“And I’ll make him pay for that,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “We’re gonna save her, Harper. But by lettin’ her go for just a short while, we can follow him back to wherever he plans to have her work and get her there. This way, we can save a bunch of other girls too.”
He was right, which made me feel like even more like a fool for trying to run after her. “Do you think she’s going to tell us where they are? She might not even know.”
“Maybe not, but the asshole drivin’ the car in front of us sure does, and he’s gonna tell us where they are and a whole lot more.”
“You’re gonna…” I wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence.
“Capture him?” he asked, then shot me a dark look. “Get information out of him? You bet your ass we are.”
“Information gathered through torture isn’t reliable,” I felt obligated to say.
“The fuck it’s not,” he grumbled, then nodded to the car in front of us. “He’s gettin’ on the highway and heading for the interchange. He might be part of Knox’s crew after all.”
If only we could get that lucky.
But I was stuck on the fact that James planned to beat information out of him … and the reality that I wasn’t as horrified at the thought as I should have been.
Then again, he was forcing a child to have sex with men in truck cabs. I wasn’t going to lose any sleep over him getting exactly what he deserved.
Sure enough, the white car pulled off the highway and into a truck stop, driving to the back lot. He found a spot behind several rows of trucks and backed in, probably so he could watch the girl as she worked the trucks.
James parked on the side of the store, the handler’s car within view.
“Do you think he’ll recognize you?” James asked as he turned off the engine.
“No. If he noticed me at the convenience store, it was brief, and I doubt he’d think a blond woman in her thirties would follow him to a truck stop.”
He shot me an evil grin. “To his detriment.”
Something fluttered in my stomach, heat blooming in my core. “You need to stop saying things that get me hot when we’re in the middle of a stakeout.”
Surprise filled his eyes, then he laughed. “To his detriment turned you on?”
I laughed too. “It was more like the way you looked at me as you said it,” I pushed out a frustrated sigh. “It’s beside the point. What’s our plan?”
“You’re gonna let me handle this one?”
“You probably have more experience with kidnapping than I do. I have none.”
If he was offended, he didn’t let on. “I’ll take the driver, get him in the trunk of his car, and knock him out. I’ll drive his car to a secure location, then ask him a bunch of questions.” He nodded to me. “Your job is to convince the girl to come with you.”
“And then?”
“Then you figure out where she can go, even if it’s temporary. If she knows where other girls are bein’ kept, do not go without me.”
“Why would I go without you?”
“Because I’m going to be tied up for a while with our friend over there, and you’ll be making sure the girl doesn’t bolt.”
“You plan on questioning him by yourself?” I asked, unease crawling up my spine.
“I’ll be fine. He’ll be temporarily incapacitated.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t like it.”
“I’ll be fine,” he repeated. “I’ll have Carter send in some backup. You focus on the girl.” He lowered his face to mine. “And just the girl. Promise me you won’t go after more girls if this one knows where they’re kept.”
“James…”
