Page 83 of Protecting Josie
Blink couldn’t agree more.
“Now what?” Preacher asked.
“I’m not leaving. They know something,” Blink said.
“I agree,” Smiley said. “They were too quick to let us in.”
“And the daughter seemed very tense. She tried to hide it, but she couldn’t take her eyes off us,” Preacher added.
He wasn’t wrong. Blink had thought the same thing. “Josie’s not dead,” he said firmly. “I don’t know how I know that, but I do. The mother was too willing to let us in, and I would’ve thought she’d dig in her heels and protest us stepping one foot inside her house.”
“Right? She was pretty sure we’d come up empty-handed. Why? Because Josie isn’t there? Because she knew we wouldn’t find where they’d stashed her?” Preacher asked.
“Why is the daughter there anyway?” Smiley mused. “She has her own place, right? That’s what Tex said, at least. So if she has her own apartment, why is she at her mom’s house at,” he looked at his watch, “eleven-thirty at night? And they’re both completely dressed. Most people at this time of night, if they aren’t getting ready to go party, are in their pajamas.”
He wasn’t wrong. Blink’s mind spun.
“And did you see the look on Gen’s face when she opened the door? She was definitely expecting someone, and she was shocked to see us instead,” Preacher said.
“They’re waiting for someone,” Blink agreed.
“To bring Josie to them?” Smiley asked.
“Or to pick her up,” Preacher said.
“The mom let us in, hoping we’d get in and out and leave. So that whoever they were expecting wouldn’t arrive while we were there,” Smiley said.
“So we stay. Stake the place out. See who’s coming,” Preacher decided.
Blink was on board with that plan. They were close to figuring out what the hell was going on. He felt it. These women weren’t going to outsmart him. He had too much at stake—his entire future, his sanity, the love of his life.
Blink needed Josie. He wasn’t sure he could survive losing her.
As hard as it would be to sit and watch, that’s what he’d do if it meant figuring out what Millie and Gen Hitson were hiding. And theywerehiding something, he had no doubt.
Smiley pulled away from the curb and headed down the street. They’d double back around and wait and watch…it was what they did best.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Josie felt as if she couldn’t breathe. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been in the dark closet, but it felt like years. This was way worse than that damn cell somehow. She wasn’t across the world in a foreign country. She was right here in the US. A place she should’ve been safe.
She second-guessed her actions from earlier. Should she have tried to escape? Run? Risked being shot to get away from Gen?
She hated that she once again needed to be rescued. She’d always thought she was extremely self-sufficient. She’d never relied on anyone else to give her what she needed. She’d clawed and fought her way to keep her head above water. Learned that from her mom. And yet, here she was. Locked away in another freaking hole as if she was nothing more than a piece of garbage. A throwaway person.
She might’ve fallen into a pit of misery already if it wasn’t for Nate. He and his friends had accepted her, embraced her,made her feel as if she was worthy. Important to them. They wouldn’t simply shrug after she disappeared and go on with their lives. No, Josie had no doubt they were moving heaven and earth to find her. She had to stay strong, the way Nate saw her.
The problem was, it wouldn’t be as simple as confronting Millie and Gen—probably Nate’s first thought. Because surely they weren’t planning on leaving her in a closet in their home to die. They might think it was an appropriate punishment for what they considered her guilty of…killing Ayden. But they hated her enough to want her to suffer a far worse death.
Josie wasn’t sure what was worse than dying from dehydration and lack of sustenance. Actually, that wasn’t true; she could think of alotof worse things. And Ayden’s family had no doubt chosen something prolonged and painful.
It should’ve bothered Josie to realize she was hated so much. And if she hadn’t met Nate and his friends, she would’ve been completely freaking out by now. But she’d been shown time and time again that she had value. Thinking about all that Remi and Wren had done for her since they’d met made Josie’s heart swell. Not to mention Caroline, Fiona, and all the other women. And then there were the retired SEALs. Everyone had been so wonderful.
Millie and Gen were the bad people here—not her.Screw them. Whatever they had planned, Josie would do everything in her power to thwart them.
With that thought in mind, she reached out to run her hands over the walls around her. She needed to leave her DNA here. If she didn’t make it out of whatever Ayden’sfamily had in store for her, she wanted to be sure to leave signs for the police. Even if no one figured out where she’d gone for years, eventuallysomeonewould clear out this house, and they’d find this hellhole.
Josie ran her fingernails down the wall, then along the floor. She could feel the dirt building up under her nails.
