Page 78 of Grim

“Maybe not, but it’s a lot. And you didn’t ask for any of it.”

“And neither did you, and the same goes for Luna. Poor kid should’ve never been pulled into this. But don’t worry.” Lawson slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me close. “We’re going to get her back.”

Hearing those words from him moved me in a way I didn’t expect. Lawson had shown me compassion and understanding like no other man had, and I truly believed him when he said that he would bring Luna back to me. With tears streaming down my face, I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

“I better get to it.” He released me and then stepped over to the desk. He grabbed a notepad and pen off the table and offered them to me. “If you think of anything we might need to know, just jot it down.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be back when I can.”

He kissed me on the cheek, and then he was gone.

I walked over to the bed, and as I lay down, I was engulfed in a whirlwind of anguish and uncertainty. I had no idea where my precious daughter was or what was happening to her. Delgado was an evil, evil man, and even though I tried to fight it, I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering to the darkest corners of possibility. It was killing me.

I was in an impossible spot.

Lawson and his brothers were fierce men who would have no trouble handling a man like Delgado, but they weren’t just dealing with Delgado. They were dealing with my daughter, too. They couldn’t get to her without going through him, and they couldn’t go through him without putting her at risk.

I was the only chance they had of getting close to him without hurting her.

I just had to make them see that, but that would mean interrupting their meeting—a meeting they clearly didn’t want me to be a part of. But I didn’t have a choice. I had to say my piece, and like they say—desperate people do desperate things. So, I got up and looked out the door, searching in vain for someone who might be able to tell me where to find Lawson and the rest of the guys.

Sadly, there was no one in sight.

I was on my own.

I shook off my nerves and started down the hall. It wasn’t long before I heard voices coming from a room around the bend. As I got closer, I heard one of them say, “A man like this isn’t gonna give the kid up without a fight.”

“Then, we fight.”

“I’m all for it, but we gotta figure out how we’re gonna do it without putting the girl in danger.”

I took that as my opportunity to push the door open and step inside. It was a fairly large room with long wooden table, and Lawson and Preacher were sitting there with several other brothers. They all turned and glared at me when I said, “I have an idea.”

The room fell completely silent—eerily so, and I knew I’d fucked up. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to intrude, but I...”

“I told you to stay in the room,” Lawson interrupted.

“I know, but...” I could see that he was angry with me. They all were, but I didn’t let that stop me from saying, “Delgado will never let you get close to Luna. He’d kill her before he let that happen.”

Their fierce expressions slowly softened as my words sank in.

I hoped that meant they would listen when I said, “You have to let me go in there. I can take the bag I got from Jimmy’s and use it to buy my daughter back. Once I have her, you guys can come and do whatever it is you do.”

“Absolutely the fuck not.”

“But it’s the safest way,” I pushed. “You can’t just barge in there and start shooting. Luna is in there with him.”

“She’s got a point there,” Memphis interjected. “We got no idea where he’s put the kid, and without eyes on the inside, we have no way of finding out where she is.”

“But sending her in there doesn’t fix anything,”

“I don’t know. I think it might,” Shep disagreed. “She’s been there before, so she’ll know the lay of the land. We could put a camera on her. Then once she’s inside, we can see what we need to see and make a move from there.”

“And what if he gets the bag and kills her right there on the spot.”

I looked Lawson directly in the eye as I told him, “I’m willing to take that chance.”

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