After the Storm (KGI #8)(69)

“What did he say?” Donovan demanded. “What did you tell him?”

“I’m getting to that,” Rusty said. “He looked completely out of place. Dressed in designer digs, you know? Expensive shades. Not a hair out of place. Looked styled, salon styled, I mean. And he had enough product to take a few layers off the ozone.”

Donovan simmered with impatience as he waited for her to get to the point.

“He asked real casual if I’d seen a woman and two kids, one a teenager and one a four-year-old. Called her by name. Called Travis and Cammie by name. Said that he was their father and that he was deeply concerned. That Eve was unstable and a danger not only to herself but to others, and that he feared what would happen if she wasn’t institutionalized and put back on her medication soon. Said he’d gotten a report that Travis had been spotted in the hardware store.”

Donovan frowned. Fuck. Not what he wanted to hear. He ran a hand through his hair and grimaced.

“I couldn’t very well deny that I’d seen Travis or he’d know I was lying,” Rusty said. “So I told him that yeah, a kid matching Travis’s description had come through several days before. Wanted to pick up a little extra cash so I hired him for a couple of days, paid him and then he split. I told him he didn’t show up for work and that I hadn’t seen him in days so I assumed he’d moved on. I even told the guy that he’d mentioned sisters because again, I didn’t want this guy suspicious that I was hiding anything. I figured if I was honest, I wouldn’t give him any reason to suspect that we were helping Eve, Travis and Cammie and that maybe he’d buy the story that they’d already left the area.”

“You played it smart, Rusty,” Donovan said.

Sean nodded. “You did the right thing. But I doubt I need to run the plates to figure out who he is. After what I dug up, it’s pretty obvious who he is.”

“What did you find?” Rusty asked, an anxious note to her voice.

Sean hesitated. “I’d rather not involve you, Rusty. I hate that you even had a run-in with this guy. You should have called me the minute he showed up. What if he’d hurt you? Or what if he hadn’t bought your story? You being alone with him in the store is bullshit. You ever pull a stunt like that again and I’ll tan your ass.”

Rusty snorted her displeasure. “I’m not a kid, Sean. I can handle it. And I want to know what kind of trouble they’re in. I like Travis a lot.”

Sean glanced at Donovan, and Donovan nodded that he should spill what he’d found out in front of Rusty. She needed to know what they were dealing with, especially if this ass**le had already been to the hardware store. He would speak to his dad today and make damn sure that one of his brothers was there at the store and that Sean made regular drive-bys, and under no circumstances was Rusty to work the store alone anymore.

“It’s not good, Van,” Sean said. “She’s wanted for kidnapping. She’s reported as highly unstable. A history of mental illness and she’s believed to be a danger to herself and to Travis and Cammie. The father has gone public and it appears he has a lot of pull. He plays the grieving father very well. He lost his wife tragically and now he’s lost his children to a deranged woman.”

“What a load of bullshit,” Donovan said furiously.

“You get the real story yet?” Sean asked, cocking his eyebrow up at Donovan’s reaction.

“Yeah, I got it,” Donovan said through gritted teeth. “Eve thinks he killed her mother and I agree with her based on everything she’s told me. He’s a controlling, abusive ass**le, and he was making moves on Cammie before Eve got her and Travis out of his grasp.”

“Son of a bitch,” Sean swore. “I’d like a shot at that motherf*cker.”

“So would I,” Rusty said darkly.

Sean pointed a finger at Rusty. “You stay out of it. Understand? You leave this to us, Rusty. Do not get involved.”

“Whatever,” she muttered. “I’d still like to kick him in the balls.”

“So what are you going to do?” Sean asked. “What do you want me to do?”

Donovan sighed. “Hell if I know. Yet. I have to talk to my brothers about it. Him being here changes everything. If he knows they were here, then he’s a lot closer on their trail than Eve thought. He may or may not buy that they’ve already left, but at least if he discovered where they’d been living, the trailer is destroyed so he can’t think they would have remained here. Hell, he might even think they were killed.”

“Then he might stick around longer,” Sean said. “If he’s worried that they were hurt or killed in the storm, he’ll be scouring the local hospitals and he’ll likely pull in the local and county police. You know I won’t betray the fact that I know where they are, but I can’t say the same for other officers. You know I won’t let on to them, but if other officers discover information about Eve, then they’ll likely act on it accordingly. If that happens, you’ve got a problem.”

Donovan nodded. “Thanks, Sean. I don’t like you risking your job for me.”

“The day I start siding with abusive ass**les and throwing innocent women under the bus in the name of duty is the day I hang up the badge,” Sean said, his tone serious. “If my job ever requires me to hand back over a four-year-old girl to an abusive father, then it’s a job I don’t want anymore.”