Page 32 of Nothing to This (Nothing to… #8)

Less than half an hour after Sky went missing—she wouldn’t say “losing” her—JD was in front of a bank of cameras declaring war on whoever had done this to them. To their little girl.

She couldn’t sit still. In the apartment, she was up, down, pacing, worrying her thumbnail. Her little girl was gone and what was she doing? Nothing.

After that news conference, an hour had gone by in a flash. Another dwindled away and another.

The team working in her kitchen, spread out on the dining table, kept busy, talking to each other, doing things with paper and on computers. Some went out, some came back. Activity buzzed and voices echoed.

How long had it been now?

How long had her little girl been out in the world without her protection?

It wasn’t right. She’d failed. Her one job was to keep their little people safe. That was a mother’s reason, a mother’s purpose. How could this have happened? How could she have been so distracted? So selfish? So complacent?

Kye had stopped crying, but he looked no less distressed sitting under his grandmother’s arm. Was what people said true? Could one twin feel another’s pain? What her babies must be going through, and all because she’d neglected her duty.

Someone knocked.

On the front door.

Her shoulders went back. Since the troop of investigators had arrived, no one had knocked… Oh, God, was it a good sign or…?

One of the S.I.S. guys went to answer it. JD still spoke to the head guy. They’d been introduced, but his name wasn’t in her head.

The S.I.S. guy stepped back and a woman came in. A stranger. Short, blonde, beautiful.

Head S.I.S. guy immediately stopped talking to go around JD, though the latter was close behind.

“Rox?” the head S.I.S. guy said and accepted her hug.

“I felt so much better when I heard you were on this,” the blonde said and landed her focus on JD.

“The coffers are open and the water’s on.

We’re pumping it out as far and wide as we can.

Lilya and I are doing the rounds of anyone with any pull.

Jane’s Knox’s ears at the CollCom block here in Seattle.

He’s working flat out, him and Caspian, to put your daughter’s face in front of as many people as possible.

Dyce will send out an alert on all devices as soon as you give us the go ahead.

We’ve opened phone lines, email, live chat, and staffed it out.

There’s a million reward in the pot, but we’re keeping that on the down-low, we don’t want the kooks jamming the lines.

Gauge is flying into New York, he’ll take over CollCom there and is pulling in favors with Whey.

Our LA troop don’t have a lot of sway there. If you—”

“Wait a second,” JD said, raising a hand. “Have we met?”

The blonde smiled. “No, I’m—”

“I know who you are, Ms. Kyst. Me and the rest of the planet. You and your boyfriend are on the fast track to owning the world from how I hear it.”

“I hope that’s true,” Ms. Kyst said. “Because the more people listening, the faster we get your daughter back.”

JD took a step toward her, his eyes narrowing. “Why would you—”

“We’ve been introduced…” The voice of another woman rose before she entered the apartment, a hand on her pregnant belly. “Mr. Dawes.”

“Ms. Kearns,” he said. “Or is it Mrs. Kintyre now?”

“Not yet, but soon.”

The pregnant woman went to her cohort’s side. “This is why you dropped out of the Gramercy race. Because you know there’s nothing more important than family. You let me sit there and lecture you when… It doesn’t matter. What you did was for my family, for my child. Let us do what we can for yours.”

“Whey tried to play hardball.”

“He’s ruthless,” the pregnant woman said. “But I’m biased.”

“You’re right. We came to an understanding.”

“And we have some dirt in our back pocket. If need be, we’ll own Ricardo Whey.”

What did that mean? She didn’t care who he owed favors, she’d pay them herself if she could. Anything to get Sky back. These women might have come from nowhere, but if they could help…

She descended the stairs from the living room to go to his side. “JD?”

He gestured at the women in turn. “Roxanna Kyst and Lilya Kearns.”

“They know our daughter?”

“We don’t know your daughter, ma’am,” Lilya said. “We just want to help.”

And with a child growing inside her, the woman had perspective on the privilege of parenthood.

“You flew straight here from New York?” the head S.I.S. guy asked Roxanna.

“Jane and I were already in the air. We diverted from LA to Seattle.”

Chief Security was either grateful or impressed. “You have an audience, Rox.”

“Yes. At your disposal. I have a laptop ready to go.”

“It’s more grassroots than anything we have access to and it’s global.”

Oh, God, she hadn’t thought about that. Would someone smuggle her child out of the country?

They weren’t just looking in the city, they had a whole planet to cover, and Sky was so small.

She’d never been aware of how many closed doors there were in the world.

Now, with her daughter captive behind one, they were all she could think about.

“I’ll get on it,” Roxanna said. “Stone…” That was the head guy’s name, yes, she remembered. “If this is—”

“We’ve got it handled.”

Stone touched Roxanna’s jaw for a second.

“Where’s Zairn on this?” JD asked.

“On calls, audio and video, pulling people out of beds and meetings. He won’t stop. Rourke is going higher, to the top. If you need an address or a statement from the head guy, we’ll get it. And if you need black ops…” Roxanna took Lilya’s hand. “There’s no limit to your resources.”

“Why would you do this? There’s no negotiation—”

“We understand family too. Maybe you were the cousin no one invited to dinner, but you’re a part of our sphere. You became one of us the moment you dropped Gramercy for the sake of Kintyre’s unborn child.”

Unborn. That was the only time a mother could safeguard her child.

Even then it wasn’t absolute. While pregnant, she took fewer risks, maybe.

Either way, she must’ve done something right.

Her children arrived in the world perfect and innocent.

Now their parents’ deeds could cost one of them their life.

Still saying things that she couldn’t hear beyond the ringing in her ears, JD, Stone, and one woman walked over to the dining table in the background of her awareness.

“How are you doing?”

A woman’s voice, a…

Shit, it wasn’t in her to be friendly. “I’m sorry, Ms. Kyst, I don’t mean to be rude—”

“But you couldn’t give a shit about small talk right now,” the woman said, putting an arm around her to guide her toward the living room. “And it’s Roxie, please.”

“Do you have children?”

“Not in 3D,” Roxie said, earning herself a frown, she shook her head. “Never mind, sorry. No, we don’t have children.”

“You’re the Talk at Sunset woman. Didn’t I read somewhere you’re pregnant?”

“Just the media making the news.”

They sat together on the stairs. “Before this, it didn’t really occur to me that JD might be famous… or have famous connections.”

“That we hope will come in useful. Fame is one thing and power is another. How long have you and JD been together?”

“We’re not, we haven’t been. It’s…”

“Complicated?” Roxie took her hand on a smile. “Yeah, I’ve been there.”

“Do you think it’s why…? JD said he’d pay any ransom, but we’ve had no communication from—not that they’ve told me. We’ve had our differences, especially recently, but… he loves his children.”

“I don’t doubt that he does.”

“And everything he’s going through—and I’m just sitting here—”

Tears welled, so her words silenced.

“Men like to fix things, and he’s used to being in charge. Letting him take the lead grants him a mercy. They go crazy, men like him, if they’re not in control. This is him, doing what he’s doing, in a grab for control.”

“But he’s not in control. None of us are. Only the person holding my daughter has the power to give her back.”

“If we can find her, if there’s a witness or someone with a suspicion, you can steal that power back.

Right now, it doesn’t feel like control, but it’s progress.

Every person and place Stone and JD eliminate is one less place to look.

” And there was some comfort in that. Miniscule comfort, but comfort nonetheless. “What’s she like?”

Her mind had been wandering again. “Hmm?”

“Your daughter. Her name’s Sky, right?”

“Yes,” she said, a tight, slight smile broke through. “Which is ironic because she’s all about mermaids and the ocean right now. We should’ve named her something water related.”

“A swimmer, huh?”

“We don’t take her to the pool as often as we should. It would be a great time to get her into…” A swim club or a team… Would they ever get that chance? “Sorry.”

“There’s time,” Roxie said, squeezing her hand. “Your daughter will come back to you.”

JD promised that, but they couldn’t know, no one could for sure. Even if she did…

“We don’t know what they’re doing to her. She’s five years old. Five. She knows nothing about… She’s five.”

“Whatever she endures, you’ll get through it. If your JD is anything like my guy, he’s not the type to give up. If your daughter needs help, you’ll both be there for her, to support her with whatever she needs.”

It didn’t bear thinking about. “When is your friend due?”

“End of January.”

“Does she know what she’s having?”

“A boy. No name yet though. He has a lot of aunts and uncles with strong opinions on that subject.”

“JD’s sister, Brenna, is the same. Loud, vivacious. At least she was until…”

Brenna was in the living room behind them with her mother and had hardly said a word. Guilt was going around. No one could claim to be blameless, yet she didn’t blame anyone. No one but herself.

“I have a streaming channel, it’s run through—it doesn’t matter,” Roxie said, raising their joined hands.

“I can tell people whatever you want them to know. They’ll do everything they can to help.

No bullshit. Me and mine will do whatever it takes to support your family. And if you’d rather I just disappear—”

“No.” Urgency struck her. “Please. Everything—we need as many people fighting for Sky as we can get. I don’t have connections or money, but I’ll spend the rest of my life repaying—”

“Hey.” Roxie cupped her face. “All I want is to meet your little mermaid.”

And she prayed that would be possible. That her little girl would be back with them… and soon.