Page 93 of Known By You
We laughed softly together as we pulled apart.
“Thank you for caring about me and wanting the very best for me. I don’t deserve you,” I said, tucking a strand of her long chestnut hair behind one ear like I used to do when she was little and I felt grown.
She sighed. “That right there’s what I’m trying to get you to see. You do deserve me. And Dad. And Jane. The whole Saint crew and Elise and Dove and the girls. You deserve a workplace that appreciates you. And you, my dear sister, deserve to be loved by someone like Kenny Carmichael.”
The frown covered the wobble of my chin, or so I hoped. She patted my cheek gently, then a touch harder just likesheused to do, and we laughed at the callback, breaking the tension and the emotion creeping into my throat.
“Thanks for tonight,” I said, meaning it with every bit of me.
“Thanks for choosing to be here, at least for a while.”
We parted and I climbed the stairs to my apartment. Wednesday would be here too soon. Everything felt too soon.
But what else could I do, really? I had a commitment to fulfill, and it wasn’t like abandoning my career of nearly fifteen years and moving to a small mountain town was actually an option.
Was it?
I spent an hour packing up everything I could before surrendering to tossing and turning in bed. I didn’t want to think about all the people I wouldn’t see. I definitely didn’t want to think about all the things in Jo’s life I’d miss.
And that wasn’t even touching Kenny, which I stoutly did my best to ignore.
My work made a difference. It saved lives. What I did helped make the world a better place. The people at Saint did it here in Silverton, but my job had an impact on the global scale. This had to count for something, and someone had to do it. Take one for the team. That it was me. I could live with it. I had for years. Mostly.
I finally surrendered to sleep around two in the morning, but a banging on my door woke me around four. I jolted out of bed and sprinted to the door, yanking it open after seeing Kenny through the spy hole. His whole energy was wired and distressed. Maybe he hadn’t slept?
“What are you?—”
“Jack and Evie are gone.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Kenny
Liz didn’t hesitate.
She said, “Give me three minutes” and raced away, fast enough I couldn’t truly appreciate the tiny sleep shorts and barely there shirt she was wearing. I shouldn’t be admiring her right now anyway, or maybe not at all anymore.
My phone rang and I took the call, getting an update from Cookie on local police responses. Beast would be into the office soon and he’d help us pinpoint them if Cookie couldn’t manage it before then.
They were unlikely to have their phones, but we might get lucky. We’d know in the next minute or two, and we’d also attempt to activate Jack’s beacon. Since he was a VIP client, he had additional coverage with us while he was in town. Our main hope was that would lead us to his location.
Liz jogged out of her room in black pants, utility boots,and a long sleeve T. We’d gear up at Saint, so these were a good start. We hustled out of her place, then jogged the block and a half to the Saint building, where Tristan was waiting for us with gear.
“Still working on location but we got a call from the Juniper View Sheriff saying one of his residents had made a call about something suspicious he thought we might want to know about,” Tristan explained as we walked to the tactical room where Bruce and Cookie were gearing up.
“I let him know we had a situation before I went to get Liz. He’s a good dude and if he’s got a flag raised, we should look closer.”
I’d gotten to know the Sheriff of Juniper View in the last few years as he served on a county-wide advisory board I’d joined. After that, we’d ended up playing soccer against each other in a casual adult soccer league and discovered our shared military backgrounds. He had a reputation for being wise and fair, and his popularity was likely unhurt by the fact that he was also a single dad and decent-looking. Knowing he was clued in and letting us know what’s going on was incredibly good news.
A few minutes later, we’d gotten no official word. They couldn’t get a signal on the beacon, but after talking to the sheriff, my gut said we needed to move.
“I know we can’t roll on hunches, but this one feels big,” I said, watching Beast and Cookie rolling through information at a pace I couldn’t even pretend to emulate. Having two fewer fingers on my left hand was part of it, sure, but their ability to follow a thread electronically was masterful.
Bruce ended a call. “Police are out in force here and Sheriff Ryan has patrols going in Juniper View and the surrounding area. But it’s time to move. Malcom?” He looked at Liz.
“Kenny’s right. Worst case, we spend time driving out there and if something changes, you signal and we haul back.” She glanced at me. “But you guys do this. You know what fits for a domestic or even celebrity kidnapping, so I’m following your lead.”
Bruce snapped at me as his phone rang again. “Go with it. Stay in touch. Take a sat phone just in case and I want reports in every twenty once you get there.” He ducked his face to the phone and spoke.
