“Fine. Bring her to my place, and I’ll get her cleaned up. Don’t you bring this shit anywhere near Naomi, Cal. I’m fucking serious.”
“Okay, okay. Fine. I’ll send her to you with Vox. I need to take the trash out so I can’t come with him. Can she stay the night? We can reunite her with the kid in the morning.”
“Why can’t you bring the kid here now? She’s going to want to be with him. Besides, the faster I can get these two into a shelter and out of my hair, the fucking better.”
I tongued my lip ring anxiously, thinking about how unlikely it was Ryan was going to let me take the kid anywhere without kicking up a fuss.
“It’s complicated; you just have to trust me,” I said, wondering how I could convince Ryan that the kid was safe now. Suddenly, I had an idea. Ryan didn’t trust me at all, but that wasbecause I was a 6’4” mercenary who looked like he belonged in a 90s punk band.
He would likely trust an Ivy League lawyer in a pencil skirt with a no-nonsense attitude.
“Let her stay the night. I’m going to text you an address… Can you bring her to this spot tomorrow morning?”
“What time? I have court at two.”
“I don’t know. Early. Whenever is good for you.”
“Fine.”
“Loveee youuuuu!” I chirped, but I was already speaking to a dead line. She had hung up on me, which was typical. No one ever said it back.
Amanda was watching me from where she was perched on the dead bastard’s couch. She had changed into a pair of sweats and a hoodie while I cleaned up the mess that was Kyle. I had him neatly rolled in the thick painter’s plastic and duct taped up.
Amanda explained that she and Caleb had been more or less allowed free range of the house as long as they obeyed the rules. She had belonged to Kyle for ten fucking years. At first, she lived in the room I had saved her from, but as time went on, he had given her more and more freedom.
After she had Caleb, Kyle had even begun to take her to work events and press conferences, dressing her up and keeping her on his arm. It was easier to control her with the threat of her son’s safety on the line.
Apparently, Caleb had been sneaking out of the house to play at the park for a while now. He was too young to understand that his situation wasn’t normal, which is why he hadn’t raised any sort of alarm. Amanda said she had been trying to stop Caleb from sneaking out for months, but he always seemed to slip away. When she couldn’t find him the night before, Kyle finally found out, and he had been furious. He locked her back up in the room and went on a rampage trying to hunt the kid down.
“I’m sorry if I’m causing you trouble,” she whispered, and I gave her one of my most charming smiles.
“Not at all. My sister’s just grumpy. She needs to get laid,” I muttered, glancing down at my phone to find a text from Vox.
Vox:
*waving emoji*.
Cal:
Cool. You good to take the vic to Cassandra’s?
Vox:
*Thumbs up emoji*
I turned to Amanda. “My friend is going to drive you to my sisters. I need to get rid of Kyle.”
Amanda looked nervous. “Your friend?”
I could see the apprehension in her eyes. She didn’t trust men, and I didn’t blame her.
“He’s cool, I promise. No one is going to hurt you, Amanda. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. If you wanted to leave right now and never see me again, I would say see you later and wish you luck. It’s just complicated because Caleb is at a safe house of sorts, and it’s going to take me some time to get him back to you.”
“When can I see him?” she asked, her blue eyes swimming with apprehension.
“First thing in the morning. I promise,” I assured her. She didn’t look convinced, but she pursed her lips and nodded.
I gestured to the front door. “After you.”
