Page 15 of Stay Baby Stay

A familiar feeling sinks to the bottom of my stomach like a dropped stone. It’s the same sense of dread I felt last night when Kenzie promised she’d be back.

I wait for him to drive off, and for Doreen to retreat into the office, then scurry upstairs to our room. Pulling the key from my pocket, I reach for the door handle and find it’s already open.

In fact, the lock is broken.

My heart pounds.

“Kenzie,” I whisper. “Are you in here?”

Slowly, I ease through the door into the room. I’m met with silence and disarray.

The room has been trashed. Sheets and pillows in heaps on the floor, drawers yanked open, bags rummaged through. I check the bathroom, hoping to find Kenzie hiding in the tub, but it’s empty. She’s not here.

And if she’s not here, then where is she?

My head spins like a merry-go-round on fast forward. If the creepy driver is looking for her, that means she must still be out there, alone.

But what if he isn’t looking for her? What if he’s looking for me?

Doreen is a lot of things. A hard ass, an extortionist, and a downright bitch. But I don’t doubt that she’s dealt with her share of bad men. Maybe he asked about me and, getting a bad vibe, she lied to him.

Panic wraps around my middle like a corset. If that man’s looking for me, then he must’ve done something awful to McKenzie, and he’s tracking me down to tie up loose ends.

I sit on the edge of the exposed box spring and hug my leg to my chest.

Where do I go? Who do I turn to? Most people would probably go to the police, but most people aren’t semi-homeless teens who recently took money to attend a very sketchy sex party. I may not have hooked up with anyone, but the last thing I want to do is get Kenzie arrested.

But if she’s in trouble, the only way I can help get her out is by finding someone with more power and reach to help me.

Suddenly, I remember what Jack said last night. If I’m ever in trouble, I can turn to his friend.

I didn’t tell Jack where I live. If it’d been Nashville or Memphis or anywhere else, the name he wrote down wouldn’t be able to help me. But as fate or luck or whatever the hell you want to call it would have it, Jack’s cop friend works here in Knoxville.

I scramble into the bathroom and grab last night’s dress from the hamper. I shake it, and out falls the folded piece of paper Jack had given me. The paper itself is a little crumpled, the writing a tad faded from sweat, but I can still read it.

Caleb Larkin, Knoxville PD

Maybe this is a terrible idea, but I’m all out of options.

Breathing deeply, I push up from the bed and start sifting through the wreckage for my purse. I can’t find it. As I sort through the bedding, I realize Kenzie’s purse is gone too, as well as our phones.

The driver must’ve stolen them. Which means, I have no money.Kenzie has no money. If she tries to call my cell or text me her location, he’ll know exactly where she is.

“Fuck...” I rake my fingers through my hair and start to rock in place. With any luck, Kenzie’s somewhere hiding. Scared, but safe. Then again, Kenzie and I have been a lot of things over the years, andluckyis rarely one of them.

I force myself to take a deep breath, and then another. I tell myself I can do this. I don’t need money to walk to the police station.

Jack said he trusts this cop, and even though we barely know each other, I trust Jack.

I need to find Caleb Larkin.Fast.

Chapter Eight

Caleb

Lieutenant Isaac Harris hauls me into his office the second I arrive at the station. Before I can even park my ass in a chair, he’s on me.

“What the hell were you thinking going to Russell King’s house last night?”

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