Chapter Seven
Justice
"Hi, Uncle Justice."
"Ainsley?" I grip my cellphone tight as relief swarms me at the sound of her voice. It's been three days since she disappeared. "Where are you, sweetheart?"
"I can't tell you that. I know if I do, you'll make me come home. I love you, but I don't want to come back. I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay," she says. "I know you're probably worried about me, but you shouldn't be. I'm safe."
"That's good, sweetheart. Tell me where you're at and I'll come and get you. We can talk this out," I say, gripping onto the edge of my desk, trying to keep myself from demanding that she come home. If she's really thinking about disappearing like Milan said, demanding won't get me anywhere. The fact that she's been gone for three days with no word is pretty powerful evidence that Milan wasn't wrong about my niece's plans.
I listen intently, trying to make out background noise. I can hear traffic whizzing by, but not much else. She's on the road somewhere. A highway? An interstate? Fuck. She could be literally anywhere.
"I don't want you to come and get me, Uncle Justice," she says, her voice soft. There's a thread in it that worries the hell out of me. "I need to be alone for a while, okay? I, um, I just wanted to call and tell you that I love you and that I'm okay. Please don't be mad at Milan. I made the decision to leave on my own."
"Ainsley, kiddo, I'm not mad at you or Milan. I just need to know where you're at," I say. Ainsley is Milan's complete opposite. She doesn't challenge me or break rules. She's always gone along quietly, not making waves or causing problems. The fact that she's telling me no now isn't good news. "You don't have to do this. We can talk about it."
"I love you," she says again. "I'll call you again soon. Please don't worry about me. You taught me what I need to know to take care of myself. Now, I want to do it, okay? I'll be fine. Bye, Uncle Justice."
The line goes dead.
"Fuck!" I roar, throwing my phone onto my desk. I want to smash it against the wall, but I don't. The call came in as a payphone with a Wyoming area code. If we can trace it, we can track her. I pick the phone up again and dial Travis. He's at the college with Milan, waiting for her to finish up for the day.
With the glaring exception of my missing niece, the last three days have been the best of my life. Milan still hasn't told me she loves me, but I can wait her out. I know she feels the same way I do. She's just going to make me work for it. Like I told her though, I'll work like a fucking dog to keep her happy.
Falling asleep with her in my arms and waking up to her in the morning is a sort of nirvana I don't deserve. I've made love to her over and over, and I'm still not satisfied. When she cuddles up in my lap and lets me hold her or sighs my name in her sleep, I know there is nothing is this world I wouldn't do for her.
I bought her a ring while she was in class today. If I have my way, it'll be on her finger and we'll be married by this time next week. I'm not asking her father. He has no say here. Milan is mine now. As far as I'm concerned, he won't ever see her again unless she decides to let him. And he'll be doing it sober or not at all. That's not negotiable.
"Boss," Travis says as soon as he answers.
"Ainsley just called from a payphone. I need you to track it down."
"What's the number?"
I pull my phone away from my ear and hit the speaker button so I can repeat it to him.
"Give me ten minutes," he says.
I pace, waiting for him to call me back. Not knowing where Ainsley is or if she's truly okay is driving me up the wall. I need to find her and bring her back home. Then everything in my world will be exactly the way it should be.
It takes Travis five minutes to call me back. Each one feels like an eternity.
"The payphone is located in Cody, just outside of Yellowstone," he says.
"Fuck." Even if Travis got on the road now, it'd take him all day to get there. She could be well on her way to Montana or Idaho by the time he even got into town.
"What do you want to do?" Travis asks.
I hesitate for a long minute, weighing my options. Despite what Ainsley and Milan think, she isn't safe out there on her own. Ainsley is too pure, too sweet. Anyone with bad intentions will see it from a mile away. My enemies aren't the only dangers out there for her, not even close. This world is full of bad people willing to do even worse things. I know. I used to be one of them.
"I need you to find her, Travis," I mutter, thinking about the person I used to be and the shit I did that I'll never be able to take back. I never hurt a woman or a child, but how many lives did I ruin? How many men did I bankrupt? How many did I bury? "I don't care what it takes or who you have to pay off. Find her."
"Yes, sir," he says, no questions asked, and no explanations needed. There isn't much he wouldn't do for her, not because I pay him well but because he cares about her too. He's a stoic motherfucker most of the time. He doesn't volunteer information and doesn't say a whole hell of a lot, but Ainsley is family to him. And for a man like Travis, family is everything.
On that, we're in perfect agreement.
"You want me to have Van sit on Miss Cooper until she's out of class?"
She'll be done for the day in an hour. Until Ainsley called, I was carefully counting each minute standing between me and my princess. Letting her go to class this morning was hard as hell, but I promised I wouldn't let her fail out of college.
"No. I'll meet you at the college," I tell Travis.
"See you then."
"Wait."
"Yeah, boss?"