Taking action—no matter what it was—filled Kenzie with renewed strength, fresh hope, and iron-hard determination. At worst, she was sure they would glean useful information. Maybe Tabby would call with an exact location for the kidnappers. Maybe it would even turn out to be Shreveport. Or maybe she would spot one of the kidnappers.
She pulled herself together in a way she hadn’t been able to since her son had been abducted. She could do this. It was far better than waiting for hours, maybe days till she heard from the men again.
Before they’d gone to see Arthur, Kenzie had applied makeup to cover the bruises on her face. Now she went through her wardrobe, choosing dark blue skinny jeans and a pair of strappy high heels, adding a white midriff top and big hoop earrings. She threw a spare change of clothes into an overnight bag, grabbed a couple of recent photos of Griff, and she was ready.
So was Reese. Now that he had decided to go along with her idea, he settled in to do it right.
They left the town house, headed for Reese’s apartment so he could pack what he needed. On the way, he pulled into a costume shop, where he bought Kenzie a curly blond wig.
With Halloween coming up the end of next month, the shop also carried colored contact lenses, mostly red or neon yellow, but also brown, blue, and green. Reese bought a pair in dark brown. They were going as a rural couple, they decided, from Pleasant Hill, a town east of Dallas they both knew.
At Reese’s apartment, he disappeared into his bedroom while Kenzie put on the wig. In the beveled mirror in the entry, in her tight jeans and high heels, she looked a little like Olivia Newton-John in the movie version ofGrease.
She wasn’t sure why Reese was taking so long until he appeared in worn jeans, a pair of battered cowboy boots, and a snug-fitting sleeveless black T-shirt. His eyes, no longer an intense shade of blue, were a deep dark brown. He had buzzed his hair short around the back and on the sides. Combined with the rough, day-old beard along his jaw, it gave him an edgy, youthful vibe.
He settled a battered straw cowboy hat on his head and tugged it low on his forehead. The handsome executive was gone, replaced by a Southern country boy. He should have looked ridiculous. Instead he just lookedhot.
As difficult as things were, as terrified as she was for her son, a wave of heat washed through her that had nothing to do with the near ninety-degree weather outside. It lasted only an instant, followed by a shot of guilt, then fear, when she thought of Griff and what he might be suffering.
Kenzie forced the fear away. If she wanted to find her son, she had to stay focused. Had to keep her mind on the job she was determined to do.
Reese’s deep brown eyes ran over her head to foot. “You look amazing. Considering the reason you’re dressed that way, I’m glad you can’t read my mind.”
She almost smiled. “I can’t believe you cut your hair.”
He shrugged, moving the black T-shirt that hugged his sculpted chest and revealed mouthwatering biceps. “Not a great job,” he said, “but it’ll grow back, and I don’t think anyone’s going to recognize either of us now.”
“Where’d you get the hat and boots?”
Reese just smiled. “Actually, they’re mine. I was wearing them the last time I came back from the ranch.” A place he and his brothers owned in the Hill Country, though Reese didn’t go there often.
“Maybe when this is over,” he said, “the three of us can fly down and I’ll teach Griff to ride.”
Her throat tightened. Would they really be together that long? “He’d love that.”
Serious again, Reese tipped his head toward the door. “We need to get going. We still have to pick up the rental car.”
A black Ford F-150 pickup. Top-of-the-line, with a powerful engine and fancy chrome wheels. It fit their image but wouldn’t really stand out in a town like Shreveport.
Reese turned to grab the overnight bag he had set on the floor and she caught a glimpse of the falcon’s head on his spine, barely visible above the neck of the T-shirt. The tips of the bird’s wings appeared on his shoulders. He looked good. Better than good. But not the least like Reese Garrett, CEO of a billion-dollar corporation.
An hour later the pickup was on its way to Shreveport. Tabby still hadn’t phoned with a location for the origin of the kidnappers’ call, but Kenzie remained hopeful.
And Hawk was there. She hadn’t met Jason “Hawk” Maddox, just talked to him on the phone, but Reese trusted him, and Kenzie trusted Reese.
She leaned back in the seat of the truck and said a prayer that they would find her son.
There were half a dozen major casinos in Shreveport, plus Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, a casino and racetrack on the east side of town.
ID was required for a hotel room these days and unlike in his criminal youth, Reese no longer had a fake ID. So instead of staying at the casino hotel, he’d made online reservations for a one-bedroom family suite at the Holiday Inn downtown, fairly close to the Pot-of-Gold. He was just turning into the parking lot when his burner phone rang. Chase was on the line.
“What’s up?” Reese asked.
“Heath Ford came to see me. He’s looking for you. Wasn’t able to find you at your office or on your cell.”Big surprise.
“What’s he want?”
“He wants to talk to Kenzie. She’s not home and her grandmother isn’t coughing up her whereabouts. He figures she’s with you. He says if you don’t bring her to the station, he’s putting a BOLO out on both of you.”
