Page 46 of Stolen By the Hit Man
When I shake his hand, I see it. He and I have something in common. There are things we can’t talk about. Things we hide from our own family, for their own safety. His reasons may be sanctioned by the American government, but he and I are not that different.
I change my mind then and there about telling the group that Orlyn Moffatt has gone missing. I can help track him down. I can make him give us information about the compound and its elders. I can neutralize him once he’s no longer useful. And I’ll do it all for free. I don’t need local law enforcement handling this.
“Curly, this is…” I look around and realize Jasmyn’s gone.
Panic hits my stomach.
Where did she go?
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jasmyn
Joaquin finds me on the bed.
He sees the look on my face, then sits down quietly and waits for me to talk first.
I prepare to ask questions I don’t want the answers to.
“How do you know the Wylie Gang?”
He chuckles, but then sees I’m serious.
“Come on, baby.”
“They are kidnappers and thieves, and that girl Georgie is obviously suffering from Stockholm syndrome. I don’t know what those people are up to, but I assure you it’s no good.”
“Sweetheart…”
“You said you wanted to come with me to Florida? It’ll have to be a little sooner than we planned. I can get you away from them before they get you into trouble.”
He listens patiently, his brows drawn together. When I finish, he speaks slowly.
“Jasmyn, Wylie and his friends are not a gang. They aren’t thieves or kidnappers. That’s just what they told you at the compound to scare you into staying. They preach the same thing to all the women so they’ll be less likely to run away with the ‘Wylie Gang’s’ help.”
He uses air quotes to refer to the crowd, which is still talking loudly in the kitchen.
What he says makes sense. “The posters are all over town, though.”
Nodding, he explains, “Yeah, and who do you think has been hanging those posters all over town? Do those posters look official to you at all?”
I think about this. “I guess…I don’t know.”
“Remember that the doctor said you might not be able to think clearly for a while? Especially when you’re stressed?”
“This isn’t that,” I say, while pinching the bridge of my nose to stave off the coming headache.
“Wylie’s just a rancher. Ellis is just a farmer. They’re well respected in the community. Barrett—well I’m not sure what his deal is, he’s kind of a loner mountain man dude. Why would they give up the status quo just to be wanted criminals? They are literally helping people escape. They are good people. And Olivia, Louisa, and Goldie did not kidnap Georgie. All those women ran away willingly. Same as you did.”
It’s hard to think all this through. I’ve been a one-track mind since my memories returned. Focusing on recovering and putting my trust in Joaquin to have my back.
The Wylie Gang narrative seems like a stretch if these people are well-regarded in the community.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course,” I tell him.
“Jefferson and I have been brothers a long time, and he wouldn’t get involved with anything if it wasn’t the right thing to do. Between the two of us, we’re pretty good at digging up dirt on people. Well, except for Nelly, obviously. I dropped the ball on that one. I never thought…”
