Page 29 of Girl Lost
“Girl, that’s all of us. Look around.” Tori stretched both arms out.
Luna glanced around the gym at the smattering of youths working out. A young woman, barely a teenager by the looks of it, shadowboxed alone in the corner. Over-the-ear headphones blocked out the world around her. Across the room, a wiry teenager with a mop of brown hair jogged on the treadmill. Two teens wrestled on the center mat, each grappling to pin the other.
She ran her tongue over her teeth. “Reminds me of us.”
“See? We’re all fighters here, thinking we have to fend for ourselves. Isn’t that why this place exists? To teach us not just how to throw a punch but how to truly survive?” Tori set both hands on her hips.
“Yeah, well, some of us had to learn that lesson the hard way. Except Jett, Mr. Perfect Family.” The one glaring exception in their ragtag group. The one who’d strolled into the program with a trust fund and a designer gym bag. She was pretty sure it was his father’s donations that kept the program running. A far cry from the court-ordered reality the rest of them had faced.
“Yeah, well he’s got abandonment issues just the same. Rich or poor. Doesn’t change the fact that we all carry scars.” Tori’s eyes searched Luna’s face. “My point is, this gym taught us to fight, yeah, but more importantly, to watch each other’s backs. Didn’t the Marines teach you that too?”
Tori was right, and that just made it all the more infuriating.Jett was her friend, and just because he hadn’t been sentenced to the program like the rest of them, it didn’t mean he hadn’t dragged around his own painful baggage. But unlike the rest of them, at least Jett had parents who wanted the best for him, even if they went about it in all the wrong ways. His father’s relentless pressure was its own kind of prison.
She swiped a sweaty strand of hair from her face. “Speaking of having backs, shouldn’t you be feeding my rage by telling me all the horrible things Corbin’s ever said about me?”
“Oh yeah. Right. What a jerk.” Tori looked amused. “How dare he apologize to you? Makes me wanna throw a lawn mower to his perfectly chiseled jaw.” Tori demonstrated the upward elbow strike on the heavy bag.
“That was almost believable.” Luna rolled her eyes and stepped back. She tugged at the Velcro on her gloves with her teeth and peeled them off.
She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed this place, these people, until now. The ache in her chest was sharper than any punch she’d thrown at the bag.
“What’s the plan?” Tori stuck her hand out, and Luna tossed the gloves to her.
“Now that I’ve gotten some of my frustrations out, I’m ready to help Corbin.” She scooped her sweat-dampened hair behind her ears.
Tori’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa, hold on a minute. Am I getting whiplash here? Help Corbin? After all that ...” She gestured toward the bag still swaying from Luna’s assault.
“The commissioner showed up right after we arrested Abercorn. He was furious with Corbin for working Stryker’s case and for letting me serve the warrant with the team. Threatened to take his badge.” And she felt responsible. “Corbin’s not supposed to be working on any case but this missing girl. I didn’t realize.”
“Me neither.” Tori’s brow furrowed. “I figure he’s helping Bladebecause ... well, you know. Stryker. But we’re talking about the commissioner’s daughter. Makes sense he’d want the best on it.”
The best. Was Corbin really the best? She’d seen glimpses of it. The way he’d reacted in the fire, his quick thinking, his determination to get them out. The strength in his arms as he pulled her through the smoke. She would never have made it out of that house without him. The flames. The heat. The suffocating smoke.
There was a reason behind her deer-in-the-headlights moment.
She just wasn’t ready to face it.
She looked up, saw Tori watching her, and pressed on. “Anyway, I’m meeting him at his office. I’m going to help with the Carlie Tinch case.”
“One minute you’re ready to knock his teeth out, and now you’re his partner?”
“If Corbin and I want on Stryker’s case, we have to play by the commissioner’s rules. So, I’m a consultant.” She tilted her hands, palms up, like a waitress presenting an invisible tray. “I’d better get a move on. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night getting up to speed on Carlie’s case.”
“Sounds good, but maybe you want to shower first?” Tori wrinkled her nose. “You ripe, chica.”
She had to laugh at that. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll hose off before I offend the general public. I’m hitting the showers here then heading to his office.”
“Why here?” Tori put a fist on her hip. “Wait, where are you staying? You got a hotel or something?”
She hadn’t planned on staying at all. The idea was to find Stryker, get the information she needed, and disappear, all before lunch. “I, uh ... haven’t really figured that out yet. Haven’t gotten a hotel or anything.”
Tori’s face lit up. “Perfect! You’re staying with me. No arguments.”
“I don’t know...”
“Come on, it’s close to the beach. Not far from Stryker’s place. We can hang out, just like old times.”
She hesitated. The thought of slipping back into her old life, even temporarily, made her stomach churn. She’d come here for one reason. To find her daughter. Now she was being pulled back into a world she’d left behind years ago.
