boy from school? Camp? The pair have only been speaking for a few moments when a rusted white van pulls up. The side door opens, and Hayden’s pulled inside. I watch in horror as the young boy jumps inside and slams the door closed before it speeds away. It all happens so fast. One minute she’s there, talking to a boy, and the next, she’s gone. Both of them are just... gone.
“You recognize that kid?” Wyatt asks.
I shake my head, assuming he’s talking to me. “I’ve never seen that kid before in my life.”
“That was the fucking kid who had her phone,” GP snarls from beside me.
“And the kid who lied to my face when I asked him about Hayden. We need to find this fucking kid. And once I’ve found Hayden, I’m gonna kill him.”
Hashtag
The kid is the key to this whole fucking thing, I know it. The security footage proves his involvement without a doubt. He’s the missing link in finding my daughter.
Judge walks into the room, just as I slide the ID from my pocket and lean it against the top of the keyboard.
“Heard about the video. What can I do to help?” His eyes go straight to the ID. “Who do we have here?”
“Snagged it off the kid from earlier, the one in the video.”
“Good work,” Judge declares, squeezing my shoulder.
“You stole the kid’s ID?” Shelby asks. “How did you do it without him seeing it?”
“The kid was too busy pissing his pants when Hayden’s phone rang, he didn’t even notice.”
“Do you think he knows where she is?” Her big brown eyes are filled with hope and anger.
“Mr. Kevin Tucker here knows who has our daughter. And we just watched Hayden be forced into that van. He was involved in her kidnapping.” I type in his full name and the address from the card into my favorite search engine before picking it up and showing it to Shelby. “This is our insurance policy.”
“He’s a kid, Wyatt.” I can see the uncertainty on her face. A mother never wants to see harm come to any child. But a mother would also rain down hell to find her own child if they’re in danger.
“A kid who watched our daughter get thrown into a van against her will and did absolutely nothing to stop it. He’s not innocent.”
“He’s still a kid,” she cries. “Maybe he can help us. Maybe he’s innocent.”
Innocent? “Let’s just see what he has to say when we roll up to his house.”
Shelby looks down at her hands, picking at her fingernails. “Do you think you’ll have to hurt him?”
“I honestly don’t know, Shel. This boy isn’t just some kid, as you keep saying. He lost the right to play the kid card when he lied to me about how he got her phone.” She nods, but doesn’t look up from her fingers.
“Do what you have to do.” She crosses her arms tightly against her chest, and it takes a hero’s effort not to glance down at her ample cleavage. Jesus, Hash. This is not the time.
“We’re gonna find her, Shel. And it’s not like we’re going into this kid’s house, guns blazing. We aren’t heartless bastards. We won’t hurt him unless we have to.”
Shelby mulls that over before finally nodding.
My computer beeps from behind me. “Got something,” I declare as the screen pops up with a list of results from the search. With a click of the mouse, I switch over to the maps function. No street view. Pulling up another window, I type in the address on a realtor site. Nothing. We’ll have to go in blind.
“Fuck, is that Martinsville?” Judge presses a finger to the screen. Shit, he’s right. The kid lives on the outskirts of Martinsville, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city.
“Why is Martinsville bad?” Shelby asks at nearly a whisper.
Back before the recession, it was the heart of manufacturing in Austin. When the market tanked, all the factories closed up shop or moved overseas, leaving the people who depended on them in the area jobless, and some homeless. Things had only gotten worse as the years went on, with violence and trafficking moving in as the factories moved out. The club had been trying for years to help stop the routes these guys used to move women in and out, but never had much luck. Without an in, anything we did went nowhere. Now my daughter could be in the thick of it.
The look on Judge’s face confirms