The records that still existed were handwritten and sketchy at best. He drove a few times a year and made enough to support his family, but I couldn’t find a hint of anything more.
“Thanks, Kat.”
“No problem. You need to do some laps or hit the ring with Emmett. This kind of tension can lead to a heart attack.”
“I’m twenty-seven, Kat.”
She let out a loud laugh-snort. “Look at what the stress has done to Bonnie, and she’s even younger than you.”
Kat let that nugget hit its target and begin to sting before she went in for the kill. “So what really happened with her?”
“We had a deal and she didn’t hold up her end. That’s all.”
“Bullshit.” She spun my desk chair around with her patented big sister smirk and folded her arms. “You’re not usually a dick, and you were a big fat dick about Bonnie using again, not your understanding self at all. Surprising given your own past with drugs. Which means there was some deeper betrayal going on, so spill.”
She had that determined look in her eyes, the one that made employees who thought she was the ‘good Ashby’ tremble in fear. I knew there was no point wasting time arguing. So I told her every little detail, the weeks of resistance, of fighting the attraction because of her baggage. I looked my sister in the eye and told her how I’d taken Bonnie’s virginity, taken pleasure in her innocent body and then turned around and insulted her.
“I called her a junkie and asked her if she was shooting up before I walked away.”
“Fucking hell, Calvin.” The shock in her voice was an added dose of guilt I didn’t need.
“Yeah, I know. I’m an asshole.”
“Yeah,” she said on a sigh laced with sympathy I didn’t deserve. “You haven’t found her in the city yet?”
I shook my head. “Nope. It’s what has me so fucking worried. There’s no trace of her, but it’s like she just disappeared. Bonnie isn’t tech savvy enough to go off grid on purpose like this.”
That was why every day her body wasn’t found was a good day. I just hoped I found Bonnie before bad luck caught up with her.
“Something has to be wrong.” It was the only thing that made sense. Maybe the Crusaders had found her and were holding her somewhere, making her do terrible things to feed her addiction.
“Fuck!” I said, slapping my desk.
“Maybe she’s not trying to be found, Cal. I mean why would she? Who would be looking for her? The parents who already disowned her? The church people who were happy to turn their backs on her? Or the guy who took her fucking virginity and called her a junkie whore?”
“Hey!”
“Sorry,” she said with a dismissive shrug. “But it’s true. She’s not expecting anyone to go looking for her. My guess is she’s gambling or selling her ass to make some quick cash and skip town. It’s what I would do.”
“Given it a lot of thought, have you?”
“Hell yeah. With our family, you have to have a worst case scenario plan. And, I have a few.”
It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Because of me, Bonnie was at her worst case scenario. I couldn’t imagine her inartful kisses with a paying customer or how she’d react to a guy shoving his cock down her throat. Someone’s filthy hands on her body.
The images that flashed in my head produced a rage that stunned me at the thought of Bonnie selling her body. But now that Kat had put it out there, it was the only thing I could think about.
“At least you gave her a night of kindness.”
I nodded because I had, but I ignored the question beneath her tone. I knew the act itself didn’t matter, not to women like Bonnie who held on to her virginity for so long, not as much as the memory of what we had shared. And my callous, butt-hurt words had cheapened what should have been a wonderful memory for her.
It was an incredible memory for me and now it was mine alone.
“You did, didn’t you?”
“Of course, I did, but twelve hours later she disappeared, so how do you think she remembers it?”
“Shit. Good point. Well, keep looking. You have to find her. She has to be somewhere, I just hope it’s not the morgue,” she said and answered her ringing phone with an apologetic smile and a wave.
I didn’t want to think about the darker things Bonnie might be doing to survive. But aside from planting ugly thoughts in my head, Kat had given me another place to search for her. Between Glitz, Mayhem, and Vegas, there was no shortage of brothels, call girls, and escort agencies. Selling ass was always a lucrative business, so I spent all afternoon scouring photo after photo of young girls promising a night to remember.