Page 27

FOURTEEN

AUDREY

“I FEEL RIDICULOUS.” I’ve done the best I can with my hair under the circumstances, but even if it looked perfect—which it doesn’t—it still wouldn’t negate the fact that I’m about to go meet someone very important wearing day-old pajamas, a random pair of sneakers, and no bra.

“Luca will pick up your order as soon as the store opens, so you’ll be able to change as soon as we get back.

” Maddox gives me a grin, his blue eyes looking me over where I sit in the passenger seat of the car Luca and Owen were finally able to retrieve from my neighborhood late last night. “And I think you look cute. “

I roll my eyes because he’s as ridiculous as my outfit. “You only think I look cute because you like me.”

The smile slips from Maddox’s lips. “You’re right. I do like you.” He shakes his head. “But that’s not the only reason I think you look cute.”

There’s an intensity in the way he’s staring at me now, and I’m not quite sure how to take it.

We’ve been thrown together in highly unusual and stressful circumstances.

Of course we’re not going to act like our normal selves.

I’m sure when this is all over Maddox will realize I’m just a boring little clothing store manager with so much baggage I should have my own luggage cart. And then he’ll move on.

And that’s okay. I want him to be happy. I want him to be surrounded by his chosen family so he feels accepted and understood.

Maybe I can figure out a way to do the same thing once I don’t have the dark and stormy cloud that is Trevor hanging over me. Making sure I’m too scared to get close to anyone.

“Have you figured out whether or not you know this woman Becca?” Maddox asks, redirecting both the conversation and my thoughts.

“She doesn’t have any pictures of herself on her Instagram, so without seeing her, I don’t know for sure.” All I have is a first name and her claim that she knows what Trevor and his associates are doing. “I can’t think of any Beccas, but I’m not the best with names.”

Maddox takes a deep breath, his hands tightening on the wheel as we make our way into Memphis. “I don’t know whether to hope she really has information, or hope she doesn’t.”

“Same.” I would love to have someone else standing beside me, but that will put them in the same line of fire. And I don’t want that for anyone.

Well... Maybe I’d want that for a few people.

The GPS directs us to get off the highway, and soon we’re pulling through a pretty upscale neighborhood.

The houses at the front of the subdivision are huge and high-end.

Almost as nice as the one I lived in with Trevor, making it nearly impossible to find a single one appealing.

Money and nice things impressed me once.

Not anymore.

Thankfully, the new McMansions are quickly replaced by smaller, older, more interesting homes.

After a couple more turns, we’re pulling into the driveway of a cute tri-level with a perfectly manicured lawn and minimal landscaping.

The outside is tidy, but simple, and painted in a neutral palette of browns and beiges.

Maddox parks, rounds the front of the sedan, and opens my door, reaching out one hand for me. “Make sure you stay behind me and keep my body between you and everybody else.”

I know the drill, but part of his statement concerns me. “Everybody else? Are you expecting other people?”

Maddox’s blue eyes scan our surroundings. “No, but I’ve been surprised before.” There’s something ominous in the way he says it, and it sends my stomach to my feet.

“Should we have brought Luca and Owen with us?” I know he didn’t want to overwhelm Becca with three giant mercenaries on her doorstep, but now I’m questioning that decision.

“They’re in the area in case we need them.” Maddox says it like that solves all our problems.

But even if they’re close, it will still take them at least a minute or two to get to us, and a lot can happen in two minutes.

“You’re wearing a vest, right?” I tuck close to him, looking around the same way he is as we walk up the driveway and along the sidewalk leading to a small, covered porch.

“Yes, but there are plenty of bullets that can go through it, especially at point-blank range.” When we reach the front door, Maddox positions my body behind his and up against the jut of the split-level portion of the house, protecting me from all but one side.

“And even if they don’t make it through the vest, it still hurts like fuck to get shot. ”

I don’t want to know how he knows any of this, but his explanation has me thinking about that scar I saw on him. It looked an awful lot like?—

The front door opens before we even ring the bell, and I’m a little surprised at the woman staring out at us.

“Becca?” Maddox seems as shocked as me as he takes in the tiny woman staring out at us.

“That’s right.” Her eyes narrow on Maddox before settling on me. “You must be Audrey.”

“That’s me.” I scan her makeup-free face for anything familiar. “Have we met before?”

Becca shakes her head. “No.” She steps back, motioning us inside. “You should probably get in here just in case somebody’s got eyes on my house.”

Maddox gives the street outside one more glance before stepping into the house and pulling me in behind him. As soon as we’ve crossed the threshold, he closes the door. Then he turns to Becca.

“I’m gonna have to go through this place and make sure no one else is here.”

“I get it.” Becca motions toward her home with one hand. “Have at it.”

Maddox turns to me, eyes moving over where I stand. “If you need me?—”

“If I need you, you’ll know it.” I give him a smile because I want him to know it’s okay to go do what he has to do. “But I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Could this all be a set-up? Sure, but it doesn’t seem like it.

After we got Becca’s message last night, Maddox called Pierce and forwarded everything we had on her, which wasn’t much.

To my surprise, the team Maddox calls Intel was quickly able to figure out who she was and where she lived.

When I responded to Becca’s message, she offered the information up willingly, and it matched everything they’d dug up.

Intel also looked for the connection between Becca and Trevor, but came up empty. So either she is the best, most unassuming criminal mastermind ever…

Or she genuinely wants to take Trevor down. After meeting her in person, I’m betting on the latter.

“Your house is pretty.” It’s actually more simple than pretty, but everything coordinates, it’s tidy, and it smells good, so I go with pretty.

Becca offers a tight smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Thanks.” She looks me over, gaze shrewd behind her large glasses. “Can I ask why you’re wearing pajamas?”

“It’s a really long story.” I sigh, the weight of everything bearing down on me.

“But I basically had to climb out the bedroom window of my apartment two nights ago before running through the neighborhood in the dark to escape men who were likely coming to make sure I didn’t say anything to anyone. ”

Becca’s face falls and her slender shoulders slump beneath the baggy sweatshirt she’s wearing. “That’s probably my fault.”

“I called the police too.” I hesitate before admitting the full truth. “Anonymously.”

“They probably just assumed that was me.” Becca snorted, the sound humorless. “You know, instead of investigating those fuckers who were trafficking young girls, they had the audacity to threaten to prosecute me for making false police reports.” There’s venom in her voice.

An amount of rage I’m shocked can be contained by her small body.

Becca’s shorter than me, and based on the way her baggy clothes hang, she’s just as tiny in shape as she is in height. But I’m starting to think I wouldn’t cross her. Right now she looks ready to go to war, and capable of causing bodily harm to anyone in her path.

I swallow hard. “How do you know about the human trafficking?”

Becca’s already hard expression turns to steel and I could swear she’s breathing fire as she says, “Because those fuckers have my sister.”

I don’t realize I gasp until I hear the sound.

Of all the ways I thought Becca might be connected to Trevor, him and the assholes around him taking her sister wasn’t even on my radar.

I thought maybe she was a girlfriend of his.

Possibly someone he’d been seeing on the side while we were married.

I thought maybe she was a journalist, or connected to one who didn’t want to make the call to report what they’d discovered.

Both of those things I could have handled. But this?

This has me ready to crumble. And I don’t deserve to break down. Not in front of Becca.

Not when I could have tried to do something about this nine months ago.

Maddox appears from the staircase leading to the upper floor. “All clear.”

Becca motions to the front room. “You guys want to sit down?”

I nod, feeling numb. “Sure.”

Becca leads us into her simple, but comfortable, living room, her bare feet making soft slapping noises against the tiled floor as she walks. After gesturing for Maddox and me to take the sofa, she settles into an oversized armchair, looking even tinier swallowed up by the excessive upholstery.

I don’t know what to say. What questions to ask. Not now that I know why I’m here.

But Becca has no problem directing the conversation. Her spine is straight as she turns to Maddox. “I don’t know if you heard what I told Audrey, but Trevor and the men around him are responsible for my sister’s disappearance.”

Maddox doesn’t seem shocked. “Are you sure?”

Becca tips her head in a single nod. “She managed to call me once after her disappearance. That was over three weeks ago, and I haven’t heard from her since.”

Maddox reaches into one of the pockets on his pants and pulls out a small device. “Is it okay if I record this conversation and pass it on to my team?”

Becca eyes the recorder then lifts her gaze to Maddox. “I guess that depends on who your team is.”