Deserted - Auctioned
Gray suppressed his irritation, mostly because Kellan was probably right.
Yet, here he was. Trying. Despite being weak and pathetic and clueless, Gray was trying.
Fuck.
He broke eye contact and grabbed his beer. He chugged half of it and cursed himself.
“So, you’re one of the small-town guys who got kidnapped,” Kellan deduced. “And you think setting out to…do whatever…on your own—is smart?”
Gray had hardly come here with the intention of bringing up Jackie. It was Jayden, an eight-year-old boy, he was looking for.
“Forget I said anything,” Gray said and wiped his mouth.
Kellan shook his head. “I’m not saying I can’t help, mate. But you gotta watch your back.”
Yeah, he was painfully aware.
“Listen,” Kellan went on, “I’ll give you one thing for free. We already know who’s behind the major trafficking operations outta Florida. So do the authorities. It’s not a big secret. They just can’t pin shite on the higher-ups.”
Gray had heard Darius and Ryan say similar things on the island. “That’s your free advice?”
“No.” Kellan paused. “My two cents that won’t cost you anything is that you’re not looking for information about Alfred Lange’s organization.”
Gray’s stare flashed to Kellan’s, and he swallowed hard. The guy actually knew what he was talking about. Alfred was the name Darius had gotten from the cartel motherfuckers.
“You wanna find a buyer,” Kellan told him. “That’s different. It’s easier.”
Nothing in Gray’s life was easy anymore, so he was skeptical. “In order to find the buyer, I gotta go through the crime organization.”
“Or you let pros handle it,” Kellan pointed out and smiled. “But that would cost you.”
Against his better judgment, Gray blurted out, “How much?”
“Impossible to say,” he replied. “The pros would have to dig around some and get back to you.”
Kellan Ford was good. Somehow, he managed to speak pretty openly without actually risking anything.
Either way, Gray wasn’t sure it mattered. He wasn’t made of money. In fact, he had about two hundred bucks to his name in a frozen account that hadn’t been reopened since his disappearance. If he’d had any more, he wouldn’t be using the credit card his folks had given him.
“I think I’ll pass,” he muttered. “Thank you for the information about the church, though.”
He knew Darius’s sister was working on finding Jackie’s buyer, though there was no telling if it would work—or how long it would take. And Gray could admit to himself that it stung not to go further. It resulted in more suffering for Jackie, and at the end of the day, that was all that mattered. Gray felt like such a chickenshit.
Come on, you pussy.
“Can—” He stopped and cleared his throat. “Can I have your number if I change my mind?”
Kellan quirked a brow. “Sure.”
Okay. Okay. It was something, at least. Now he had to get the fuck away from here and find Jayden.ThreeThat evening, after a couple hours of feeling sorry for himself, Gray had had enough.
He’d caught himself thinking, Of course the priest wasn’t there right now; why could nothing good ever happen to me? And to be honest, it pissed him off. He was free. Jackie wasn’t. Gray had a family and friends. Being alone right now was a choice he’d made himself.
So after getting a sandwich at a bodega, he had checked in to a downtown hotel. He’d eaten, showered, given himself a fuckin’ talking-to, and then he’d hit the hotel gym.
That was where he was now.
He was returning to the church on the outskirts of the city tomorrow, and he’d do it with more confidence. No more pity parties. He had the chance to work out and get stronger. He’d be an idiot to waste it.
He alternated between the treadmill, rowing machine, and free weights in the empty gym. Too much bulk had never been a hockey player’s best friend, especially since Gray’s forte was speed and agility, but he’d lost enough strength that he needed to build up some muscle too. The weights were also a good break for when his thigh cramped up. Even though he was essentially healed from the gunshot, he’d been instructed to take it easy on his leg for up to three months.
He cranked up the volume on one of his workout playlists, then started another round on the treadmill. His phone rested on the display in front of him so he wouldn’t miss any texts from Willow.
He’d texted her earlier, asking if she believed there was an actual chance of tracking down Jackie’s buyer. Her response would help Gray decide whether or not to reach out to Kellan again.
Gray’s chest heaved with quick, shallow breaths, and he lifted his tee to wipe sweat off his face.
It was the white van all over again. He couldn’t stop every vehicle on the road that could be used to transport slaves, but at one point he’d desperately wished for someone to do just that. For the same reasons, he couldn’t risk everything and start asking criminal organizations for favors because they might be able to help. Sooner rather than later, Gray would find himself in a hole he couldn’t get out of.