Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
“That laptop was a lucky find. It was a gold mine,” Knox says.
I was so focused on Bunny that I hadn’t bothered to search the vehicle we found her in before the police got there. My brother Kane did, though. To my fucking surprise, he not only found the laptop, but he kept that shit to do his own investigation. He’s normally so by the fucking book, but because his girl’s family was wrapped up in the mess, that book got tossed right out the window.
He wanted to know if Pink’s name or her brother, Carter’s, was floating around anywhere on that computer. So Kane brought it to me at the hospital. Said I probably knew someone that could crack it. He was right about that. I’ve always thought my brother might know that I did freelance work, but he never said anything. Him bringing it to me let me know that he’s well aware of what I do.
I’ve always done some consulting for the government, but I’ve also done some consulting for other groups as well. They were normally contracted by the government but not always. Some are more on the private level.
People who have the means that don’t want to use the police to resolve kidnapping and ransom situations. And some other odd shit here and there. I’ve had to toe the line when it comes to things being legal. But I believe I’ve always stood with my feet firmly planted on the line of what was good.
“Nothing on there about Pink or Carter?”
“Nah, that was personal to Kilduff. He knew someone snitched him out, which makes me think there is a leak in that police unit.” I’d already thought that. It was the only way anyone would have known Carter gave the tip about the human trafficking. It’s not surprising in the least. Usually, these bigger rings have someone in their pockets when it comes to law enforcement.
“I’ll let Kane know. He’ll handle it.” My focus is on Bunny. “What about my girl?”
“Your girl, huh?”
“Knox, rib me later.”
“Is there going to be a later when this is all done?” Knox and I have worked together over the years. He doesn’t do much field work. He was always the person in our ears feeding us information, but I always knew his information was good.
“Not really sure, to be honest. All I care about at the moment is making sure Bunny is safe.”
“I hear you, man,” he says in understanding. “Your Snow Bunny’s name is Charlotte Lane.”
“Charlotte Lane,” I repeat. Her first name fits. It suits her, but she’ll always be my Bunny.
“Charlotte Lane is only twenty years old. Actually had a birthday last month.” Shit, she’s young. Never would I think of dating someone her age, but she’s different. Clearly with how I’ve been acting. No rules apply when it comes to her. “She was left at a Chicago fire station when she was only two months old. With her being a baby, it didn’t take her long to be adopted by a single woman, a lawyer named Martina Lane. I think she called in a few favors to speed up the adoption. Charlotte lived with her until Martina was killed by a drunk driver coming home from work one night. Since Charlotte didn’t have a family, she went back into the system, where she bounced around. She lived in six different foster homes until she aged out at eighteen.”
“Shit.” Chicago is almost a full day's drive away from here.
“Yeah, one of the foster families did try to adopt her, but the male ended up getting cancer, and the woman got overwhelmed and stopped fostering altogether. She’s had some shit luck.” I run my hand down my face, trying to digest it all.
“She does have a small trust, so when she aged out, she was able to get her own place and started working at a law firm in the mailroom while taking night classes at a community college. I think she was trying to become a legal clerk. It was actually the law firm in Chicago that reported her missing after she missed a few days.”
“Her fucking work?” Guilt hits me. Here I am hoping some fucker isn’t going to try to take her from me once we find out where she belongs, but it took her job to report her missing.
“Yeah, I hacked into her computer back home, and the last time she was online was two days prior to her not showing up to work. She turned in some coursework for school. Her social media is pretty bare, but what did catch my eye was a charge to her bank for a dating app.”
“Dating app.” I fight back my jealousy, understanding more about how my brother is now with Pink. That shit burns deep. I don’t like the idea of anyone even looking at her, let alone thinking they can date her.