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“So, you’re saying my father is framing you for my and my mother’s kidnapping … to send you back to prison?”
His silence is the only answer I need as bile rises in my throat. Instead of throwing up all over the carpeted floor of the rental car, I lean my head out the window and vomit. Holden pulls the car over on the shoulder as I retch out the airport breakfast we had a few hours ago. Cold raindrops wet my hair.
By the time my stomach is emptied, I realize his hand is on my lower back. I pull myself back into the car, taking the napkin he must’ve found in the console.
“We don’t know anything for sure yet. That’s why we’re playing it safe and taking Jed’s phone to someone who can help. Do you believe you’re safe with me?”
The tears on my cheeks have mixed in with rain as I peer up at him. I’ve never seen such a look of concern and fear mixed into one expression. His eyes are dark and soft at the same time.
“Whoever was behind this, we will find them out. Your mother is safe now. You are safe now. All that matters is doing whatever it takes to keep it that way.”
The determination in his gaze helps to ease the ache in my chest slightly. I slowly nod. He rolls up my window before pulling back into the traffic on the highway.
Holden calls his lawyer and updates him on the situation. I can’t hear Warner’s side of the conversation, but I do know Holden seems determined to keep me away from La Pradera until whoever the hacker is can break into the deleted files on the phone.
The feeling I can’t seem to shake the farther we drive into the pouring rain is that I want my aunt and my mother to know I’m safe.
Surely, there’s a way to notify them that I’m okay even if we don’t go back home and turn ourselves in.
36
HOLDEN
Pike, the hacker, tells us he needs at least a day with the phone to do a deep dive. He wants us to come back tomorrow to pick it up.
Rosie has been solemn and barely said a word since the conversation we had in the car. Telling her that I believe her father could have been behind her kidnapping was probably a shit move, but I felt like there was no other choice. If we’re being searched for by the entire nation, she has to understand why we can’t go waltzing into her father’s home.
“Are you hungry?”
She shrugs, looking out the window at the passing signs lit up with fast-food logos. My stomach is growling, so I know hers must be too. We haven’t eaten since breakfast, and it’s nearly seven p.m.
She had mentioned sushi before, which I don’t like. I pull up a location on my phone for it and hit the Call button.
“What kind of sushi do you like?”
She rolls her head toward me. “Do they have a shrimp tempura roll with jalapeño and extra eel sauce?”
Eel sauce?
I repeat the order to the woman on the phone, asking her for two of them since I have no clue what else they would have.
“Add two orders of chicken fried rice and cream cheese wontons,” Rosie whispers.
I add the items to the order. Once we pull into the restaurant, I ask Rosie to stay in the car in case someone might recognize us together.
When I go in, I keep my sunglasses and cowboy hat on. I have to wait another ten minutes for the food. Once I get back in the car, Rosie is sniffling and wiping at her nose. Her cheeks are flushed and damp with tears.
“What’s the matter? Are you okay?”
She nods, reaching for the takeout bag. “Thanks for getting sushi.”
I wish I could physically strangle her father for causing her so much distress. If he was truly behind the kidnappings, I probably will.
We don’t speak as I drive us to another nice hotel. I don’t expect anything from her tonight physically, but the thought of being in another room alone with her makes my heart rate quicken.
Once the front desk clerk checks us into the vintage, restored downtown hotel, we walk to the elevator. Rosie is silent, arms folded across her chest and avoiding eye contact with me.
She locks herself in the bathroom as soon as we get into the room. I asked for two beds, thinking she might prefer it. She didn’t comment on it or request a king size.
