Page 90 of Gifts

It’s almost eleven. I’ve got to be back in time to get Keelie and her kids to school in the morning. I’m not about to let them loose on their own yet.

When I make the turn into the kitchen, Keelie’s cleaning the last of the messes from the day.

I come up behind her and put my hand on her stomach. “I’ve got to go out.”

She flips the water off and shifts into me. “It’s late. Where are you going?”

I don’t give her the answer she’s looking for. “Ozzie’s already on his way. He doesn’t have to come in—he can sit in his car.”

I watch her beautiful face morph into a frown and she repeats slower than before, “Where are you going?”

I take a breath. “My contact at the CIA tracked down the phone that sent those pictures to Emma.”

“So, call the police and give them the information,” she says with an edge to her voice. “It’s their job.”

I move closer, pressing her into the counter, and tilt her face to mine. “I have to do this. I’ll turn them over to the police, but I need to chase this trail myself. Especially after the months I’ve spent watching Emma fight this in her head.”

She fists my shirt before sliding her hands around my waist. When her hand runs into my gun, I grab her wrist and bring it back between us.

“This is exactly why you don’t need to go,” she says. “Please, Asa. Leave it to the police.”

“I’ll be back.” I lean down and kiss her forehead. “I don’t know how long this will take, but I hope I can wrap this up before morning.”

She looks at me, her breathing barely starts to speed, and I only know it because I can feel it against my chest. Just like the fierce, beautiful woman she’s proven to be, she gets it together, even though her words don’t match her body language. “Don’t go. Please. Just come to bed.”

I fist her hair again and lower my voice. “I’ll meet you there soon. Don’t worry.”

She looks away and shakes her head.

“Why would I worry?” she quips. “You’ve been out before on a Saturday night and came back, right?” I feel my jaw go hard, not happy with her comment, even if it’s the truth. She doesn’t let up. “Just so you know, when someone tells me not to worry, that’s like waving a red-flag that tells me it’s high-fucking-time to worry. It’s just like someone telling me to relax. I don’t like to be bullshitted and you telling me not to worry is a big pile of it.”

“Fair enough. I won’t do it again.” I take a deep breath and sigh. “I’ll meet you in bed. You won’t even know I’m gone.”

I lean down to kiss her and she holds me tight, deepening my kiss. Her hidden desperation is killing me.

“Baby. I gotta go. Crew and Grady are waiting on me.”

She lets me go faster than I like, her eyes hanging on mine one last moment. Then, just like I never walked through the kitchen, she turns around and flips the water back on.

Fuck me.

Chapter 23

Get My Shit Together

Asa

“Tell me where.”

I’m on the phone with Carson and he’s got a lock on the location of the phone the pictures were sent from. We should be able to find it as long as he doesn’t take me into a crowded bar or amusement park. If that’s the case, I’m screwed. I’m counting on that phone to lead me to who’s been threatening Emma. They’re going to learn they fucked with the wrong man’s daughter.

Seeing as we’re in a Manassas neighborhood in the middle of the night, we should be able to find it.

“I’m tracking you,” Carson says. “Go north. About a block up.”

I look to Crew and Grady and give them a chin lift to follow. We move to the corner, I don’t see any life.

“It’s deserted—just houses.”

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