Neil switched back to English. “They got back last week. Graham has a room in the back of his shop. No one will know she’s there. Move on. We’re wasting time.”
“Oh shit, I just got a hit. Hold on.” André typed for a few seconds. “Poppy Sumners, S-U-M-N-E-R-S. I’m doing a background check now but…is this her?” He swung his laptop around so Siren could see the screen.
She leaned forward. “She looks much younger in this photo, but yes, I think that’s her.”
André gave me a look before going back to his screen.
“What’s the probability she has the kid?” Roark asked.
“Don’t know, but if she’s in Kentucky, we’re checkin’ it out.” I didn’t want to give Siren false hope but my gut was saying this woman had Maddie.
“Got an address,” André said. “It’s in Lexington.”
I turned to Siren. “Go help Kendall pack up. Let her know we’re movin’ her to a friend’s place in Ocala.”
“Okay.” She nodded.
I waited till she was out of the room and looked at André. “If you want to stand down, I understand.” The risk to his business if this went south was huge.
“I’m in.”
“You’re not licensed outside the state,” I reminded him.
He snorted. “We’re loading a plane with a small arsenal of untraceable weapons to kidnap an already kidnapped kid. I’m not licensed for this, period. I’m a security agency, not law enforcement.”
Neil chimed in. “If we find the child, we reunite her with her mother then worry about any legal ramifications.”
I glanced at Roark.
“Fine with me, I’m just the pilot.”
“How many can the plane hold?”
“Eight-seater, we’re good.”
“How long a flight?”
Roark shrugged. “Depending on weather, about three-and-a-half hours with a touchdown in Ocala.”
“Neil, call Graham, let him know we’re comin’. André, we’ll need transportation once we land in Lexington.” I heard Siren and Kendall coming down the hall and I stood.
Neil stepped up to me. “You smell like alcohol and sex.” His weighted stare said it all.
I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself but he was right. I had no business going after a kid if I was drunk. “I’m solid.”
He continued to stare.
My hands went to my hips and I sighed. “I was drunk. Now I’m not.” My buzz was long gone and all I had now was a pounding fucking headache and enough adrenaline to fly the damn plane myself.
“Shower.” He tossed the word out like a command then pulled his phone out.
Kendall waltzed into the kitchen, followed by Siren. “I hear operation rescue is in full swing and I’m dead weight.”
“You’re goin’ to Graham’s in Ocala.”
“The angry bass player. Awesome.” She dumped her bag on the floor.
“You should fit right in.”
The phone to his ear, André stopped talking and glared at me. “Cállate.”
Kendall smirked. “You’d better be nice to me or Cuban Boy will kick your ass.”
“He can take a number,” I said dryly. “Siren? Got a minute?”
She nodded.
I walked into the living room and waited for her to follow me to a quiet corner. The sway of her hips, the stoic expression she was clinging to, it made me want to sink my hands into her soft hair and kiss the fuck out of her. Instead, I locked down my expression and turned all business. “If we find her, what are you gonna need?”
“Need?” She fought to not look taken off guard.
“Diapers, food, a special blanket or toy?” I didn’t know shit about kids except Ariel’s son was two and he was still in diapers and didn’t go anywhere without his blanket.
She curled her lips into her mouth then released them. “I don’t have anything. I’ll worry about it later.”
“She may not remember you.” I delivered the blow as gently as I could but facts were facts.
Her throat moved with a swallow and she nodded once. “I know.”
“We may not even find her.”
This time she inhaled and I could tell she was trying like hell not to cry. “I know.” She dropped her head.
I clenched my fists to keep from reaching for her. “What do you need from me?”
She looked back up. “From you?”
“Yeah.”
Her gaze drifted from mine and I waited. I didn’t know what I wanted her to say. Everything? Nothing? Go fuck yourself for taking me up against the pool shed? Eat shit? Half of me was feeling guilty as hell for it and the other half wasn’t even sorry. Just looking at her had me so tied up in knots, I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to her about it.