Page 87 of Honor ’N’ Duty

Kade wasn’t so sure about that. “The child is my niece, Rosa. She’s the daughter of Josh Sampson, your son’s former bookkeeper. And my brother,” he added, then waited for that information to sink in.

Cecelia steepled her hands, her gray brows lowering. “The newspapers speculated that Fernando murdered your brother. He was never charged with that crime.”

“No, he wasn’t.” With all the layers between Colon and Josh, he probably never would be. Kade had been nothing but honest with Cecelia. That’s what had gotten him and Jamie into the house in the first place, so he went with it. “I believe your son had my brother killed in prison so he couldn’t testify against him. I can’t lose—” His throat threatened to close up on him. “I can’t lose another family member.”

“If what you’re saying is true, then Fernando wants something in exchange for the girl. Something you have.”

Kade nodded.

“If you’re right, and you find the girl, then my son will go to jail again.” Cecelia blinked rapidly. “He was released from prison two weeks ago. If he goes back there, I’ll probably lose him forever.”

Kade appreciated Cecelia’s impending loss, but what he had to say next was necessary. “And if I don’t find Rosa, there’s another woman out there who will lose her child forever.”

There it was. They were at an impasse. If she dimed-out her son, he’d likely get put away for another twenty years. If she refused to help, Rosa would likely die. Perhaps Laia, too, if he couldn’t get to her before she went after Rosa on her own.

“Do you know where Fernando is?” he asked softly, knowing just how thin the ice he was standing on actually was. “Cecelia, if you know where he is, please tell us.” Going with the honesty thing, he added, “Bringing Rosa home safely is my goal, but I can’t lie to you. I will arrest your son. There’s no getting around that.”

“I appreciate your honesty.” A single tear leaked from each of Cecelia’s eyes, and she picked up her napkin to wipe them away. “Now please leave.”

He blew out a breath of disappointment, then pushed back his chair. He stood and pulled out one of his business cards. Handing it to her, he said, “If you change your mind…if you can find out where he’s holding my niece, please call me.” When she didn’t accept the card, he set it on the table next to her plate. “We’ll let ourselves out.”

The second Kade made it to his SUV, he pounded on the hood, eliciting a startled snort from Smoke. “Dammit! I thought we were getting through to her.”

Jamie rested a hand on Kade’s shoulder. “You did get through to her.”

“Yeah,” he growled. “Just not enough.”

His phone vibrated with an incoming call, and he grabbed it from his pocket. “Dayne, what’ve you got?”

“Not much, unfortunately.” Kade heard the frustration in his friend’s voice. “We’re still canvassing the neighborhood, but there are no witnesses. The PD’s printing out flyers as we speak. The CARD team can’t go up on Laia’s phone without the phone, and that’s a bust, too. We tried working with the cell carrier to track the phone, but there’s no signal to track.”

“She must have taken out the battery.”

“That’s what we’re thinking, too. Until she turns it back on, we can’t find her. Unless a patrol car spots that minivan, she’s in the wind.”

Kade let his head fall back. It felt as if it weighed a hundred pounds. If they didn’t get a break and soon, Rosa and Laia would be lost to him. “Run a search on all of Colon’s properties. Most of them were seized. Let me know if there’s anything else listed for him besides his mother’s house.”

“Will do.”

Kade cued up one of his informants. Someone had to know something. Even in criminal networks, gossip ran like molasses on a hot day. “Chico,” he said when the man answered. “Have you heard anything about Colon kidnapping a little girl?”

“No, man. Nothing.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Something like that, I woulda heard.”

“Call me if you do.”

Kade hung up. Everyone was doing everything possible that could be done, and it still wasn’t enough. He stared through the windshield, analyzing the basic tenets of his entire life in a matter of seconds.

As a kid, he’d played by the rules, never once cheating and always being fair. In the military, he’d followed orders to the letter, something he’d continued straight into his law enforcement career. This strict adherence to policy had been so ingrained in him, he’d never imagined doing otherwise. Until now. Because there was only one option left.

For what he was about to do, he could lose his job. His career would be toast. If things went totally south, he could go to jail. If he lost Laia and Rosa, none of that would matter.

The time for playing by the rules—duty, honor, and all the red tape that went with it—was over.

He unlocked the SUV and yanked open the door.