Lawful: Gia ~ Hunter ~ Julian ~ Jarrod

With a wistful sigh, Carrie says, “I hope to have what the two of you have one day.” Her smile disappears. “But I’m not sure if anyone will want me now.”

Silence follows her statement, which is broken when Gia moves to sit beside Carrie. “Don’t think like that. You’ve done what you have because you went looking for your sister, and most of what was done, you didn’t have a choice. If he’s the right man then that won’t matter to him…he’ll be pissed on your behalf.”

Carrie looks at Gia with tears rolling down her face while she attempts to smile. “Thank you.”

Clearing my throat, I break up the small talk because I need more from Carrie in order to move forward, and before I put in a call to Colin for someone to come and get her.

I hold my hand out to Gia, who lets me tug her up and back into her chair. I brush the hair down her back, and look at Carrie. “Last night, you said that we were both after the same man…what makes you think that?” I watch a muscle tick in her jaw as she clenches her teeth together.

“Abatangelo’s name was in all the national newspapers after he’d been apprehended in Lexington, and then he’d escaped and word was going around that his organization had been kept going while he was in jail… my sister went missing from the University of Texas, he had a known business that was easy to find if you went looking.” Carrie takes a sip of the coffee, which has probably gone cold by now.

“He sold it eight months ago to a known associate. I followed Matthew Long for over a week until th

e night I went to sleep, and woke in a different place, roped to a bed.” She shudders. “He never laid a hand on me…but others did… When they thought I was unconscious, I heard them talking and they mentioned their boss and Abatangelo’s name came up a few times.

“Then when they couldn’t get anything out of me, they kept me on a short leash in that bar where you’d found me. Jekyll or whatever his real name is said to tell you everything because we wanted the same man.”

The scrape of the chair as Julian pushes away from the table brakes into the silence. “I know he’s my contact but we walked out with you,” Julian points at Carrie, “and that is driving me nuts. We should have had some sort of resistance but we didn’t. Nothing. I didn’t even see anyone watching us.”

He glances at me.

“It bothers me. We checked the SUV before we left and used the scrambler to jam any GPS tracking. So, I don’t know what the hell is going on.”

“I wish I could help you with that, but other than being told to come to you for help, I don’t know,” Carrie mumbles apologetically.

I sit back and wonder as I meet Julian’s gaze across the table. “What you thinking?”

“I’m not sure…” Julian turns to Carrie. “Did anyone give you anything? Asked you to wear something different? Something that wasn’t in your sight before it was handed to you?”

Carrie shakes her head and then pauses. “Earrings.” Her face drains of color. “Oh, God. No! You think they had some sort of tracker in them?” She reaches up to her ears and comes away with only one earing. “I’ve lost one.”

I jump up and try to calm myself down. The thought that she might have inadvertently led them to where Gia is makes me want to pound something.

“Have you removed them since you’ve been here?” Julian asks.

She shakes her. “No. Only now.”

“I’ll check her bed.” Julian dashes off.

Jarrod heads out with him. “I’ll check the stairs.”

Gia gets on her hands and knees while I try to think if I noticed Carrie without both earrings.

“I can’t see anything,” Gia admits, climbing to her feet.

“I’m really sorry,” Carrie says. “I didn’t think anything of them.”

“It’s not your fault,” Gia offers while I’m not too sure about that.

“You had both when you arrived here…when Julian took you upstairs you only had one. That means it’s here somewhere.” I run my hands through my hair and hold Gia’s gaze.

I hate seeing her worry and the last thing I ever wanted was to bring her into my world, but that’s what has happened. I really hate that.

She intertwines our fingers together. “It’s going to be okay.” She reaches up and places a sweet kiss to my lips, and hovers there. “I love you,” she whispers.

I cup her face. “The last thing I want is for you to be anywhere that they can get to you.”

Julian interrupts our moment. “No sign of the damn thing, but it could be anywhere.” He stands with his hands on his hips.