“But how will you ever know for sure if you don’t go after her?” My question seemed to make him hesitant as he rubbed the back of his neck in the way he did when he was nervous. “I have to tell you something. I’m—”

A knock on my door interrupted whatever he had been ready to say. I went to open the door and found Keenan standing on the other side with a guy I recognized but whose name I couldn’t remember. His blond, wavy hair and bright blue eyes gave him a polished, college look, and I wondered if I’d gone to school with him. Maybe he was in a fraternity.

“Are you going to let us in or continue to drool over Jesse?”

Jesse! He was the tech geek that had Lake befriended in high school. He attended our school only briefly before moving again. He came around again when Lake decided to play detective and uncover Keiran’s past.

“What are you doing here?”

“We’re here to help find rugrat.” Quentin, who I hadn’t noticed standing just behind Jesse, answered before shouldering his way past Keenan and Jesse and into the apartment.

“May I?” Jesse seemed to be the only male with manners.

I wordlessly gestured for him to enter. He flashed me a polite smile before entering but not before casting a sympathetic glance my way.

And then there was one…

“Where have you been?” The question had flown out before I knew that I would even ask it. I wanted to take it back, but the self-satisfied smirk on his face made it too late.

“Honey, I’m home,” Keenan singsonged. He wrapped an arm around my waist before picking me up to move me aside and enter the apartment.

As soon as he set me on my feet, I dug my nails into his skin, forcing him to let me go. “Our daughter has been missing for a week and you spend that time having a high school reunion?”

“So now she’s our daughter?”

I heard my hand impact the right side of his face before I ever felt the sting in my own hand. I took a timorous step back when his expression shifted from shock to amusement. Even so, I could see the deception in his gaze. His smile said he was amused, but his eyes promised retribution.

“You’re going to pay for that later,” he whispered so low I almost hadn’t caught it.

“Get away from my sister and explain where the fuck you’ve been for the last week.”

For the first time in four years, I was thankful for my brother’s presence and interference. This time it was I who wore a smug look.

“It’s nice to see you too, Dash,” Keenan replied seemingly unfazed. He walked deeper into my apartment, giving it a once over.

“Keenan,” Dash growled in warning.

“While you all were checking alleys and holding vigils, I was searching for the man I know has Kennedy.”

“You don’t think we’ve tried that? That the FBI hasn’t tried that? We’ve covered every angle. We’ve tried to find Mitch if he even can be found. With all his debts, he’s likely dead by now.”

“Or he was just waiting for the perfect opportunity,” Quentin added. “I don’t think we should sleep on Mitch until we are absolutely certain.

“He’s right.” Lake emerged from Kennedy’s bedroom where she had been sleeping. “Besides… we haven’t checked every angle.”

Her and Jesse seemed to have some kind of silent conversation going on.

“Camden,” Jesse blurted.

“Who is Camden?” Keenan asked.

“Camden isn’t a person. It’s a place. It’s where your grandparents live and where your father came from.”

“And you know this how?”

“When Keiran blackmailed me, I did some digging. Jesse and I came across very little, but what we did uncover was obviously meant to stay hidden. Mitch’s parents. Your grandparent’s,” Lake directed to Keenan, “are still alive, and I believe they are still living in Camden.”

“So we go there,” Dash stated. “How far?”

“A couple of hours?”

My heart skipped a beat at the possibility that my daughter was close even if she was currently in the hands of some of the world’s most vicious people.

“There is only one question. Why would my grandparents take Kennedy? I’ve never even met them. They’ve never shown interest in us so why her?”

Was it jealousy I detected in Keenan’s voice? Our daughter might have been kidnapped by these people and he was jealous?

“I know it doesn’t make much sense, but it’s the only angle we’ve got left. It can’t hurt.”

“It doesn’t matter. I want my daughter back. I don’t care if we have to search the pope’s house. We’re going. Do you have an address?”

“No, but that’s where I come in,” Jesse stated, stepping forward. It was only then I noticed a duffle in his right hand. “Just give me twenty-four hours tops.”

“Twenty-four hours? But it’s already been a week. She could be—”

“Don’t say it,” Keenan ordered. He was so close that his breath fanned across my skin causing me to shiver. When did he move so close? “It won’t help anything, and we need to stay focused.”

He gripped the back of my neck with a tight squeeze, silencing my smart retort. It was a move no one else seemed to notice as the others had formed a plan on how to get Kennedy back.

My gaze fell on a picture of her I took last summer during her first trip to the beach. She had been in love with the water. I could still hear the sound of her tinkling laughter as she pointed at the surfers and yelled, “My turn,” at the top of her lungs. She never forgot that trip and almost every day she’d asked for the beach. I had planned to take her again after graduation.

I didn’t realize I was hyperventilating until I was being lifted in strong arms and carried away from the worried gazes.

“I got her, man,” Keenan gruffly stated. Dash had probably stood to come to my rescue just as an older brother should.

But when Keenan managed to get me in my bedroom and lay me down on the bed, I wondered how good of a brother he actually was.

I sat up quickly and looked around as if my bedroom was a foreign place. “Why am I in here?”

“You were having a panic attack.”

“I’m fine now.”

“Are you sure?” His concern surprised me. A week ago, he had sung a different tune and now he was helping me?

“I’d like to be alone.” That was only partially true. Alone was the last thing I needed right now, but neither did I want to be in his company. I couldn’t stand the silence and the void the empty apartment created without Kennedy.

“Done.”

When he walked out and slowly shut my bedroom door behind him, I was relieved and partly amazed at how easy it was to get rid of him. I lay back against the pillows and closed my eyes.

Maybe he had gotten over his anger.

CHAPTER NINE

KEENAN

I’VE BEEN PLANNING for this moment all week long. After two days of searching for Kennedy high and low, I had to rethink my strategy. With Keiran in jail once again, I called up Quentin for intel on the organization that enslaved them both fourteen years ago. Four years ago, they were completely eradicated, and the major players, as well as many of the minor players, were now serving hard time in prison. That didn’t leave many answers left.

Mitch was the likely bet on who took Kennedy and why.

He was after money, and since he couldn’t possibly claim any money with both of her parents alive, it left only one solution.

He would sell her.

But to who?

The leader of the child enslavement ring was murdered in prison shortly after his arrest.

Everyone was currently huddled around the dining table, peering over Jesse’s shoulder who was already typing away on his computer that looked like it shouldn’t belong in an ordinary citizen’s possession.

Quentin had suggested we enlist his help based on the work he did for Keiran years ago. Apparently, he was a wiz with a laptop and internet connection. He was currently an intelligence contractor working for large corporations and the military to help find and bury information.