Dante gets right to the point. “We’ve got a location on her phone, but it looks like she left it on the bus. It keeps pinging from here to campus and back.”
Explains why she didn’t answer my texts.
Did she leave it on purpose to throw us off, or had she accidentally dropped it between the seats?
“Any new purchases?” I ask.
“Nothing yet. Kensley mentioned a bus ticket that she gave her cash for, but Harper insisted on not telling her where she was going,” Moreno says.
They seem to be on speakerphone, sharing information.
“Did Kensley say anything else?” Ashton asks.
I glare at him.
“No, Nova brought her back upstairs against my authority,” Moreno rumbles, and I can imagine he’s pissed as shit at his daughter.
She’s brave—I’ll give her credit for that—and a bit insubordinate.
Ashton shifts in his seat, looking a bit restless. We’ve been driving for a couple of hours already, but I don’t intend to stop until we get to our destination.
“It’s fine.” Dante clears his throat, and I sense there’s some brooding tension.
Dante hated when he couldn’t control me. I can’t imagine he’s keen on the fact Nova is going around and disobeying orders, doing whatever the hell she likes.
She’s going to land herself in a shit ton of trouble if she’s not careful.
“Kensley couldn’t tell us anything we don’t already know,” Dante adds. “We sent her home, put surveillance on her phone. We’ll know if she reaches out to Harper or vice versa.”
I glare at Ashton.
Had my father done the same to me or Harper?
Another hour in the car and we pull up to the rest stop. I step out, stretch my legs and head straight in for the cashier, hoping he can give us some information.
“Good afternoon,” the clerk says, chewing a wad of bubble gum. He barely looks old enough to run the register.
He pops a bubble and glances me over. “Can I help you?”
“We’re looking for—” I begin, and Ashton steps up to the counter, interrupting me.
“My sister ran off with her son. He’s about two,” Ashton says and gestures to about Zeke’s height. “We’re looking for her before her deadbeat boyfriend shows up and threatens her again.”
The clerk’s eyes widen. “Oh, dear. Yeah, I remember her. Cute girl. The kid was a terror, trying to grab everything off the shelves and screaming when she wouldn’t let him walk on his own. She was on the bus that stopped in here.”
“Do you know where that bus goes?” I ask.
He glances me over. “Are you really her brothers? You two don’t look alike.”
“Different mother,” I say, forcing a smile. “We’re just trying to protect her and the little boy.”
“Bus goes to Las Vegas,” the clerk says.
We head back out to the car, fill up the gas tank and then hit the road.
“Are you going to call Dante?” Ashton asks, watching me intently as we head back onto the main road. I put Las Vegas into the map app on my phone GPS, so we don’t get lost. Hopefully, it’s the same route that the bus takes.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” I say.
