Page 33 of Avenging Kelly

For a moment, he hesitated before he released his hold and stepped back. I was relieved to see he still had control of his impulses.

I studied Devaney’s face for a moment. “What happened with Mia Boone?” I asked, holding my pistol in front of her so there was no mistaking my intentions. I’d shoot her in a fucking heartbeat to keep Kelly from having to do it. He had enough demons chasing him.

“Who are you?” she asked, a defiant jut to her chin.

I chuckled. “Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is the name of the person who told you to place Mia Boone with Phillippe and Bess Trudeau.”

Her eyebrows lifted for a split second before she smirked. “They’re a wonderful family. They’ve had many foster kids over the years, and Mia was lucky to get placed with them. He’s a veteran, you know.”

I held my fucking breath as Kelly stared at the woman. His hands tensed a few times before he stepped closer.

“Really? You think those people deserved to have… I’m sorry. Let me back up a little, Charlene. I’m trying to figure out what happened to my sister. I don’t want to hurt you, I promise. I just want to know how my sister ended up in San Diego when her mother was waiting for her at home in New York,” he answered, his face not revealing any emotion at all.

Mrs. Devaney didn’t buy his act. “You know where she is, and you know she had that baby. If you think they won’t come for it, you’re wrong.”

My eyes met Kelly’s, and he looked as if he was going to come unhinged. What she’d insinuated was that Mia was in danger. I needed to call Dom to get protection for Mia and Daisy until we could get back to New York.

I laughed, though not because it was funny. Nothing about the fucking situation was humorous.

“That’s bullshit. Why would they come for the baby? All that does is confirm Trudeau raped a minor, and she got pregnant with his child,” I stated, watching her expression closely.

“That baby is worth fifty grand. It’s already been promised to someone,” Devaney said.

“Promised? Promised to who?” I snapped, unable to hold my temper.

“I don’t know. That’s not my concern. I’m paid to…”

Before she could finish the sentence, the window shattered behind us, and Devaney’s head exploded, sending blood and brain matter everywhere.

Kelly quickly pushed me down, covering my body with his. We heard the squeal of tires and the roar of an engine from the street in front of the house.

Kelly crawled through the broken glass and looked out another window. “I think they’re gone. What the fuck?”

“We gotta get out of here before the neighbors figure out it wasn’t a car backfiring and call the cop,” I said as I slid behind the blood-soaked dining room chair and cut the zip-cuffs off her, shoving the debris in my pocket.

Kelly grabbed Devaney’s cell phone off the counter where it was charging, and the two of us headed toward the back door.

“Wait… We can’t go back to Marianna’s,” Kelly said.

“Our stuff is there.”

“Yeah, but if they’re out there waiting for us, they’ll follow us to Marianna’s. She doesn’t deserve to be in danger because she gave us a place to stay.” Well, he had a point.

“I’ll take the car and lead them away if they’re following us. I’ll ditch the car and report it stolen, then I’ll get our stuff from Marianna’s and meet you at the airport. Can you get an Uber or a Lyft? Do you have the app on your phone?” I asked.

“No. I just have a burner phone. I can’t download apps on it. Look, let me go take a look around and see if anyone’s out there, then we’ll both get the hell out of here,” Kelly insisted.

“Wait! Gimme her phone. Let’s see if she has the app. I didn’t see a car,” I insisted.

He handed over the phone, and when the screen came to life, there was a picture with Devaney standing next to a man I recognized from photos Ace and Mathis had taken from their trip to San Diego when they brought Mia home.

“We need to get this to Casper. He can get it open. We can go through all the numbers until we find out who she was working with to sell Mia’s baby. I need to call Gabby and get someone to your mother’s house. If what that nut said is right, someone will come looking for Daisy,” I stated, knowing that if her doorbell had captured my face, I could get Casper to make sure it wasn’t recorded anywhere except on Devaney’s cell.

Kelly nodded. “Come on, if they’re still out there, they’d have already come after us.”

We hurried out the back and down the block until we got to Marianna’s car. Kelly drove us back toward Marianna’s house while I called Dominic. Kelly was right. We needed to get back to New York, but we had one more thing to do while we were in San Diego. We had a pimp to find.

14

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