Page 24 of Carlos: Trilogy: Part Two

He stepped right up to Owen, who had dropped his hand, and got nose to nose with the man. Carlos was taller than him, but Owen had an air of menace about him that Carlos lacked. Or he did—until someone kidnapped his woman’s son.

“Look me in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with this. Tell me that you did not kidnap an innocent little boy away from his mother in broad daylight.”

Owen did not back down. He even took a step forward. “Never. I would never harm Kyle nor would I hurt Zoe like that. My brother loved her and I choose to honor him by protecting her and her son. I would never take him away from her unless it was what she asked of me.”

Carlos waited a heartbeat, studying those amber eyes, and then nodded once. He stepped back. “I suspect Trapper has him.”

“Trapper?”

Carlos indicated towards the computer screen. “This was our first date last week.” He took out his phone to show Owen the picture Keys had edited with a beardless Trapper. He held the two screens up next to each other.

Owen’s eyes narrowed. “Fuck it all. He was in Mount Grove. He shook my tail, but I was so sure he’d turned east. Why would he come here? There’s no way he knew about Zoe and Kyle.”

“Yet you warned me about him?”

“I wasn’t about to let a notorious bounty hunter with no morals within the same breathing air as them.” Owen leaned over the keyboard. “He was seated before you. How did he know you were going there on your date?”

“I don’t know,” Carlos answered. “It’s one of the reasons I recognized him, because I had to walk past him to get to my booth.”

“You saw him once at a glance and you recognized him a week later?” Owen looked over his shoulder, seeming as impressed as Keys had been.

“I’m good with faces,” Carlos growled through gritted teeth.

Owen turned back to the screen. “He leaves before the two of you too.”

“It would have been suspicious otherwise,” Carlos commented. “We were talking for so long Kelly had to come kick us out.”

“Where did you go after your date?”

“For a walk in the park and then I drove her back to the club’s property.”

“He must have followed you.”

“I moved her into my house the next day.” Shame filled Carlos. He was so sure he could protect Zoe and Kyle. That his badge would protect her. He’d been so foolish, stupid. Selfish.

Owen stood up. “He must have recognized Zoe despite her being heavier and changing her hair color.”

Carlos’s eyebrows drew down. Zoe was heavier now? Compared to what? She was perfect with curves and a little belly fat he attributed to her being a mom. She’d been thinner once? How? Why?

Owen’s voice was low as he added, “Her husband forced her to only eat vegetables after she gave birth. He didn’t like that she carried extra weight from the pregnancy.”

Carlos’s jaw snapped closed. The fucker! What he wouldn’t give for Davis Rutterson to still be alive.

But Carlos had a different revenge in mind regardless of Rutterson’s current deceased state: he planned to love, cherish, worship, and protect the man’s wife better than Rutterson ever could have. Additionally, he would raise the man’s son to be a better man, the best man.

Only, Carlos had to find Kyle first.

Jaw tight, he looked to Owen. “Why did you come to Mount Grove? If you weren’t tracking Trapper, why did you come? Why show your face?”

“To be honest, it had nothing to do with Kyle or Zoe. They were only an excuse. I’m looking for a man named Cap. I’ve heard he has ties to the MC but I haven’t been able to locate him in town. I figured I had the wrong MC. After all, if he knew your MC then he would have known Conner, which meant he would have known me.”

Carlos didn’t know anyone by that name. “Why are you looking for him?”

“Answering that will take longer than we have. If Trapper has Kyle, he’s heading to Philly.” Owen glanced behind him at the closed door. “Can you ride?”

“A motorcycle? Sure.”

Owen nodded to Carlos’s hip. “Lose the badge and the uniform, Sheriff. We’re going to be riding fast and riding hard.” Heading towards the door, Owen threw over his shoulder. “Hope you can keep up.”

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