Page 89 of Dare to Dance
His tone wasn’t all that convincing. I knew he was trying to ease my nerves as much as he was trying to quell his own. He’d been redder than a tomato when Ms. Waters was reading me the riot act back at the Santos’s house. I couldn’t blame her. I expected her to have the cops handcuff me and throw me in jail. It was my fault Raven was missing, but I couldn’t let my own self-pity get in the way of finding her.
I pushed Kross away. “Where? When? Before or after her kidnapper hurts her?” Oh God. The thought of anyone’s hands on her sent a bolt of lightning through me. I launched several punches to his chest as I cried. I was such a mess. One minute, I wanted to kill someone. The next minute, I couldn’t handle my baby being scared, lost, and hurt.
“Shhh,” Kross whispered. He sucked me into his strong, strong arms while Detective Rayburn stuck his head into the bathroom.
Shuddering, I buried my nose into Kross’s scented T-shirt and hugged him so tightly, I was afraid to let go. Afraid if I did, I would jump out of the window behind me. I would never forgive myself if Raven was harmed.
“Have a seat,” Kross said, ushering me to the bed. “I’ll try Alex’s phone.”
The bed creaked as I wiped the flood of tears from my face. All kinds of scenarios were filtering through my brain. Maybe Trent had kidnapped Alex. Maybe he was holding something over her head. Or maybe she’d taken off with Trent to avoid any trouble.
Raking a hand through his blond locks, Detective Rayburn settled against the closet door across from Kross and me, reading something on his phone.
Kross held his phone to his ear. “Alex.”
I took the phone from him. “Alex?”
“It’s her voice mail,” Kross said.
“Alex, this is Ruby. I know you work for Trent. I don’t know if you had anything to do with kidnapping my daughter, but I’m begging you to call me back. Pleading with you that you understand what I’m going through.” I hiccupped. “You said your sister died on the streets. So you know what it feels like to have someone you love taken from you.” Oh, God. I prayed Raven wasn’t dead. “Please, please call me back.” I handed the phone to Kross. “Can you tell her your number?”
He rattled it off then added, “Ruby and I will be at Crandall’s Gym tonight. If you are involved in all this, then I highly suggest you cooperate. Kidnapping charges are severe. Oh, and tell your scumbag boss, Trent, that I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he’s put away for a long time.” Then he hung up.
“Okay,” Detective Rayburn said. “I just got word that our team has done a complete sweep of the Boston Public Garden and questioned some folks. But they struck out. You said earlier that Mrs. Santos said Raven had been waving at someone. Maybe Raven knew that person. Kids tend to go willingly with people they know.”
I slumped where I sat. Raven had only talked about a little girl she’d met. Then again, while she’d been in foster care, she could’ve met a lot of people, like Mr. and Mrs. Santos’s friends.
“As far as I know,” Kross said, “Trent hasn’t met my little girl.”
“But Alex has,” I blurted out.
Kross knitted his eyebrows. “When?”
“My last visit with Raven at the Boston Public Garden.”Holy crap.“She was jogging.” Alex worked for Trent, and she’d met Raven, albeit briefly. Still, Raven had a great memory for faces and names.
Kross’s phone rang. I bolted upright, taking his phone from him before he could answer. “Alex?”
“Um. No. This is Liam. I thought I dialed Kross Maxwell’s number.”
I frowned, handing the phone to Kross. Then I went over to Detective Rayburn. “Please tell me Raven will be okay.” I needed some reassurance from him even though I knew he couldn’t answer my question. No one could. But I had to have something positive to keep me from losing my mind.
He gave me a doleful look. “I’m sure you know I can’t tell you that. But we are doing everything we can to find Raven.” Then his phone buzzed. “I’ve got to take this.” He stepped out into the living room.
I grabbed the back of my neck, massaging the knots of tension that were causing my head to pound.
“I know I’m late,” Kross snapped at Liam. “Tell Jay I’ll get there as soon as I can.” When he hung up, he punched his fist through the wall.
Detective Rayburn ran in with his phone to his ear as he surveyed the situation. “Thanks, man. I’ve got to go.” He lowered his arm. “What the fuck, Kross?”
“I can’t fight tonight,” Kross bit out. “I’ll kill my opponent when I’m supposed to lose.”
I went over to Kross then grabbed the hand covered in white flecks from the Sheetrock. His knuckles were red, but no sign of cuts or blood.
“You have to,” Detective Rayburn said. “I just found out that we’ve questioned Trent Baker. His alibi pans out. He was in a board meeting with his company. So, the best thing you can do is stay on course. Go to the gym, get warmed up, try to calm down. In the meantime, let us do our job. We still have a few hours before the fight. Maybe we can put this to bed before then or before you throw the fight. Ruby, I’ll need a description of Alex.”
“Sure, but did they search Trent’s penthouse or home or businesses?” I asked.
Silence dangled as Detective Rayburn scratched his head. “Not yet. Look, I don’t want to get your hopes up. We’ve been watching Trent Baker for quite some time. All I can say is we’re working on something with the Feds, and now coupled with a possible kidnapping, we might be able to convince a judge to give us a warrant before the fight to search his premises.”
