But that didn’t change the fact that he was worried about Emmett. I was too, but Emmett would be fine as soon as the doctor fixed him up.
“You’re worried and you want to see that Em’s all right with your own eyes. Go.”
His lips pulled into a crooked smile and he laid a hand on my shoulder. “I appreciate the thought, Kat, but I’m good.”
There it was, that damn condescending tone. Again. “I appreciate the thought, but I don’t need a damn babysitter.”
But that argument would never get any traction because his loyalty was to Jasper first and foremost. Probably forever.
“Fine. Let’s go back to Glitz, then.” I’d have to double back which would decrease my chances of finding Madison, but I had to do this for Terry. “I said let’s go,” I told him and fastened my seatbelt before I turned my gaze out the window, hoping against hope that I spotted Madison in some passing truck, or running along the side of the highway.
I’ll find you, Madison, I promise.
Chapter Fourteen
Terry
The drive back to Glitz was quiet and tense. My thoughts were mostly on Emmett. I knew Jasper and Sadie would make sure he was well taken care of, and more than that, they would spearhead the retaliation with the same level of energy I would. But he was my brother, my baby brother, and I wanted to be there.
But I couldn’t, not really. Kat might say she was fine with returning to Glitz, and on some level, she was. Emmett was a brother to her, too. In almost every sense of the word, and she cared about him a lot. No one was prouder of his military service or his fight record than Kat, and the fact that she was willing to lose hours to get me back to him, meant the world to me. The whole fucking world. It only made me want her more. If that was even possible.
Still, I knew Kat better than she realized. I knew the moment we were back in Glitz, she’d slide behind the steering wheel and head right back this way to save the girl.
The girl.
“Maisie said the doctor patched Emmett up, just bruises and scrapes, maybe some bruised ribs. Mostly he looks worse than he feels.”
“Thanks,” I grunted and pressed a little harder on the gas. “Still, who the fuck would do this?”
That was the thing that bothered me. Emmett was a well-liked guy and didn’t have any enemies as far as I knew, but between our father, his mother, and being part of the Ashby empire, it could have been anyone. Any-fucking-one.
Kat reached over and squeezed my thigh. “It doesn’t matter who, Terry. We’ll find them and make them sorry they thought they could lay hands on an Ashby.”
Her words brought a smile to my face and the touch of her hand stripped away my concentration. It was all I could do not to drive the car straight off the road. “I know,” was all I said.
Her phone rang again, a generic tone that she picked up right away.
“Hello?” She snapped her fingers to get my attention and mouthed the words, “It’s her.” She held up a finger as she listened and I stayed quiet, catching her nodding to the call.
Finally, she said, “Okay, stay calm Madison. Tell me where you are.”
She tapped the speaker button, figuring two sets of ears would be better than one.
Madison came on the line with a shaky voice. “I dunno, another hotel but not by the truck stop. I’m not sure how long we were on the road, but if you have my phone,” she whispered, “well your phone.”
Madison fell quiet as if she was on a time limit and gasped. “Please Ms. Ashby, they’re talking about selling me to someone in Mexico like they said they did with Molly. Please.”
Kat paled and I didn’t wait for her to ask the next question. I took the next exit and headed back in the opposite direction.
“We’re about an hour from the truck stop. With no traffic this time of night, we should be there before 4 am. Which way did you go?” Kat asked.
“Toward the border. I heard the man say to stay on 95 and the last town I saw was called Searchlight, but it didn’t look like a town to me.”
Shit, she sounded even younger than I imagined, like she didn’t have a fucking clue, but she was out here, searching for her sister among the predators of the world.
“We’re a good hour from Searchlight,” I told Kat. “Can she get out and hide somewhere?”
“I’m locked in the motel room,” Madison answered. “I can see the parking lot from the window, and I don’t see any other cars around.”
Her voice was small and shaky, scared as hell and she should be. This time of year, the roadside motels weren’t doing steady business, which made it the perfect route for traffickers of any product. Especially along this route where motel and hotel managers were happy to forego the need for IDs or legitimate bookings. For the right amount of cold hard cash, they would do anything.
“Madison, this is Terry, Kat Ashby’s friend. I’m helping her find you. Can you see the name of the place?”
“Yeah, Pacific Palms Inn. Room 121.”
I entered the name into the fancy navigation system on Madison’s phone and my shoulders sank in relief.
“We’re not an hour from you. Stay in or close to the bathroom if you can, okay?”
“You’re gonna come for me?” Her voice was so damn small and vulnerable, like she was more than a kid. She was an innocent.
“Of course, we are.”
“Oh, o-okay. Thank you.”
“Call back if you need to,” Kat told her and ended the call before she settled her gaze on me. “You can still drop me at a rental place, Terry.”
“You know I can’t do that. Besides, Emmett is fine. We’ll be back in plenty of
