“I’m trying to help you, sir. Has she been assaulted? Kidnapped? Should I call the police?” He lifted the deskphone.
“No!” I snatched the hand piece from him and slammed it down on the receiver. “Just…are there securitycameras?”
“Yes,but—”
“Let me see the footage. Please. Rightnow.”
“I can’t do that without my manager’s permission, or a warrant. But it wouldn’t matter anyway, because none of them face theentrance.”
“None of your security cameras face the entrance to the hotel? How the hell can you call themsecuritycameras, if they don’t see who comes andgoes?”
“They don’t face the entrance of theparking lot, sir. So, unless whoever you’re looking for came into the hotel, we probably don’t have footage of him or her anyway. Now, if you’d like me to call the police for you, I’d be happy to help. But if not, I’m afraid there’s nothing else I can do for you.Sir.”
“Fine. Thank you.” I spun, ready to storm out the front entrance, when a new possibility occurred to me. When I turned back to the clerk, he actually groaned out loud. “Just one more question. Please. Is possible that this low-riding four-door car that wasn’t silver or white was actuallyblue?”
“Yes!” His eyes lit up in triumph, as if he’d remembered that detail on his own. “A dark blue. Like, from fifteen years ago, orso.”
“Ten,” I corrected. “Thank you somuch.”
Jared.
The Southwest Territory enforcer with the old blue Honda Civic. The car Kaci and I had stolen, then thoughtfully left safe and sound in the parking lot of a taco place two hours down thehighway.
We should have left it in the bottom of a lake. With that bastard init.
I raced around the building and back to the rental car, and I’d already shifted into reverse when I realized I had no idea where togo.
Think! Where would a Southwest Pride enforcer take his…captive?
If he stuck to I15—the only major highway in the area—the choices were north and south. North would take him farther into the free zone, according to Kaci. And within a couple of hours, south would take him back to Las Vegas. Back to the SouthwestTerritory.
If he was acting under the authority of the council, he would likely take the fastest route out of the free zone. But if he’d gone rogue and had taken Kaci for any purpose other than an officialapprehension…
I would find him and rip his dick off and shove it down his own throat until he suffocated onit.
But if hehadgone rogue, I had no idea where to look forhim.
If I took off toward the south, I might be able to catch them before they crossed out of the free zone. But if he hadn’t gone south, I’d just be wasting time while he took Kaci farther and farther away fromme.
A roar erupted from my throat. My fist slammed into the dashboard, and I didn’t even realize I’d swung until I was picking fragments of plastic out of myknuckles.
A little girl screamed in the parking lot, and I looked left to see an entire family staring at me. I growled at them, and the parents hustled their kids into their mini-van, then tore forward out of their space toward theroad.
I brushed more shards of plastic off my lap and my focus fell to my phone, where I’d dropped it in one of the center cup holders. I could think of only one way to find out for sure whether Jared was acting on the council’s orders. So I swallowed my pride anddialed.
“Hello?” Marc answered on the first ring. “Justus? Are youthere?”
“Yes. I need help, and I swear I wouldn’t be asking, after what I did, if it were just for me. But Jared took Kaci, and I don’t know where they’vegone.”
“Slow down. Actually, hang on.” Something brushed the phone, and his voice was muffled. “Karen, can you watch them for a minute? I have to take this. No, let Faythesleep.”
A door closed over the line, and everything got quiet. “Okay, say that again? JaredtookKaci? Jaredwho?”
“I don’t know his last name. He’s an enforcer for the Southwest Pride. One of Blackwell’s men, right? I think Kaci said he’s Blackwell’sgrandson.”
“Jared Taylor. Big guy with a thickneck?”
“You’re describing every enforcer I’ve ever met. He was there yesterday with Vic and Chris. At Caesar’s Palace. They can tell you who I’m talkingabout.”
