I’d been trying to find a way in with no luck since the innocent looking doors were anything but. They were commercial grade steel from the looks of it, which meant our boy had something to hide. Even the windows were reinforced. Not to worry though, Mancini’s tools, some of which I was carrying would take care of it.
I have no problem cutting out the lock mechanism to make my way in, didn’t much care if the asshole noticed that there was a big ass hole in his door when he returned. But just as I was about to get to work, he came back.
I was about to make my way back out to the street when I saw him from the darkness of his backyard, enter the house, look frustrated and then head back out. Maybe he forgot something at the store; he’d been carrying grocery bags. That would give me another twenty minutes at least to break in and look around.
Just as I was about to make my move a figure came around the side of the house. I knew it wasn’t him because of the size, and then her scent hit me. For a second I thought I was imagining things, that maybe I was carrying her scent on me and hadn’t noticed even though I’d showered and changed before taking her home.
I made a move, some sound I guess, because she took off running. I heard her hit the side of the house as I went after her, stake out forgotten. My heart felt sick in my chest as I ran after her. She was long gone by the time I got out on the street and all I heard was the powerful engine of her car as I sprinted to the Ranger and jumped in.
She was still sitting in her car when I pulled in behind her, probably still scared out of her damn mind. I hadn’t been able to hold a thought all the way here and think I only started breathing again when she noticed me and got out of her car. I could see by the way she was walking that she was really and truly shaken up.
I got out of the Ranger and found that my knees were weak. “Caitie come here.” She walked across the driveway to me. “Did you get hurt?” She gave me that who me look and it took everything in me not to snap.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t fucking lie to me, not now not ever.” She swallowed hard and looked down. “No! How did you know?”
“I know your body, I know your scent.” I pulled her into my chest.
“That was you back there? You scared me half to death.” She started to cry.
I didn’t call her on her shit, didn’t tell her that she’d taken ten years off my life.
“Does your dad know?” I realized how stupid the question was as soon as I asked it. She shook her head against my chest and wrapped her arms around me. “You know he’s going to blame me when he finds out.”
“He won’t find out.”
“Your dad always finds out. Let’s get you inside.”
My thoughts were fractured when I walked into the house behind her. I took the stairs two at a time while she went in search of her mom. I heard her mom asking her what had taken so long but didn’t hear the answer as I cleared the landing.
Mancini was sitting in front of Colton’s desk when I walked in. I don’t know what got into me, but everything from the last fifteen minutes had seemingly sent me over the edge. “Kid, what are you…” I walked across the room and grabbed him, not giving thought to anything but the need to pound my fist in his face.
“Did you send her there you asshole?” I usually admire his calm unaffected demeanor but this time it wasn’t appreciated.
“Send who, where?”
“Don’t play with me, Caitlin, did you send her to his fucking house?”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw my father in law jump to his feet. “What’re you saying, where’s my kid?” I gave him a quick rundown of what just happened and watched the color drain from his face. “She’s okay, she’s downstairs, but she came so close. What if I hadn’t been there?”
I looked back at Mancini who was still not breaking a sweat. I raised my fist to pound it into his face; I wanted to obliterate him. “Think, would I send her to the home of someone we suspect of trafficking young girls? Does that make sense to you?”
“How does she know where he lives?”
“Why don’t we ask her?” His words made sense once I could see through the haze of anger. I felt all the energy leave me and had to drop down into a chair to catch my bearings. “Breathe kid!” I felt my father in law’s hand on my shoulder as what felt like a four-ton boulder sat on my chest.