Page 63 of Her Captor's Secret Heir

He glances around. “Could you—" He clears his throat, “Could you give me some money too? I saw your kid, but Daniel spoke up first. I wouldn’t ask, but... I could really use the money to buy some food for me and my mom. We’re out of stuff until the first of the month, and the church kitchen isn’t open anymore.”

Whatever I expected this kid to say, that wasn’t it. He reminds me of many of the boys I grew up with. Hanging by a thread. Hell, I even see some of myself in his scrappy, rangy vibe. “Yeah. I can do that.” I pull out my wallet, taking out a thick wad of hundreds. I don’t bother counting. “Don’t tell anyone else, they might...”

His lips press flat. “I know. But that’s not how I got this shiner. That was defending my friend from her bully.”

I surprise myself by grinning. “Well, then it was worth it, wasn’t it?”

He nods solemnly. “Yeah. It was. I’d do it again too. I don’t like seeing that asshole be mean to her.”

I pass him the cash. He doesn’t even look at it, just tucks down in his pants, and inside his briefs. I take another card out and write my number on it. “If you’re hungry again, call me. I’ll help you out. And do me a favor. Try to keep your nose clean. No drugs, no illegal stuff. You do that and you stay in school, and one day, I’ll help you get a job.”

“You’d do that? You don’t even know me.”

I extend my hand to him for a shake. “I was just like you once. That’s all I need to know. Now I have to go. Keep your eyes peeled for Finn. He’s too young to be off on his own.”

He shakes my hand with vigor. “I will. One more thing... Your son looked upset when I saw him. Face was red like he’d been crying. I watched him run toward the bus stop. That’s where he talked to some guy in a hoodie. Then they both got on the bus, just like Daniel said. I remember him because I wondered if he had a bully too.”

As he backs away, he throws up his hand. “Thanks, this will make my mother so happy she’ll cry.” For a second, we stare at each other, then he hurries back to his crew.

I can’t think about the fact that my kid was hurting. I can’t think about the fact that he might not be safe. That he might be in trouble. I have to just push through and do what needs to be done.

Carra’s waiting for me by the car. She looks like death, but she’s holding herself together well enough to talk on the phone. When she sees me approach, she mouths the wordMax.

I open the car and help her inside, shut the door, and trot around to the driver’s side. She’s disconnecting when I get in.

“Max is going to call the city for the video files from the bus, I figured since he’s a Fed, he’d have contacts.”

“He does. Smart of you to call him.”

“What did that other kid say?”

I pull away from the curb and turn toward the bus stop where Finn got on a city bus. “He asked for money for food. He also said he saw Finn.”

I don’t tell her he was upset. That might be the straw that breaks her. I need her to keep hoping. I need her to stay with me. I just... need her right now.

Twisting her hands in her laps, she says, “I’m terrified he got on a bus with someone, but I also feel this weird sense of hope because someone saw him. What should we do now?”

“You should call Ariel and her sister. I’m going to figure out where his bus route goes.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE

I’m empty. So hollow inside. The only sign I’m not dead and in hell is the merciless storm roaring between my ribs in the place where soft things used to be. This agonizing pain that wants to paralyze me. But I can’t let it. I have to keep moving. That is the only way I know to be able to withstand this onslaught of helplessness that threatens to bury me alive.

I just want to crawl into a dark hole and die, but my baby needs me. So, I take it one step at a time.

We go to every stop along the route. Nothing. No sign of Finn. The last stops don’t even have a place for us to ask. Desperate, I can’t help but wonder, “Where is he? We have to find him. What if he changed buses?”

Kieran whips the car in a violent U-turn in the middle of traffic. I’m so consumed by this need to find my baby I don’t even care that he barely misses a car, and that we cause utter mayhem in the intersection.

“That’s why we’re going to follow the connecting routes.”

Burying my face in my hands, I pray. I’ve never really prayed before, not like this. Not with every single cell in my being. Not even when I was pregnant and anguished.

I had hope then. Slim, but I still had it. Now I just have terror.

Kieran’s phone rings. “McGregor,” he snaps.

A look of relief washes over him so intense his eyes grow wet and his shoulders sags slightly. “What—oh fuck. Yes!” He grabs my hand, holds the phone to his ear with his shoulder, downshifts, and takes a right turn all at once. The car lurches forward, the engine growling louder. “Thank god. We’re not far. We’ll be there in twenty minutes. Tell Finn we’re coming.”

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