Page 68 of Madam Temptress
Please don’t let them show Moses the murder weapon if this goes south. Please don’t let him be the one to find me. And, God, why didn’t I just read that damn letter from Bernie? Will I ever get a chance?
That’s when we see her. Rory bounces in the arms of a woman behind a stall who is scanning the area, looking confused.
“There she is!” I almost forget to make the gesture, but I do it as Keira breaks into a run.
“Rory! Baby! Mommy’s right here!”
The woman’s head jerks up as Keira flies toward her, and then she shifts her body like she’s trying to protect the little girl.
I rush forward only to ram into a group of tourists who seemingly came out of nowhere. I push through them, shoving bodies out of my way as they jostle me.
And then I feel a fiery stab of pain, right in my lower back, that stops me in my tracks and takes me to my knees.Oh my God, that fucking hurts.
“Stupidputa. You don’t get off so easy.”
His face is hidden by sunglasses and a hat, just like the kid said, but I would know it was him from the hate dripping from each word spewing from his cruel mouth. The group of tourists acts like a wall, blocking us so no one can see what’s happening.
The pain is so sharp and severe, it steals my breath and I can’t even speak.
Oh my God. He stabbed me. Jesus Christ. Did he hit something vital? Because.Fuck.That. Hurts. So. Bad.
He puts an arm under my shoulder and lifts me up into ...a wheelchair?
Moses’s voice roars in my ear, but the static drowns him out so I can’t understand a word he’s saying.
He had to have heard Reyes. He must know he has me. Already, I’m so weak that I’m slumping to the side as Reyes pushes me to the curb, rolls me right up a handicap ramp into a van, flips it up, and slams the door.
The whole thing took less than thirty seconds.
The yelling in my ear goes quiet as the earbud falls out when my head lolls to the side.
I’m bleeding out.
I know this because it’s not the first time I’ve faced death. It’s also not the first time I’ve deserved it. Sparks flash in my vision as it fades until everything goes black.
Forty-Three
Keira
“You can’t have her. He told me he’d be right back for her,” the woman behind the booth says as I reach for my girl.
“Like hell. That’s my daughter! She was kidnapped. Give her to me right now, or I swear to God, I can’t be held responsible for what happens to you next.”
I don’t know if it’s the tone of my voice or the way Rory is reaching for me, but I finally get through to the woman and she hands Rory over.
As soon as my arms lock around my baby girl, relief floods my entire system. “Oh, baby. Mama missed you. Oh my God.”
I check every inch of her first as the woman explains how she didn’t know someone had taken her, insisting that she didn’t do anything wrong. But I barely hear a word she says because I’m already turning around to tell Magnolia it’s all going to be okay.
But Magnolia’s not there.
I hear Moses yell, and my blood runs cold.
Forty-Four
Moses
“No!”
