He stroked wet hair from her face. “I’m here.”
“For how long? How long, Blake?”
He studied, and then softly prodded, “How old were you?”
She didn’t have to ask what he meant. The tears burned in her eyes again. “Seventeen. Myla was fifteen.”
“Myla’s your sister?”
“Yes. We lived in North Carolina and we woke to the roar of motorcycles. My parents hid us in a small hole in the basement wall. We barely fit. They wouldn’t fit, Blake. I heard the gunshots. I heard them and I knew…I knew they were dead, but I was strong for Myla. I kept her quiet. I kept her from…” She dropped her head to his chest and the damn sobs just wouldn’t let go. “I can’t lose her.”
His hand slid to the back of her head. “If there’s a way to get her back. I will,” he promised.
If there’s a way. Kara sucked in a breath and looked at him. “Thank you for being honest, for not saying you’ll get her back no matter what. We both know the chances. They aren’t good, but I have to try.”
“And we will. With every resource and piece of energy we have, we will.”
She believed him. She wasn’t alone in this anymore. At least for now…at least until Blake left, too.
Chapter Six
An hour after Kara had her meltdown in the shower, she and Blake walked into the hotel restaurant and headed toward the table, where Royce and Luke were waiting on them. The idea was that they would calmly talk through how to deal with their “situation”, as Royce had called it. Kara was pretty sure she’d bump heads with big brother again, and she’d done her best with her bag of makeup to hide the effects of her tears and feel pulled together. Not that anyone would notice her face. The t-shirt she’d borrowed from Tami was way too low cut for her taste, though it seemed Blake’s “Navy SEALs” t-shirt was getting the attention of several women at a table they were passing. Or maybe it was just Blake who had their attention. He certainly had hers.
Both Luke and Royce stood up when Kara and Blake arrived at the table and, with a murmur of greetings, Kara settled into the seat next to Blake, directly across from Royce. Somehow she thought having Blake and Royce sitting across from each other—a head-on confrontation waiting to happen—didn’t work. At least, not for her and Luke.
The waitress stopped to fill their coffee cups and take their orders, and Blake’s hand settled possessively, warmly, on her leg. The brothers exchanged a few comments, more manly jokes than anything, and Kara covered Blake’s hand with hers. There was a new intimacy between them, a sense of being together, not just wanting to strip each other naked. For the first time in her adult life, she’d let a man slip inside her life. No. Inside her heart. It felt both wonderful and terrifying. She and Blake were bonded in pain, she thought, and she couldn't help but wonder if that was a good or bad thing.
Kara sipped her coffee and glanced around the table, a smile sliding onto her lips. The Walker brothers were a sight to behold—genetics at their best. “There’s enough testosterone at this table to shatter all the windows,” she teased them all and, focusing on Luke and Royce added, “Why do I know you’re all just as difficult as Blake and I’m about to be ganged up on?”
“You seem to like Blake’s flavor of difficult,” Luke commented, his lips curving in a charming smile. “So we’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Let’s talk about our plan,” Royce said, getting right to the point.
“Okay,” Kara said. Apparently there was no small talk for this big guy. “As long as it doesn’t include calling in the feds.”
“Just because we bring them in—”
“No,” Kara said, cutting off Royce. “I know why you’re pushing this. I know it’s to put the brakes on Blake. What you fail to see in your concern for your brother is that we’re both inside the operation in a way the feds only dream of being inside. We not only have a chance to find my sister, and the other women that have been kidnapped, but to bring Alvarez down completely.”
“You’re both too personally involved,” Royce said. “You know that. I know you do.”
“I’ve had time over the last two years to remove myself from the situation,” Blake said.
Kara turned on him. “This is removed?”
He grimaced. “You aren’t helping our case here, Kara.”
“I just think we should be honest about where we all stand. We are both too personally involved.” She glanced around the table. “Maybe that’s what it takes to break into something this big. We’re more inside the cartel than the task force working on this for years. The one insider close to Alvarez the feds had went missing three months ago.”
“You don’t think the feds will see the value in that?” Luke asked.
“I went off the radar,” Kara said. “I’ll be considered a risk.”
“She’s right,” Royce said. “The feds will be concerned. I’m not sure that means they’ll shut her down, but they might.”
“I can’t take that risk,” Kara said. “Not with my sister on the line.”
“The FBI and the ATF will both be all over this,” Royce said. “They won’t throw away an opportunity to take down Alvarez.”
“That’s the point,” Kara said. “They will get involved and they’ll red-tape everything. My sister won’t live long enough to go through the crossed T’s and dotted I’s. I need her out of this thing, and then I’ll hand over everything I’ve discovered.”