Page 64 of Skid
The door opened, and James walked in. “Got it.”
Devlin looked at me and smirked. “We do now.”
James sat at his computer, and a minute later, the cameras inside the airport came to life on the screens in front of us. With the information we had on what time Uber said she arrived at the airport, James was able to find Grace being dropped off. He used our facial recognition software and let the system track her. She approached a ticket counter and glanced over her shoulder before speaking with the agent. I couldn’t see where she was flying to as the agent handed her a ticket and pulled her into a hug.
“Where are you going, Grace?” I asked as she took off in a jog away from the counter.
Pain was etched on her face, and I was the cause of it. I hurt her, and I prayed I would get the chance to make it right. She may never forgive me, and I’ll have to live with that, but I would let her know there was no need to run. Not from me. Not ever.
She ducked and dodged passengers as she ran through the airport, and when I saw the destination, I felt slightly better but not much.
“She’s in Atlanta. Now we need to get into their system and see what her next move was,” James explained as he dropped the Memphis cameras and began to enter Atlanta’s. I walked to the sliding glass door and glanced at Devlin.
“I need to call Eddie. Maybe he’ll know where she went.”
“We’ll find her.”
James gave me a look over the monitor that said he wasn’t going to stop until we all knew Grace was okay and it gave me some reassurance. His desire to protect Aubrey was as strong as mine to protect Grace, and it sucked we were safeguarding them from the same dead predator.
I dialed Eddie’s number and put the phone to my ear as it rang. “Skid. How’s my Grace doing?”
I ran my hands through my hair and sat down hard onto a chair on the covered patio. “Eddie, I fucked up, and Grace took off.”
“What the hell happened? And where is Grace?” he yelled, and I exhaled, knowing whatever ass chewing or ass kicking he was going to give me, I deserved.
Not knowing how much he knew of her past, I asked, “What do you know about Grace’s years in foster care?”
“Why do you want to know that?” His tone was gruff, and I hated to push, but I was going to.
“Are you aware of what she endured?”
“Are you?”
“Eddie, I don’t even know where to start, so I’ll just give you an overview,” I stated.
“No, asshole. You’re going to start at the very fucking beginning and tell me everything so I can find Grace. Now start fucking talking, Dalton,” he yelled and I started from the beginning.
After a few minutes of me explaining what led up to now, I sat silently waiting for him to respond. If he wasn’t on my side, I didn’t stand a chance with Grace. I gave him one final truth, so he knew I was for real in the depths of my need to protect Grace.
“And I know Grace’s dad was your half-brother, and you were raised separately. I know she’s your niece.”
“Herfatherwas my half-brother,” he spat through the phone. “Don’t ever call him her dad. That word is poison, and he doesn’t deserve the association.”
“My suspicions are right, aren’t they?” I muttered, and he clicked his tongue.
“It’s worse than whatever you image, Skid. It took years for her to tell me, and I know for a fact, I don’t know the half of it. She lived for years with someone who took her love and perverted it for his own sick pleasure. All with the guise of teaching and loving her to be better. When all he did was destroy her ability to trust her own judgment. It was warped so badly that she doesn’t believe love is real. Until you, and you fucked that up beyond repair.”
“Help me,” I begged, my voice breaking as a tear fell down my face.
I could hear his breathing through the phone and covered my eyes from the sun as I rested my head against the back of the chair.
“I’m going to make a few phone calls, but I can’t promise anything. If Grace feels the need to protect herself, she will do anything, including going underground, to achieve it.”
“Please,” I begged one final time and cleared my throat. “Please let me know if you find out anything, and I’ll do the same.”
“Take care, Dalton,” Eddie responded, and the call was terminated.
Sending a quick text to Gunner to call off the search, I spoke into the air. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Opening the door, I walked back into the freezing cold room.
