They both nod, immediately moving toward me.
Dutton wraps his arms around my neck. “I hungry.”
“Cool. We’ll stop and get something to eat. You can have whatever you want, as long as it’s open.”
Dawson reaches for my hand. My body shifts into survivor mode. I want to break down right now. I want to crash the fuck out and strap Matt inside this truck and blow it up.
But I have to get my shit together. I have to get these kids out of here, then deal with him.
I turn around to face Sam, whose eyes are wide and focused on the twins. He’s speechless. We didn’t expect to findthem here.
In a fucking strip club parking lot.
“Boys, this is my other cowboy friend. His name is Sam. Isn’t his bow cool?”
They nod in unison.
“He’s gonna help me get you into my truck and we’ll find a place to eat. How does that sound?”
I turn back to Matt’s truck, gritting my teeth when I don’t see any car seats. Of fucking course he doesn’t have any.
I scoop them each up in my arms, walking calmly in the drizzle of rain with Sam on my heels. We make it to my truck. I deposit the boys into the back seat.
“Cowboy, I hungry,” Dutton says.
“Okay, buddy, let’s go get a snack now. What do you want?”
“Chicken nuggets and Goldfish.”
I slide into the driver’s seat. My hands are shaking so bad that I can barely get the key into the ignition of the old pickup.
Sam picks up his phone. “Should I text to let them know?”
I shake my head. “No. No paper trail.”
It sucks, but when there’s a murder investigation, our phone records could get pulled. The one Sam has is new and not traceable to him or me, but we had to get it to track my old phone and find Matt.
I hope to God the fact that I reported it stolen a few weeks ago is enough to keep my name off of the suspect list.
I twist the key in the ignition and drive out of the lot toward the closest gas station.
After sending Sam in to get the boys a snack, I tap out a message on the burner phone I purchased a few days ago.
Duke
You almost to the spot?
Holden
Fifteen minutes.
Duke
We have a surprise for you.
Holden
Good kind or bad kind?
