not? You're sure? Chicks can be crazy stalkers too."
"Sure. But statistically, only toward exes. But no. This is a guy. The address comes back to a Kit whose middle name is actually Kat because his parents must have hated him," Arty said, not one for jokes in general, but the relief of wrapping up the case was probably making him feel the deviousness from his lack of sleep.
"Okay. So that's who was in the video? Kit Kat something-or-other."
"Gadleigh, yeah. He even moved down here about a year ago, got a job, set up shop in Miami."
"He's in Miami," I said, feeling purpose chase away my worry. "What's the address?" I asked, already making my way to the door.
I could hear McCoy, Remy, and Che behind me as I made my way down the stairs and out the front door, where I was stopped by Seeley who pressed something into my chest as I moved past him.
My hand went out automatically, my fingers finding the cold metal.
A silencer.
"Go get her. And don't get caught," he said, reaching for a cigarette. "I think there's a patch waiting for me when this is all done. I'd hate it if you got killed or locked up before I got that," he said, giving me a small smirk as I rushed past, getting on my bike, putting on my helmet this time, likely put there by Seeley who was always thinking ahead of the rest of us.
We flew down the road as my mind raced from one scenario to the next.
In half of them, I got there in time, I saved her before anything too bad happened.
In the other half, though, my mind reminded me that there was a very good chance that we were too late, that there was a fuckuva lot of bad shit a psycho could do to a woman in just a few minutes, let alone hours.
It felt like it took hours to get to Miami despite giving the finger to speed limits, to speed readers we passed on the way.
Mind a little more clear, I drove past the place, parking down a side street, so no one would place the bikes at the scene, tucking my cut under my seat, my gun up in my waistband, nodding to McCoy before taking off at a brisk walk, not wanting to draw any more attention to us than necessary.
We weren't in a partying area of the city where no one would remember anyone being around who was out of place.
Kit lived in a small rental apartment building made of a hideous orange stucco, the place looking like it hadn't seen a renovation since the eighties. And judging from the cars in the lot, it was the kind of place for people down on their luck, transitioning from marriage to singledom, not for anyone who actually wanted to call the place home for long.
"In the back," McCoy said, nodding toward the small alley between the building and the fence to the property next door, making it so we had to run through single-file, finding a staircase up to the second floor.
"How'd he get her up here without someone asking what he was doing?" Che wondered aloud, voice hardly more than a whisper as we moved in front of the apartment we wanted.
I didn't know the answer to that.
I didn't give a fuck.
All I could focus on was being close.
Too close.
I lifted my foot to kick even as McCoy reached in front of me, grabbing, and turning the knob.
I was sure he shot me a raised brow look, but I wouldn't have seen it, my focus was on other things.
On her.
On saving her. I rushed through the kitchen area, down the hall where I could hear a soft, low plea.
Stop.
Fuck.
Fuck.
I broke into the family room to find him kneeling on her thighs, her shirt yanked up to expose her, her breasts red and pained-looking.
And I nearly fucking blacked out with rage as I charged forward, raising, cocking, and sending a bullet through the mother fucker's temple.
Confused, maybe a little in shock, Harmon's mouth opened to scream even as the bastard's body fell forward, half trapping her.
I dropped down beside her, my hand slapping over her mouth, silencing.
"Sh. Babe. Sh. It's okay," I told her, hearing the desperation in my voice, knowing I wasn't being soothing, but I was too worked up to get the worry and relief out of my voice. "It's alright. You're okay," I told her, dropping the gun, reaching down to