His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(91)
Author: Shayla Black

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know where it is,” she protested automatically.

“Sean can tell us.”

He probably could, but . . . “LOSS has had something like fifteen years to search the place. If my biological father hid the research there, wouldn’t they have found it? Wouldn’t the place be occupied by someone else or torn down or something?”

“We’ll find out. But if I’m going to spark your memory, I have to hope that something on the property will seem familiar. You could be looking at . . . anything and have a flashback of your past. The photo of McKeevy worked wonders.”

Bailey couldn’t argue with that, though she wished otherwise. “I’m scared.”

“I don’t blame you. I’ve never been able to face the house I grew up in. You lost your whole family and you don’t know what this will stir up. You’ve been nothing but brave since I took you from Houston. Can you do it a bit longer? For me?”

His speech was part wheedling, part blackmail. Bailey sighed. But what choice did she have? If she wanted a life, she had to explore every possibility.

“Yes.”

*   *   *

JOAQUIN called Sean as they headed north. Beside him, Bailey slept. They’d stopped for some fast-food breakfast and coffee. When they’d handed him a greasy bag at the drive-thru window, she’d wrinkled her nose; then she’d picked off all the cheese and nibbled delicately at the sandwich.

He smiled at the memory, then sent her a glance. No idea why he felt so . . . attached to her. Everyone else in life he’d been able to just walk away from. His mother had his sisters. His sisters had their husbands. None of them needed him.

But Bailey? She did.

It wasn’t pity that kept him with her, though. Far from it. He didn’t like being away from her, even felt weirdly off-kilter when she wasn’t near. He liked to see her smile, got hard when she laughed. Seeing her so serene now filled him with peace. What the hell was up with that?

“You two all right?” Sean said by way of greeting once he answered.

“Fine. Thanks. Just driving,” he said in low tones so he didn’t wake Bailey. “Do you have the address of that farm she lived on with her parents?”

“You going there?”

“I don’t know what else to do. But she makes a good point that LOSS has had years to comb the place.”

“The feds, too. They took all kinds of equipment—sonar, X-ray, infrared cameras—and didn’t find anything except a colony of mice by the barn.”

“The one thing you didn’t have was Bailey’s memories.”

“You got us there. It’s worth a try.”

Sean rattled off the address, then caught him up to speed on their plan to keep the wedding safe. Joaquin knew that Bailey really hated to miss it. Honestly, he kind of did, too. Sean and Callie deserved a good start to their marriage, and Joaquin had never seen a committed relationship with three people, but with Thorpe’s iron will, Callie’s devotion, and Sean’s ability to negotiate truces, they’d have a great future.

Joaquin wondered what the hell he’d do with his life when this case was over. He had no job now. His shithole apartment didn’t really qualify as a home. He’d drifted from his family, and the one close friend he’d had was dead. He was over thirty . . . and had nothing to show for it.

Jesus, listen to him. He had to pick up his whiny ass and move on. He’d find another job, another case, another shithole, maybe even more friends.

But not another Bailey.

The thought hit him right between the eyes.

“Hello?” Sean asked. “Can you hear me?”

“Yeah.” Joaquin tuned back into the conversation. “Sorry. My cell skipped out for a minute. Can you repeat that?”

“Sure. Be careful. If we come across anything else, we’ll keep you posted.”

“Thanks, man.”

“And you let us know how you’re doing. Callie is worrying herself into a frenzy.”

And wouldn’t that touch Bailey’s heart?

Joaquin felt his throat close up. “Thanks.”

As they rang off, Joaquin thanked his lucky stars he’d bought his vehicle with a GPS program. He punched the address into the system and out spit directions. Only twelve hours and some change to go . . .

*   *   *

HOUR after hour rolled by in the car. Bailey stared out the window at the slowly changing scenery. The flat land seemed to simply stay flat. The foliage changed. The air turned colder. Spring may have mostly sprung in Texas, but up north, they hadn’t quite gotten the memo.