lance out, one of us won’t make it back to her.

Tanner wants to go all underbelly on Lance; I didn’t even ask how he knew people that had access to weapons, I just quickly shut the conversation down. That was a bigHell Nofrom me; who does he think he is, The God damn Mafia?

Whether Kinsley likes it or not, Tanner needs to be there for her. He might think he’s the big tough guy and I’m …just Jesse. But, I can do this – I need to do this. I have always said when the time came, I would put myself on the line for her. Our top priority is attempting to find Warren. I don’t even know if he is alive but I have to follow through with what Kyle started. I need to see for myself.

The second thing we need to do is close in on Lance, catch him in the thick of whatever the fuck he is doing. To have the police on speed dial and bring them in; I can only hope that there will be enough evidence.

I don’t know Tanner’s life story but he doesn’t seem to have much faith in the law enforcement system. From my own experience, watching the way the police treated Kins and her family throughout the disappearance of her dad and the death of her brother, the process is corrupt. Kinsley would have opted for Tanner’s plan every day of the week, not that I told him that.

I won’t let either of them in the line of fire, not with the chance of them being locked up behind bars — or worse. I run a hand down my face. Do Kinsley and Tanner expect me to take that risk, all because we didn’t think this through properly? I don’t think so. Right now, all I know is that I’m not going in there to kill him. My end goal is to get him back behind bars; death would be too kind.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Tanner

If only Jesse would let me take this guy out.

When I told him I could have Lance taken care of, he shut me down instantly. I wish I had a recording of his face, it was honestly priceless. His pupils nearly tripled in size and he went white as a ghost. The poor guy freaked. He has no idea the life I lived prior to becomingTanner Hayes, so we can do all of this his way — for now.

I’ve been trying to stay distracted by burying myself into studying the daily runnings of Lance’s operations. Speaking with both my own connections, as well as Jesse and Kinsley’s PI Stanley. The word from the underground is that he is running a sex trafficking operation, however Stanley assures us that the evidence only tells him Lance trades in drugs, not people. Which is the problem with Private Investigators, they don’t have access to the inside.

What neither Jesse or Stanley know is I have eyes and ears in all places. It took some effort, on my part, to convince a few people that I hadn’t skipped out and abandoned my brothers. Especially when no one had seen me in over six months. Luckily for me, Harley had maintained all our connections and he was still trusted in the inner circle.

I rub the back of my neck, releasing a long breath of air. This is all such unknown territory for me, normally I take what I want without any care for who gets in my way. These circumstances are different though with Kinsley in the middle of it all. Leaning back in my chair and closing my eyes, I remind myself that walking away was the right thing to do. Even if she hates me for it, I will find my way back to her once all this is over.

An email pops up on the computer screen in front of me, opening it up I see that it’s forwarded from Harley, the original sender blanked out. Not that long ago, the emails would have been sent directly to me. However, I’m aware of why people are still uncertain about my motives.Josh and his damn feelings, that’s why.If Josh would just get his act together, and leave his bitterness towards me out of this, everyone would move the fuck on.

There is a file attached to the email containing multiple photos and a document. I click into the document, reading the first line to myself. ‘PHOTO ONE - fourteen year old caucasian, blonde hair, brown eyes.’I scroll down to the bottom of the document, the last line reads‘PHOTO THIRTY SIX - seventeen year old Caucasian, brunette, blue eyes.’Each has a price next to them and a box where depending on whether or not they were a virgin it was ticked.Mother. Fuckers.

Hesitantly, I open the first photo and sure enough it’s of a young girl who matches the description of ‘photo one’. She’s standing there, staring blankly down the lens of the camera. Her eyes silently scream for someone,anyone,to help her.

“Fucking pieces of shit!” I yell, slamming my fists down onto my desk.

We need to do something. Now.

* * *

Jesse

My phone rings through the Bluetooth in the ute and I accept the call. Tanner’s voice booms through the speakers before I even have a chance to say hello.

“Where the fuck are you?”

Oh hot damn, he’s in a mood.“Hello to you too, lover boy. I’m on my way home from school. Why? What’s up?”

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