Hunt and Prey (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 8) by Kaylie Hunter (novels to read for beginners txt) 📕

Grady “—I think you needed to feel like it was over. Before it really was.”

Bones moved Bridget to the arm of the chair, before shifting forward and bracing his arms on his knees. “Donovan called his connections and can’t get any answers. Maggie asked Tebbs to dig around, but he came up empty handed, too. Wild Card scouted a few known hot spots for them, and nothing. Everyone vanished off the grid.”

Kelsey pushed past me to stand again. Without uttering a word, she angrily pointed first at Bones, then Wild Card, and then me. “You all knew my family was still in danger—and didn’t tell me!”

I moved in front of Kelsey, blocking her path so she couldn’t storm off. “When was the last time you were wrong?”

Kelsey’s face was red, her eyes narrow, and I could practically feel the electrical charge of her anger. She stepped first one direction, then turned the other, seeming trapped by her rage.

“Did you hear me?” I asked. “When was the last time you were wrong?”

“What are you babbling about?” Kelsey snapped, throwing her arms out.

“Think about it!” I said, grabbing her forearms. “When, Kelsey? When was the last time you underestimated your opponent?”

Kelsey shook her head, thinking. “I don’t know. Probably—” Kelsey looked over at Maggie and her face fell from anger to guilt. She was thinking of when Jonathan took Maggie prisoner.

“Nope,” Maggie said, walking over to her. “You weren’t wrong about Jonathan. You were spot on. That failure was on me. On our security team. That was not your mistake!”

“Maggie’s right,” I said, rubbing a comforting hand on her forearm. “Jonathan wasn’t your fault. And you’re not thinking back far enough.” I stepped closer, just inches of space between us. Lowering my voice, I watched her closely as I explained. “The last time you were wrong, was years back. Back when you trusted Fiona and Trevor with the information on your trafficking case.”

Hearing Fiona and Trevor’s names, Kelsey instinctively looked toward the pool, searching for Nicholas. Both kids were tossing a beachball in the shallow end. She turned her head back to me. “What’s your point, Kid? What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that since the day Nicholas was taken, you haven’t stopped looking over your shoulder. You spend all day, every day, mentally checking and rechecking every single move, every possible outcome, every possible action or reaction.” I tried to blink back the tears that threatened. “You’ve seen nothing but darkness and danger everywhere you’ve gone for years now.” I shook my head, trying to find the words to get my point across to her. “You believed Miguel had been handled because subconsciously, you needed a damn break from it all. You needed to pretend, for at least a little while, that everyone you loved was safe.”

“No,” Kelsey said, shaking her head. “I calculated the odds. I—”

“Sis,” Jackson said to her in a low voice, stroking her hair back with a gentle hand. “We had both the Remirez brothers and their top guards in our scopes. You knew what those men were capable of, the crimes they’d committed, but you let them walk.”

“I—”

“Hey, hey,” Wild Card said, walking over and wrapping his arms around her, tugging her back into his chest. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Your plan was worth a shot, and we still don’t know if Charlie’s right.”

“But the family—”

“Was protected,” Maggie said matter-of-factly.

“Charlie warned everyone,” Tyler said from his sentry position. “We’ve had double and triple security on the family. We’ve been operating on red alert. Many of the guys at Aces stayed in Michigan to help with security.”

“But I’ve been so…”

“Normal?” I asked, chuckling. “Feeling a little more like your old self? Acting like the woman who worked hard to put away bad guys but didn’t let the work assault her brain 24-7?”

She pointed a finger at me, her hurt feelings once again turning to anger. “What if your plan had failed? What if someone had died!?”

I answered without hesitation. “Then I’d own that burden. I’d carry the weight of that decision. Not everything has to be on your shoulders, Kelsey.”

“Here, here,” Hattie said from the edge of the tiki lounge. Pops was standing next to Hattie with two overnight bags slung over his shoulder and towing two more suitcases by their handles.

“I thought you guys were in Texas,” I said.

“We were, dear, but now we’re not. Apparently, Ryan called Donovan, and Donovan called Bones, and Bones talked to Jackson, then Jackson told our security team in Texas to get us on a plane. And then of course, our security team delivered us here.”

“You had a security team?” Kelsey asked.

Tyler chuckled, glancing away from the kids long enough to look at her. “Did you miss the part where we explained we had the family covered?”

“Watch it, Tyler,” Kelsey warned as she walked over to Hattie and Pops. When she hugged Hattie, a flood of tears broke loose. Pops released their luggage and wrapped his long arms around them.

Spence quietly walked over to me. “I have no idea what’s going on, but you’re going to be late for your meeting. And I still haven’t shown you what I found on that address you gave me.”

“What address?” Bones asked, having moved to stand closer.

“Condo address for Evie’s ex-boyfriend,” I answered Bones without looking away from Spence. “Give me the quick version.”

“The condo was purchased with cash, but I traced the property taxes back to a holding company. I then followed the shell companies through the mouse trap back to a parent company in Texas. It’s a textile manufacturing plant—”

“Owned by Miguel Remirez,” Wild Card said, cutting him off.

“Yeah,” Spence said, crossing his arms. “How did you know?”

“We researched his companies and played a little sabotage game with Miguel a few weeks back,”