Rebound: Passion Book 2 (22 page)

I
headed to the computer store first. Kadyn had left everything when she ran,
afraid that he’d use that stuff to find her somehow. The phone she had now was
an old throwaway type thing, which she thought might be safer. I’m not quite
sure what happened there or why she decided it was too dangerous to use it to
call her mom. I got her all the latest shit and made the sales guy very happy,
I’ll leave the cases and other doodads to her and her girls since I know both
Carrie and Nessa have some fancy shit that they wrap their stuff in.

I
left the mall and headed for home my excitement growing the closer I got. I was
about to change my life in a big way. I’m sure my family knew I was headed in
this direction, but they had no idea how soon that would be. I wasn’t worried
about them thinking that it was too soon, or that we hadn’t known each other
long enough, mom and dad knew the deal. I was truly amazed though at the turn
my life had taken. It was the best fucking rebound in history.

I
barely got the words wedding out of my mouth when I got in the house before the
screaming started and I was pushed aside, while mom and her crew took over.
“Just make sure that she gets her colors and all that other happy shit. Don’t
say anything about this until after I give her the ring okay.” I showed her the
ring and she did that thing that I guess all women do. The tears began and then
the three of them were cooing and telling me what a great job I’d done. “Okay
give it back.” I wiped off their fingerprints and headed out of the kitchen
where they were busy making one of their gastronomical messes. This was a good
thing because that means I’d get the time I need alone with Josh to do what I
needed to.

If
I was going to pull this off then I had to move, I wanted him over and done
with. “Are we ready bro?” he was already in my room doing his thing on the
computer. We had yet to get into Bruno’s laptop, which I was beginning to get a
very bad feeling about. I had no idea what the creep had on there but it was a
good bet that it was going to be bad. I just hoped it had nothing to do with
Kadyn’s
whereabouts.

His
money had gone without a trace and we did it in such a way that he couldn’t get
the insurance for it because there was no way he could prove that it wasn’t him
that took it. If that wasn’t bad enough I kept emailing him stills from his
house so he knew someone had infiltrated his space at the very least. Next came
the cryptic notes about knowing what he was. Basically I was feeding his growing
paranoia my main objective to drive him out of his sick fucking mind. The
predator had become the prey and he wasn’t handling it too well.

I
had no idea how he coped outside his house, I didn’t think to put eyes on his
car and shit but I had him covered enough to feel comfortable that I knew what
he was up to. Inside behind closed doors he was a mess. The formidable figure
that had first filled the screen when we started a few weeks ago was fast
becoming a slouch. He was unkempt and harried which I’m sure others had to be
noticing as well, and that was part of my plan. I wanted to break him down
little by little, to make the world around him see his true colors.

Josh did
his magic with the keys and then sat back with a grin. “Voila.”

“Thank fuck, you only took
forever.” I tried to make light of the situation but my heart was sick with
fear. What was I going to see on that screen? What had he been trying so hard
to keep hidden?

At first
there wasn’t really much to cause suspicion. There were what looked like work
records and shit like that and I was starting to relax, believing that he’d had
it so well secured because he kept vital information that had to do with his
high clearance job. Then Joshua got all excited and started tapping away at
keys and the bottom fell the fuck out.

“Motherfucker.”
Sick, that’s what I felt as I scrolled through the screen, no it wasn’t Kadyn
on the screen, but what it was
was
somehow worst.
Children, dozens of them in the most compromising positions that no child
should ever be subjected to. The tension in the room was palpable, I didn’t
even look at Josh next to me, my head was actually spinning and I felt the bile
in my throat threatening to choke me. “Where’s dad?”

“Office.”
It was the only word my brother could get out and I didn’t blame him. Was this
what he’d had in store for her?
it
seemed so
farfetched, so distant somehow, unconnected. He couldn’t have been planning
anything like this for my Kitten. For one she was years older that the kids on
the screen. But he’d started when she was younger. Still shouldn’t he have lost
interest after she grew up, isn’t that what the experts said? Or was this
bastard into more than one vice? Obviously he was because what I was looking at
here told a whole other story. This was separate, had to be. I was grabbing at
straws because I didn’t know what to think.

“We
can’t wait for dad to come home we have to take care of this now. Do you
think…?” I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth. Even with the shit that had
happened to Carrie right here in front of me, I don’t think I’d ever seen such
evil as this. It left me cold and numb inside. I had to move now though,
couldn’t afford to waste any more time. I had no idea if the children gagged
and bound on the screen were in danger at the moment or if they were already
gone, but I knew we couldn’t wait.

“What’s
the name of that town again?
we
have to call the
police.” My mind wouldn’t work, I couldn’t see past the anger that was
beginning to burn under my skin. I wanted to get on a plane and hunt him down
myself, more than anything I wanted to be the one to bring him down but those
children, fuck. Whatever plans I’d had for him would have to be given up, this
shit had taken it to a whole new level.

We
found the name of the town and hashed out a plan. We needed to have everything
in order because I still didn’t want Kadyn involved. I thought about calling
James since I was in way over my head here but squashed that idea. It was my
problem and I would deal with it. I wanted to bring this fucker down myself
yes, but not at the expense of innocent babies. I had thought all along that
she was his only victim, why hadn’t I realized that someone as sick as that
just might be into other evil shit?

For
the next half hour we hashed out a plan, I had to fight my natural instinct to
run and get her but she was safe with her dad, these kids might not be. It was
a sick feeling to think that if we didn’t do this right more children might get
hurt. The cops in that town had already proven that they didn’t know shit;
either that or they were blinded by his stellar public persona. We decided to
hit up the FBI. James has assured me in the beginning that there was no way for
anyone to trace the eyes and ears he had planted back to me that’s even if they
were found. I’ll deal with retracting them later but I couldn’t sit on this new
information, not even if it meant detection.

In
the end we made an anonymous call and claimed that he’d brought his laptop in
for repairs and we’d seen some questionable material. It was all we could do
for now and sit back and wait for the results. If they didn’t move fast enough
then I’d send James to take care of it. Josh found a way to send some of the
pics from the laptop into the bureau making sure to cover our asses so that
they’d never know it was from us. We wiped anything that had to do with Kadyn
from the laptop and went back through the PC to make sure there was no trace of
her there. I knew from our conversations that she was more interested in
getting him out of her life for good than in making him pay for what he’d done
to her and so there was no danger of damaging any future case. I’d battled with
whether or not she would need that closure but her reaction at the mere mention
of his name was enough to convince me that she had no need to go there. Plus I
think she’d lost all faith in the justice system and who could blame her. He’d
find it hard to wriggle his slimy way out of this though if the feds did their
jobs.

“Are
we done? I have to go get her.” The image of those young girls was burnt into
my corneas and I couldn’t help putting her face in their place. I needed to
hold her, to feel her soft skin under my hands, the beat of her heart, to
reassure myself that she was okay, though I knew that she was.

“Go,
there’s nothing more for us to do for now. I’ll keep my eyes on his place and
see if anything happens there. The law moves slowly sometimes. You do know that
if they don’t deal with this shit we’ll have to right?” I knew he was going to
say that because I’d been thinking the same thing myself. As much as I would
hate to leave her at a time like this I would get on a plane and go hunt the
fucker down myself if need be.

“Yeah
I know.” I left the room and the house with my thoughts in a jumble. If the
feds did their job this should be over in a matter of days. That’s what I’d
been after all along but not like this, I’d wanted to keep her out of whatever
was going to happen but again not like this. Not at the expense of others. I
couldn’t allow myself to think of what may or may not have happened to the
children captured in those pictures. I felt a deep sense of anger and I guess
betrayal at the system. How could we as a society let such things happen? They
had this guy in their sights because she’d done the right thing when she’d made
a complaint almost three years ago. What might’ve happened had they followed
up? Obviously the asshole was a criminal as was proven by the deviant shit
found on his hard-drive, so why hadn’t they done their fucking jobs? What if
he’d killed or hurt someone else’s kid in the meantime?

I’m
not sure where I’d thought his obsession was heading, I never allowed myself to
think of the sexual connotations because that would’ve just made me lose my
shit. But now faced with the reality there was no hiding from it and the fear
in my gut was almost crippling. It was stupid to think of what ifs but that’s
all that kept playing through my mind. What if he’d got to her?
what
if we’d never met? That thought most of all left me
cold.

To
think of life without her in it was almost more than I could bear. I imagined
her being subjected to his sick advances and the fear turned to anger. Pounding
the steering wheel wasn’t going to achieve anything but breaking my hand so I
tried to calm myself as I approached the diner. Just get her and go home Matt.
That was always my answer whenever I felt any threat to her, to shut us away in
our room where I was sure no one and nothing could get to her to cause her
harm. Will I always have this feeling, will I spend the rest of my life feeling
that need to protect her always? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know
that right at this moment the need was strong in me. I’ll have to learn how to
not let it become a problem. We can’t live in a bubble, though that shit was
sounding better and better everyday. There are some sick fucking people in the
world.

I
certainly didn’t need what I drove up on when I got to the diner. At first I
wasn’t quite sure what I was seeing when I pulled up. There was a female and a
male standing close together outside, but I knew it was Kadyn from her clothes.
She didn’t look exactly terrified but I know her body language and she was
scared. I was out the car and moving before it had come to a complete stop.

“Get the
fuck away from her.” I pushed my way between the two of them and it was then I
recognized the guy. It was the brother of the asshole who’d hit her. I didn’t
know what they’d been talking about and I didn’t care.

“Take it
easy dude we were just talking.” I pushed him back against the wall and kept my
hand in his chest. “You don’t talk to her, you and your family stay the fuck
away from her.”

“Matthew…”

“Get in
the car, now.” She turned and headed for the car looking over her shoulder at
us. I waited until she was out of earshot before looking back at him. Dropping
my hand from his chest I stepped back, my blood was up and I knew that I would
do some serious damage to this guy if I hit him. “Stay away from her.”

“It’s a
free country she can talk to whomever she wants to.”

“That
maybe but you and your family aren’t on the list. Not after the shit your
brother pulled, now I’m warning you for the last time, stay the fuck away from
her or I’ll break your fucking face. And tell your asshole brother to stop
asking about her or I’ll have him brought up on charges for attempted assault.
He knows what the fuck I’m talking about, I suggest unless you and you folks
want to deal with that shit the whole lot of you stay the fuck away.”

I left
him there and walked back to the car where she was still standing by the door.
“What the fuck were you doing with him Kadyn?”

“Matt calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm the fuck
down what the fuck were you thinking?”

“He wouldn’t take no for an answer
and I didn’t want to cause a scene, I thought it would be fine since dad was
right inside.”

“I don’t
want to hear it you don’t put yourself in that position again.”

I
slammed the car door after seating and buckling her in. The day had gone from
bad to fucking worst in less than an hour.

“Matt you need to calm down.”
She turned to me as soon as I climbed behind the wheel.

“Kadyn you need to pipe down
right now, you’re in enough shit as it is.”

“I wasn’t doing anything
Matthew.”

“Kadyn…”

She had
the good sense to zip it the fuck up. Seriously?

“Did you not hear me the last time? What the hell is so hard
to understand?” I kept my voice as controlled as I could in the moment because
I knew I was running on fear and anger. After seeing that sick shit on the
computer and then coming up on them like that, it was too much for one day.

“He just wanted to apologize, he
said that Dan told him it was an accident.”

“He fucking punched you in the
face how is that an accident? I already beat his brother’s ass into the ground
and now you do this shit?”

“Dean
never hurt me Matt, he just wanted to clear the air.”

“There’s
no air to clear you don’t have shit to do with them anymore, not the mother the
sister the brother the dad, no one. They stood around and let that piece a shit
thump on you and you think they’re your friends? I should really spank your ass
for this. And before you tell me it’s the same thing it’s not. Taking a hand to
your ass for doing some dumb fuck thing is not the same as folding my fist and
punching you like a dude. I promise you if you do this shit again I will tan
your ass no joke.” I wasn’t surprised to find that my hand was shaking when I
turned the key in the ignition.

I
drove straight to my house and took her inside. She was pouting and sulking but
I didn’t care, she’d scared the fuck out of me. If I hadn’t gone looking for
her I would’ve never known where the fuck she was or that she was in danger. I
used to think my brother was crazy for tagging Carrie, thought it was an
invasion of privacy or some shit but now I see that shit in a whole new light.
She’d probably accuse me of being worse than Bruno again but I don’t give a
fuck. I’m going to have more tracking devices on her ass after this than the
space shuttle.

“Go on
upstairs I’ll be right there, and fix your face, you know you fucked up.”

“Where are you going?”

“Don’t
worry I’m not gonna run back there and beat the shit out of him if that’s what
you’re worried about. You need to call your dad and let him know where you
are.” Once again I found myself needing to get away from her because with
everything that was going on inside me I had no doubt I really would turn her
over my fucking knee. I think I’ve lost my damn mind, I didn’t want her afraid
of anything, didn’t want anyone having that kind of power over her again. How
the fuck was I supposed to take care of her?