Page 27 of Unplanned Target

“They couldn’t see me.” She points at the screen. “I was behind a big bush. You can see the branches in some of the pictures.”

I take a deep breath, trying to temper my reaction. Because why the fuck is she acting like a bush is going to protect her from human traffickers?

Because she’s my child. That’s why.

“Under certain circumstances, bushes can be an effective way to camouflage your presence.” Owen pulls the shirt I slept in over his head before continuing. “But only if you’re well trained in positioning and wearing clothing that blends in well with the surroundings.” He feeds his arms into the sleeves before tucking the hem into the waistband of his pants. “And if I remember correctly, you were wearing a hot pink hoodie.”

Allie’s cheeks flush. “I didn’t have time to change.”

“And that’s why your mom and I want to make sure you take precautions to keep yourself from ending up in a situation you won’t be able to get out of safely.” Owen doesn’t sound condescending or dickish. It sounds like he’s almost genuinely concerned. Like he actually cares. “Because it can happen so fast you won’t have time to come up with a plan B. And your mom won’t always be there to save you.”

My daughter’s brows pinch. “That’s not true.” A hint of a smile softens her lips. “My mom will always be there to save me. That’s how she is.” Her eyes come to where I stand. “That’s part of why I wanted to save Kinsley. She doesn’t have a mom like mine who will do it.”

I blink hard, Allie’s words settling around me.

Being a single parent is hard. Every day I question if I’m doing the right things. If I’m fucking her up. If she’s going to hate me or at the very least find me as annoying as I find my mother.

But maybe I don’t care. Maybe she can find me as annoying as she wants as long as she knows I will always be there for her. I will always do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

“I get where you’re coming from.” Owen’s lips tip up on one side. “But maybe you should pass that responsibility to me.”

Allie grins. “You are probably a little better trained for it than she is.”

“We better hope so.” Owen goes to the small table and sits down. “Let’s go through everything you got. I want to be sure we send all of it to my team so they can get started working on finding Kinsley.”

Allie’s smile slips, her expression turning serious. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” Owen pushes out the chair across from him. “Now let’s get this done so we can go to the store and get your mama some decent coffee.”

TEN

OWEN

I gotta say, I’m pretty impressed with Allie’s sleuthing abilities. I’m not going to tell her that, because I’m pretty sure it would only encourage bad behavior. But even without access to the same kind of technology my team utilizes, she managed to collect quite a bit of information on the men who attempted to trap her at the coffeehouse last night. I have to assume they’re the same men who followed Miranda and me, and the same men who were canvassing the neighborhood where they live. There’s a chance I’m wrong, but it’s pretty fucking slim.

So what she got might be pretty fucking important. Not gonna tell her that either.

“This is Butch’s niece who found all this?” The tone of Heidi’s voice makes it clear I’m not the only one impressed with Allie’s natural ability to get information.

“Yup. She got a suspicious message from someone claiming to be her friend who had been abducted, and decided to pretend to be a little detective.” It’s not surprising, considering she and Butch seem to have a close relationship. It’s only natural Allie might want to be a little like him.

Based on what I’m seeing, it seems like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. And eventually, that might be a good thing. Right now, it’s making me pretty fucking nervous.

“Have we talked to her about this yet? Because I don’t want to risk her getting caught by these mother fuckers.” Heidi’s voice hardens. “We’re working too hard to get all these girls out, and I’m pretty sure if Allie gets abducted, Butch will end up losing way more than his spleen.”

“I’m pretty sure if Allie gets abducted, Butch isn’t going to be the only one who goes on a rampage.” Allie didn’t only get her uncle’s characteristics. She’s also got some of her mama’s best—and simultaneously worst—traits. “Her mother was threatening to murder people when I first spoke with her about Allie being missing.”

“I get it. If someone took one of my kids, there’s no length I wouldn’t go to for them to come home.” There’s a hardness in Heidi’s voice it doesn’t usually have. “But murder would be my last resort. I would want them to suffer exponentially and extensively. I would ruin their lives. Their reputations. By the time I was done, they’d wish they were dead.” She gives an evil little laugh. “Then I would murder them.”

“I’m not shocked to hear that you have a plan in place.” I scrub a hand over my face, feeling a little tired even though I did get at least a couple hours of sleep last night. “Thankfully, I don’t think Miranda’s is that fully fleshed out.” I pause, reconsidering. “Yet. Last night was pretty scary, so it’s possible she’s already figuring out her own methods as we speak.”

“Good for her. It’s always good for a woman to have a few murder plans in her back pocket she can whip out if the need arises.” Heidi clicks her tongue, the sound carrying through the phone line. “Let me get going on this and see what we can find. Hopefully it will offer a few leads we haven’t already come across. Do you have a plan for Allie and her mom?”

I turn to look at the cabin. “I think it’s best if we stay here and lay low for the time being.” It’s possible I’m forming other—additional—plans, but I refuse to admit those to anyone. Including myself.

At times, I tend to jump the gun and get ahead of myself. Start making plans and having expectations when there is no fucking reason for either of those things to be happening. And there is sure as hell no reason for me to be making plans involving Miranda and her daughter now.

“We don’t have much in the way of provisions, though.” I run through the mental list I have of the items we need. “We’re going to have to go out and get food and possibly a couple changes of clothes to tide us over until it’s safe to move on.”