“Like I said, a professor. He seemed okay, but obviously I’ll look into him more.”
“Yeah, you do that.” And in the meantime, he’d find out...what? Kennedy wasn’t his. He didn’t even want her to be his.
Ignoring his turmoil, Madison continued, “This friend of hers, Jodi Bentley, is more than a little misguided. It appears she’s playing vigilante.”
Since Reyes and his siblings did the same, he wouldn’t condemn her out of hand for that. “Details?”
“She drove one guy off the road. I think she’d planned to kill him, but a cop was nearby and arrived before she could. Turned out the guy had outstanding warrants for kidnapping and suspected murder. Jodi claimed he’d been chasing her, and since it fit, no one questioned it.”
“Sounds to me like she did the world a favor.” And, yeah, it worried him.
“Another guy went home with her from a bar, and he was never seen again. Friends of his at the bar said she’d come on to him hot and heavy. She claims they went to a park to boink, he got too rough and she walked home. That time she had a black eye, so again, there weren’t a lot of questions asked.”
“But you’re suspicious.”
“I’ve got six or seven more stories like those, but the real kicker?” Again she spun the laptop around for Reyes to see. “This isn’t the first fire she’s been near.”
“Holy shit.” Eyes glued to the screen, Reyes took in the grainy image of a young, scrawny woman standing on the sidewalk among other spectators, watching a home go up in flames.
Madison tapped a finger over the woman. “She’d been renting the house down the street for only a month. Right after the fire, she moved.”
Tension crawled into his neck, along with a rush of determination to his blood. “You think she’d want to hurt Kennedy?”
“Not really, but something isn’t adding up. Is she capable of killing? Yes. Is she familiar with fires? Evidence makes it seem so. Did the poor woman have a horrific background? Most definitely. Let’s just say it bears more investigation.”
“What about the other guy you saw on the scene? The one who appeared to be tucking away a weapon?”
“Without plates, he’s a little more difficult to track.”
“Only a little?” Even though Reyes had witnessed his sister’s tech magic, there were still times when she left him awed.
With a shrug, she closed her laptop. “I’ll be going through other camera feeds to see if I can pick up anything else, but it’s doubtful. I’ve already looked at the most obvious ones without luck.”
“Let me know—”
“ASAP if I find anything. Naturally.” Then she tipped her head. “So, you and Kennedy.”
“No.” Reyes pointed at her. “Do not do that.”
Her secret little smile set off alarm bells in his head. “I hope you like her, because she’ll need to stay with you for a while.”
His molars clenched. “I’ll find her a secure place.”
“No place is secure enough if she’s alone.”
“Bullshit. I can tuck her into a protected facility and have her stay put.” Even as he said the words, he knew he was full of it. He didn’t want her on her own, alone and afraid.
Even more than that, though, he didn’t want his family manipulating him. Sure, Madison might have altruistic motives, but that didn’t mean she knew what was best for him.
Arms folded, Madison narrowed her eyes. “Oh? For how long, because this won’t get wrapped up anytime soon. You want her ‘staying put’ for a month? Two?”
He shot back, “You want her to live with me that long?”
Clearly disappointed in him, she shook her head. “This might be a good time to remind you that she lost nearly everything. She has a suitcase of stuff, and nothing else. Any photos, artwork, all her clothes—anything and everything personal, gone.”
Shit. Turning his back on his sister, Reyes walked to the kitchen patio doors to look out. Aspens in fall shades of butter yellow, golden amber and crimson red dotted the landscape, mixed with russet scrub oak brush and backlit by a sky made vivid blue by the morning sunrise. This home was his retreat, his and his alone. It was where he worked out his frustrations, sparing the rest of the world—and his family—his occasional foul mood.
“You want me to turn my life upside down for Kennedy.” Madison didn’t just want it, she expected it.
“If you have a better idea, go for it. Just know that, left on her own, she doesn’t stand a chance.”
Pressing his forehead to the cool glass, Reyes held silent. He knew what he had to do. Hell, what he wanted to do. Once his sister hit the road, he’d get the ball rolling.
That didn’t mean he had to embrace the damn implosion of his carefully constructed life.
When a door closed a little too loudly, he turned fast, but realized right away it wasn’t an entry door, but the bedroom door.
Which had already been closed. Unless...Kennedy had come out and they hadn’t heard her.
But, of course, she would have heard them.
He and Madison stared at each other.
“Oops,” his sister said. “Guess the girl has stealth.”
“Time for you to go.” Otherwise, Kennedy really might try crawling out the window.
Already standing and gathering her purse, Madison said, “No problem. By the way, it’s safe enough for her to use her phone, but she shouldn’t send any texts or emails detailing her location. Whoever is on her, they’re not tech savvy enough, or connected enough, to do much digital tracking, but we can’t rule out a hacker. However, she should avoid all areas familiar to her because I have a feeling Jodi, or her goons, might be watching for her to pop back up. It could be dangerous.”
“Unless she’s with me.”
Satisfaction curved Madison’s mouth. “Unless she’s with you.” She came over to kiss Reyes on the cheek. “Good luck.”
Knowing he’d need it, he said, “Thanks,” and walked her out. After watching her drive away, he knew he couldn’t put it off any longer.
It was time to explain things to Kennedy, whether she wanted to hear him out or not.
* * *
“WHERE THE FUCK is she?” Delbert O’Neil demanded as he paced, occasionally taking a deep draw on his cigarette. Kennedy should have been in her bed. She should now be nothing but cinders. Instead, she was unaccounted for, and that meant she was still a threat to him.