the torment in the man’s eyes.
“Here, drink this.” The blonde put a sports drink in her hand, and she sipped automatically as she stared toward the wrecked vehicles.
“You ran into him. To make him stop.” She turned her eyes to the blonde woman.
She smiled. “Not my idea. Your bodyguard took matters into his own hands and jerked the wheel out of my hands. All I could do was brace for impact.” She drew a blanket out of a bag on the floor and wrapped it around Sloane’s shoulders. “I’m Madeline, by the way. I—”
The muffled gunshot reached them even through the closed windows of the sedan. Sloane’s jaw dropped, and she began to shake at what she knew to be true—North killed a man because he kidnapped her. She was in love with a man who could deliver vengeance in a way most couldn’t even think about.
When he began walking back to the car, she focused on his face. The closer he drew, the better she made out the set of his shoulders and then his jaw. His eyes glittered, his expression far away. He wasn’t holding a weapon, and she felt grateful she didn’t have to see it. Understanding what needed to happen and how Bodhi could perform such an act were two very different things. She couldn’t quite reconcile any of it in her mind.
He slid into the back seat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Drive, Archer.”
He did, doing a U-turn in the road to head the opposite direction.
“What happens to the m-man? Or the cars?” Sloane asked from her position tucked against Bodhi’s chest.
“They get cleaned up.” His voice held an edge she didn’t know if she could handle hearing.
“Why is it we’re always cleaning people off roads?” Madeline muttered. “You guys realize it’s not the easiest, right?”
“Madeline,” Bodhi said in a warning tone.
“Well, regardless of the paperwork I’ll have to deal with once I get back, good job back there, North.” She gave him a nod, and then offered a slight smile to Sloane. She didn’t feel capable of returning it, so she only blinked back at her.
When they stopped driving, she realized she’d drifted into a sort of shocked trance. Being back in Bodhi’s arms as he carried her into a house centered her again. He set her on a sofa and returned to the door. He spoke quietly to Madeline and Archer for a minute and then closed the door. She heard the lock click.
He threw her a look and then disappeared down a hallway. A moment later, she heard water flooding into a bathtub. He returned for her. “Come on.”
He gathered her up and carried her into the bathroom. While he stripped off her dirty clothes and helped her into the hot water, he didn’t meet her gaze.
She sank into the depths and issued a moan as the warmth kneaded at her sore muscles and bruises. He sat back on the toilet seat and scrubbed a hand over his face.
Reaching out, she grasped his forearm. Their gazes connected.
“Tell me what happened, in your words. Please,” he added in a rough voice.
Haltingly, in spurts of speech, she relayed all she remembered.
“Was it Flint’s man?”
He nodded. “It’s done. He’ll never hurt you again. You should know I killed him.”
“I know.”
He chewed his lip a moment. “There’s something else you should know.”
Sitting up straighter, she gave him her whole attention.
“We broke into Flint’s house. He wasn’t home, but I found a phone book. We paired some of the numbers with addresses and we located several of the girls he’s sold. Our men have them right now and are on their way to the same rehabilitation center where we dropped Lauren. She’s making improvements, by the way. She’s starting to talk about her ordeal.”
Her heart tripled its beat, and she held her breath as she waited to hear one name—Scarlett.
Bodhi scuffed his knuckles over his jaw, creating a rasping sound.
“Bodhi?”
He held her stare. “One of the numbers led us to Scarlett.”
She shot upward, half leaving the tub. He caught her and eased her back down. “She’s alive? Is she all right? Does she want to come to my place?” She started to shake again.
“Sloane…”
A dread filled her. “She’s not okay, is she?”
He shook his head. “It seems that she’s been brainwashed to believe she belongs there with the man who bought her.”
She gasped. Never in her days, weeks or months of thinking of her sister did she ever consider such a thing.