Page 70 of Stay Baby Stay

Austin whacks King in the back of the head with the butt of his gun.

“My bad, counselor,” he says.

King whines about his injuries for a quick minute. I figure there’s no point in maintaining pretenses when I’ve already been found out. I take off my ski mask, wipe the sweat from beneath my eyes, and move in closer to King.

“How’d you know I was gonna be there?” I ask, glaring down at his red face.

“I told you,” he says. “I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere, detective.”

I nod for Austin to give him another well deserved whack upside the head.

King flinches. “Fine... Fuck. Clyde told me himself.”

“And how the hell did he know?”

“I don’t know,” he says breathlessly. “I swear to God, I don’t know.”

“I don’t think God is listening, counselor.” I look to my comrades. “I think we’re ready to wrap this up.”

Austin pulls out his hunting knife. King stares, wide-eyed, as Austin grabs one of the throw pillows from the couch, cuts a gash along one side, and empties out the fluff. In one fluid motion, Austin covers Russell’s head with the empty pillow sack.

“You’re gonna pay for this, detective,” King shouts, his voice muffled by the fabric. “I’ll personally see to it that you lose your badge.”

Mike closes Russell’s laptop, tosses it on the table, and hands over the external hard drive.

“No, I don’t think you will, counselor,” I say. “And the reason I don’t think so, is that I’ll be taking this hard drive with me.”

“Your security cams are dead,” Mike says. “As for the rest of us, no one saw our faces. Not even you.”

“You’re not gonna breathe a word of this,” I say. “Because if you do, I’llpersonallysee to it that the contents of this hard drive make it out to every prominent news outlet in the country. I suspect if anyone in your secret club learns what was taken from your safe tonight, jail time will be the least of your worries.”

We drop a set of bolt cutters at King’s feet, then make our way back upstairs. As we slip out of the house and into the dark of night, we hear the guards groaning behind the pool house.

Halfway to the vans, I ask Mike, “What happened to the girl?”

He chuckles. “Gave her the keys to King’s Jag.”

For the first time tonight, we let ourselves laugh.

Back in the van, far from King’s property, Jonah turns his phone on.

“Teagan texted a couple hours ago,” he tells me. “She says McKenzie’s back in Hollywood.”

My heart just about detonates in my chest.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” I say. “They’ve found her.”

Chapter Twenty-six

Holly

I watch my best friend stare absently into the dancing steam over her teacup. The girl beside me looks like Kenzie. She even sounds like Kenzie. But her natural effervescence has gone flat. If it wasn’t for the familiar outer shell, I wouldn’t recognize her.

“Take your time,” Cal says, notepad in-hand. “Start when you’re ready.”

I rest my arm on the back of the sofa behind Kenzie’s head. At the moment, it’s me, Kenzie, Jonah’s social-worker sister, Mary, and Cal seated around the living room. I can hear Teagan puttering around the kitchen, and the low murmur of male voices drifting up from the basement rec room.

Kenzie clears her throat softly, then says, “Steph told me there was a man who wanted to pay me for my time. All I had to do was go to his house for a few hours. I tried to bring Hollywood with me, but the driver said he only wanted me...”

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