Page 21 of Girl Lost (The King Legacy #1)

ONE WRONG MOVE , and this could go sideways. Fast. The man’s cold eyes unsettled Corbin. Calculated. Predatory.

“Oh, this is your neighborhood? I wasn’t aware.” Corbin kept his tone steady. Years on the force had drilled that into him. Even when his pulse hammered a frantic rhythm. Even when every cell in his body screamed to take the guy down, he held his cool. Unlike his father, he had self-control.

“I don’t think you’re listening to me, son.” Steve’s voice rasped like dry leaves skittering across pavement. “Go on and get outta here.”

“I don’t think so.” He moved his gun hand closer to his holster. “Steve, is it?”

Steve’s face twisted, and he made a noise that sounded like a growl. His fist slammed into Corbin’s chest.

The impact knocked the air from his lungs and sent a starburst of pain exploding in his ribs. He staggered back a step, fighting for balance. The guy hit hard.

Corbin took a defensive stance. Game on.

Steve’s right fist was already drawn back, telegraphing his next move. He threw a wild haymaker at Corbin’s jaw.

Corbin seized the man’s wrist and, instead of blocking the punch, pulled the hand in tighter, throwing Steve off balance.

He smacked his palm against Steve’s nose, shattering it.

Corbin twisted, crushing the man’s wrist, feeling the bones grind, hearing Steve’s grunt of pain.

He spun around the big man’s torso, locking him in a standing arm bar.

He hadn’t gotten slow in his old age.

“Whoa. Hold on, both of you. This isn’t helping anyone.” Luna stepped closer.

What was she doing? Couldn’t she see how dangerous this was? “I got this, Luna. Stay back.”

Steve squirmed, trying to escape the pressure Corbin held on his arm. He could feel the man’s pulse hammering against his thumb. “I’m going to let go and you’re going to walk back to your car and drive away. Okay?”

Steve swore at Corbin.

“See, that’s not smart. What with you in the position you’re in, and me in the position I’m in.” Corbin arched away, adding pressure on the arm until a strangled cry tore from Steve’s throat.

“Okay! Okay!” Steve tapped Corbin’s thigh.

Corbin helped himself to the gun tucked in Steve’s waistband. “You won’t be needing this.” He released him with a backward shove.

Steve backed away, cradling his arm. Good. Let him feel the pain. Maybe next time he’ll think twice before pulling a gun.

Without breaking eye contact with Steve, he released the magazine and let it drop to the ground.

He cycled the gun to eject the round from the chamber.

His thumb pressed the release button and unseated the slide from the frame.

Corbin tossed the parts at Steve’s feet.

The metallic pieces clattered across the pavement and scattered like dice.

Corbin’s chest heaved. Steve’s chest too.

“You...” Steve’s eyes bulged. Thick blood drained from one nostril and pooled above his lip. “You broke my gun!”

His gun? What about his nose?

“Next time, I break your arm.” He debated whether to arrest Steve for assault or let him walk. “Get outta here before I change my mind and haul your sorry self to jail.”

The man’s eyes darted from Corbin to the disassembled weapon at their feet.

He kicked the useless frame, and it spun away.

“You’re making a mistake. A big mistake.

You have no idea what you’re getting into.

You think you can just waltz in here and start asking questions?

You think you’re untouchable? You’re wrong. Dead wrong.”

Steve spat at Corbin’s feet. A glob of bloody saliva landed with a wet splat near a discarded cigarette butt. “You keep poking around. You’ll regret it. Both of you.”

The man spun on his heel and stalked toward the SUV. Expensive dress shoes clicked against the pavement. The door slammed. The engine roared, and the tires spit bits of gravel as the SUV sped away. The taillights shrank to pinpricks of red before vanishing around the corner.

Corbin’s heart hammered against his ribs. The adrenaline slowly receded, leaving a tremor of unease in its wake. He bent and picked up the disassembled parts of the gun with a glove he pulled from his pocket.

Luna came to stand beside him. The perfume she wore, a light, floral scent, cut through the lingering aroma of gun grease on his hands.

“Wow,” she said. “That was...”

“Impressive? Terrifying?” He managed a smile.

“A little of both.” The afternoon sun cast a halo of light around her head.

He shifted his weight and shuffled the disassembled gun parts in his hands. “You think I should have arrested him?”

Luna tilted her head. “Depends. You looking for a quick arrest or a long game?”

“Long game? Enlighten me.” He held up a hand. “On second thought, tell me in the car. I’m melting in this heat.”

Luna didn’t argue. She fell into step beside him, her silence a weight as heavy as the gun parts in his hands.

The car was an oven. Trapped heat radiated off the leather seats. He cranked the engine, blasted the AC, and grabbed an evidence bag from the glove compartment. The gun parts rattled as he dropped them in. He’d fill out the report later. Right now, he wanted to hear Luna’s thoughts.

He glanced at her sitting in the passenger seat as she buckled her seat belt. The way the sunlight caught the auburn highlights in her hair, the subtle curve of her neck as she tilted her head, it was downright distracting.

The AC started to cut through the stifling heat. Good, because it was making him fidgety. He leaned back and rolled his shoulders, trying to shake off the moment. “Okay, lay it on me. What are you thinking?”

“So, you let this ... this Steve guy walk.” She angled to face him. “Although, I’d say he didn’t get a complete pass. You did break his nose. And his gun.”

“Self-defense.”

She shrugged. “Details. My point is, we can tail him. See where he goes, who he talks to. Maybe he leads you to Carlie. Maybe he leads you to Stryker.”

A 24/7 surveillance detail? The overtime. The paperwork. It would be a lot, but commissioner Tinch would approve it since it was their best lead at finding his daughter. “There’s a lot of maybes. And it’ll pull me away from chasing other leads. Questioning Ashley again, for one.”

“Fair enough. You don’t have time, but maybe someone else does. Hand the gun parts over to the locals. Let them handle Steve for assaulting an officer. They’d probably appreciate the collar.”

He saw a flicker of the Luna from this morning. The one who could compartmentalize, shut down emotion, focus on the mission. Maybe she was right.

But those kids...

They’d been with Stryker, and he had a feeling they were more connected to his disappearance than they let on. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. Steve had said, “You have no idea what you’re getting into.” It had his wheels turning.

“Okay, hear me out,” he said, splaying all his fingers as if to give himself space to lay it all out. “What if...” Was he really going to suggest this? “What if Jordan and Andre are spotters, identifying vulnerable kids to pull in.”

“For what? Runners?”

“Steve is acting like a distributor using these kids for that, but I think it’s more than drugs for him. I’d bet my badge on it.”

“Carlie,” she said softly. “Could explain how she disappeared into thin air.”

He nodded, liking the idea more now that he’d said it out loud.

But he saw a big problem. “Look, if Carlie is caught up in any sort of trafficking, whether it’s drugs or.

..”—he couldn’t bring himself to say the words—“something darker, the commissioner isn’t going to want us to move on it until we’re rock solid. ”

Luna leaned back in her seat. “I see your point. But I’m a little light in this area. What exactly are you thinking?”

Corbin chewed the inside of his lip as he considered how to explain.

The mere thought of Carlie being involved in something so sinister made his stomach churn.

He took a deep breath. “I’m thinking we need to tread carefully.

If we’re dealing with a trafficking ring, they’ll scatter at the first sign of trouble.

We can’t risk losing Carlie or any other kids involved. ”

“So, we need to build a solid case.” Luna had her eyes fixed on some distant point beyond the windshield. “Gather enough evidence to take down the entire operation in one sweep.”

“Yes. No loose ends, no chance for anyone to slip through the cracks.” This type of investigation would be difficult, even with Luna as his partner.

“Every minute we spend building that case is another minute Carlie, and who knows how many other vulnerable kids, are out there with these creeps. It’s a tightrope walk, and I’m not sure I can keep my balance. ”

“Who can you trust?”

Besides her, she meant. “Here’s what I’m thinking. I’ll have Blade put a few guys on Ashley, Andre, and Jordan. Pick them up on something simple. A possession charge. Just something to scare them. With a little pressure, they’ll sing. Especially Andre. He’s a talker.”

“Smart.” Luna pressed a knuckle to the corner of her mouth for a moment. “Except I wouldn’t waste time with Ashley or Andre right now. I’d go for Jordan.”

“Jordan? Why? The kid practically vibrated with hatred for cops. One killed his dad, remember?” She had to be wrong about this.

“Body language. Tone of voice. Microexpressions. He hates cops, sure. But that makes him vulnerable.” Luna paused. “Deep down, most people want to do good. They want to be a part of something bigger. Make their world a better place. Jordan’s just channeling his anger wrong.”

He thought about himself at that age. Reinventing himself. Trying to be the opposite of his own father. He’d needed a cause. A purpose. Something to believe in. Stryker had given him that, but Jordan ... “The kid’s hatred for cops runs too deep. He won’t talk.”

“Not to just any cop.” Luna’s eyes met his. “But he’ll talk to you.”

To him? No. She was way off. “Why would a cop-hating kid talk to me? I am the job, Luna. My whole life is about being a cop.”

“He’ll talk to you because of your dad.”

He clenched his teeth. His father. The man who’d haunted his every step, whose shadow he’d spent a lifetime outrunning.

The knot in his stomach tightened. Everything Corbin was today was the opposite of what his father represented. And now Luna wanted him to use that darkness, that legacy of violence, to get information from a troubled kid? No. He didn’t want to bond over his father.

It wouldn’t work anyway. He should know. “A kid who hates cops isn’t going to open up because of my father.”

“When was the last time you saw him, Corbin?”

He hesitated. The image flashed in his mind. His father. Handcuffed. Led away.

A murderer. A monster.

“At his murder trial.”

“I get it—” She was cut off by the harsh vibration of his phone in the cup holder.

The Broward County Sheriff’s number flashed on the screen. He held up a finger, asking Luna to give him a second, and answered. “King.”

The world slowed as he listened to the caller on the other end.

“Okay. Yeah. I got it.” He was already shifting the car into drive and pulling out of the parking lot. A hot acid burned his gut. “I’m on my way.”

Luna asked, “Everything okay?”

Corbin looked at her then back to the road. “They’ve found Carlie.”