Page 11 of King of Cruelty

I flicked to Laurel, who was sleeping peacefully in her playpen. That was the only reason I wasn’t hugging and holding her too.

Out on the balcony, Sunny, Liam, and Bane argued—loudly if their lined faces and wild gesticulating were anything to go by.

I could’ve been out there with them, but I stayed in the living room with my sister and my baby. I could guess what they were arguing about—me.

I dropped my head on Sienna’s shoulder, eyes squeezing shut. They didn’t have to talk outside to spare my feelings. My mind was already shouting with the truth. I thought I was a clever, badass Merchant who was ready to run with the big guns. So clever, I convinced Genny to walk into the lion’s den with nothing but a fucking tampon.

“I’m so stupid,” I whispered, making Sienna squeeze me tighter.

“Mackenzie.”

I shot up, heart pounding as I locked eyes with Adeline Redgrave—the real clever badass queen of Cinco City. The one who managed to keep her family safe for over thirty years... until I came along.

“Mackenzie.” Adeline pulled up an ottoman and sat next to me. “Can we talk?”

“Uhh...” Behind her, Adeline’s husbands headed out to the balcony. “Yes, of course.”

Adeline’s smile was kind, but it didn’t touch the seriousness behind her eyes. “What happened today?” she asked, bluntly getting to the point as any mother would. “Where is my daughter?”

I couldn’t hide anything from her, so I didn’t. I told her everything from telling Genny all about Madison, coming up with the tampon plan, confronting Madison in the park and provoking her to take Genny to the Brotherhood’s leadership, and then walking into a big fucking trap and running out with no Genny, no clues, and no idea what to do next.

Adeline hummed, sitting back in her seat. For the life of me, I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. “Was there any proof Genny was ever in that movie theater?”

I blinked. “What?”

“Abandoned buildings in the middle of busy cities don’t make for good hiding places,” she said. “Especially not one that’s been closed for over twenty years. People would notice if strange, shadowy figures were going in and out of it all of a sudden.”

“Well, I... Yes, I guess that’s true.”

“I don’t believe Genny was ever in that building, so if you’re beating yourself up thinking she may have been inside when itblew... Don’t.” Adeline took my hand. “She’s safe, Kenzie. I know it.”

“How do you know?” My voice was small.

“Because of what you’ve just told me. From what you’ve said, this Madison girl isn’t the brightest bulb in the box. She made herself the face, and therefore the fall guy, of a major kidnapping and trafficking ring. She fraudulently adopted out kidnapped children, and then posed in their family portraits—giving all of them a photo and description to hand over to the cops. She’s an idiot,” Adeline dropped. “But whoever she’s working for isn’t.

“I believe that Madison drove Genny to the true hideout of the Brotherhood, and it was within that hideout that the real brains realized that if you can hide a tracker in a button, you can most certainly hide one in a tampon.

“Panicking, they handed the tampon off to one of their people and ordered them to take it to the movie theater and arm the bomb so that whoever was following that tracker—”

“—wouldn’t live to tell anyone about it,” Sienna finished, lifting her head. “That trap wasn’t new. That’s why there was still dust and cobwebs on everything. The Brotherhood must’ve booby-trapped it a long time ago, knowing it was an old Merchant property.”

She inclined her head. “Exactly. But that old horror isn’t my concern. What I need to know is—”

“—what was the first stop Madison made?” I blurted, understanding slapping me over the head. “Not the last one. The first stop on the map was the Brotherhood hideout!”

“Do you remember what it was?”

“I— I uh— I need to see a map.” I jumped up, snatching my phone off the coffee table. The screen was cracked from having to break my fall, but I didn’t let that slow me down.

I hunched over the map of Cinco City, scouring my memory as thoroughly as I scoured all streets, lanes, and roundabouts in Rockchapel.

Sliding metal, and then footsteps sounded behind me. Liam, Bane, Sunny, and their fathers reentered the room.

“What’s going on?” a deep voice asked. “Have you found Genny?”

“Not yet, but Mackenzie will,” Adeline replied, speaking like it was a certainty. I wasn’t going to let her down, and Hera knew I refused to.

Come on, Blaine, think. Madison was driving in circles for a long time, clearly trying to shake off the tail that was sitting right next to her. Where did she stop before the blue dot went racing to the movie theater? Where...?

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