Stop at Nothing (18 page)

“Sexual tourism,” Abby spat, her tone betraying the level of her disgust.

“Exactly. Rhodes said that he was one of the recruiters, often interacting with kids living on the street, offering them a way out of their current life. He said some of the people they recruited ended up being ‘kept' by clients that took a liking to them, making them exclusive ‘property.' But they were all branded, marked like cattle, as a reminder to the client that they were just loaners and that the clients had better not forget that.”

“And you believe Rosalie was being kept by someone?”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah. We showed Rhodes a photo of Rosalie, and he confirmed he'd seen her coming through the network. But she was different, he said. He claimed most of the recruits from the U.S. are
willing
participants in what's going on, that they know what they're signing up for. I doubt that's true, but I guess in Rhodes's case, perception was reality. Anyway, he said a lot of the underage victims had been recruited online by men pretending to be teenage boys.”

“Jesus,” Abby breathed. “That adds a whole new threat to the crap happening online. It's bad enough having to worry about pedophiles trolling or psychos luring their kids into a dangerous situation, but now parents also have to worry about their kids being abducted and forced into sexual tourism?”

Kyle leaned forward, bracing his arms on his knees. “After everything I've seen with this case, the idea of being a parent someday scares the shit out of me.”

“So, what happened to Rosalie?” Abby asked in such a clipped tone that Kyle sat up to better study her expression.

When he couldn't get a read on what had caused the abrupt change in her demeanor, he continued. “I guess Rosalie fought against her handlers, tried to escape. They never got around to shipping her overseas. Instead she was given to a man Rhodes only knew as ‘the Cowboy.' From what Rhodes could gather, the Cowboy was one of the high-up bosses. When they had the occasional new recruit who didn't behave, they were given to the Cowboy to break—hence the nickname.”

“That poor girl!” Abby gasped. “I hate to think what he put her through.”

“Unfortunately, we were able to get a pretty clear picture of what someone put her through—whether it was him or whoever he gave her to.”

“And you think Tartarus was behind this?” Abby asked softly.

When he glanced her way and met her gaze, he could see doubt in her eyes. He couldn't blame her. It sounded ridiculous even to him. Yeah, her brother-in-law was into some really shady shit and, if by chance he was still alive, deserved to rot in prison for his own human-trafficking operation. But was he really the one behind the atrocities Kyle had discovered in New Orleans? The connections he'd been making in his head sounded even more tenuous now that he was saying them aloud.

“Hell, I don't know,” he grumbled, launching to his feet and striding several paces down the porch to lean against the railing. He heard Abby's light footsteps behind him. A moment later, her arms encircled his waist and she pressed her cheek against his back.

The warmth of her tender embrace was enough to make his throat go tight. Having to talk about Rosalie Sparks, having to relive the horrors he'd witnessed and being left to imagine the unspeakable acts of violence, had his gut twisting with emotion.

As if sensing his internal turmoil, Abby pressed a kiss to his back, then pulled away enough for him to turn in her arms so that he was facing her. Without a word, she gazed up at him, her expression so full of sympathy and understanding that Kyle's heart broke wide open. He closed his eyes against the sudden blur there and choked back the tears that he wasn't about to let her see, lest she think he was a total fucking pansy.

But then her palm was resting on his cheek, her thumb caressing his skin, offering him the silent love and support he'd sorely needed for months. And then she was slipping her arms around his neck and drawing him closer, pulling him to her. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, holding on to her as if his life and his sanity depended on it. And, hell, maybe they did.

He didn't know how long they stood this way before he finally released her and took a step back, putting a little distance between them, suddenly embarrassed for showing how much the case had gotten to him.

“Sorry,” he murmured.

Her brows came together. “For what? For being compassionate and caring? For giving a damn about the victims who count on us to find justice for them? Don't ever apologize for that, Kyle. It makes you who you are. And it's just another reason I fell in love with you.”

She took his hand then and tugged him toward the house. He followed without question, his pulse quickening with each step. By the time they reached the end of the upstairs hallway that was farthest from where Emma and Tyler slept, the blood was pounding in his ears and his groin.

He didn't even wait until they crossed the threshold to drag her into his arms and press his lips to hers in a harsh kiss. He wasn't being gentle, he knew. But Abby didn't seem to mind. Her kiss was just as hungry and savage in return, her tongue tangling with his in that maddeningly sensual way she had that drove him wild.

They stumbled into the bedroom and Kyle managed to shut the door behind them without slamming it in his haste to get her inside. Then he was pulling her shirt over her head and unhooking her bra with a quick flick of his fingertips. The next instant, he was bending her back, taking one of her nipples into his mouth. He kneaded one breast as he laved and teased the other with his tongue and teeth, making her moan softly.

But he didn't resist when she pulled his head up and claimed his mouth, carefully pulling him back with her toward the bed and fumbling with his fly as they went. When she slipped her hand down between them, he shuddered. And when she began to caress him, smoothing her palm up and down his shaft, he groaned.

“Jesus, Abby,” he ground out. “You keep doing that, and I'm going to throw you down on that bed and fuck the hell out you.”

She giggled, a deep, throaty sound that made his dick twitch. “Whatever do you mean?” she rasped, continuing to stroke him. “Do you mean…like
this
?”

The sound Kyle made in response to her taunting rumbled deep in his chest like a growl. So Abby wasn't entirely surprised when he tackled her onto the bed and claimed her mouth in a kiss so animalistic she felt like something primal had been unleashed. Nor was she surprised when he roughly stripped her of her jeans and panties, while also managing to shed his own and grab a condom before plunging deep into her with such a savage thrust that she gasped, curling into him.

Then he was thrusting with that same savagery, stroke after stroke, burying himself so deep that all Abby could do was rock with him, gasping at the intensity of the pleasure washing over her. She shattered within moments, biting back the cry that no doubt would've wakened her sister and nephew down the hall.

“Oh my God,” she panted, her thoughts reeling. “Oh God, yes.”

But at her words his strokes became slower, more sensual, which brought on a different level of pleasure, one that went beyond the physical. She moved with him, arching into him, accepting all that he gave, her hands drifting down his arms and over his shoulders, her fingers hungry for every inch of him.

Abby gazed up at him. His eyes were closed, his long, dark lashes brushing against his cheekbones. His full lips were slightly open, his pleasure playing across his features. As if sensing her gaze, he opened his eyes and the intensity of the desire she saw there made her heart swell.

She reached up with both hands to grasp the back of his neck and pull him down to her. His lips brushed lightly over hers in just the whisper of a kiss—not nearly enough to satisfy her. But before she could urge him to kiss her again, he shifted slightly, rolling to his side, bringing her with him, and draping her leg over his waist.

Now that they were stretched out next to each another, he pulled her in against him, languidly ravishing her mouth as they made love unhurriedly.

“I could do this all night,” he murmured against her lips.

She chuckled, liking the sound of that plan. But even as a grin curved her lips, another release rushed up on her, making her shiver as heat and light exploded within her body. But it seemed Kyle wasn't finished with her yet.

He rolled onto his back, bringing her with him so that she was straddling him. Abby rolled her hips in concert with his, letting her head fall back on her shoulders. He ran his hands lightly up and down her ribs, finally tangling in the length of her hair. As his own release grew imminent, he grasped her hair in his fists, their unhurried movement now becoming more purposeful, more precise, until he suddenly grasped her hips and plunged in with a few deep strokes before he came with a long groan.

Abby was grinning when he sat up and eased her onto her back before he withdrew. She was
still
grinning when he returned to the bed and slipped under the sheets, pulling her into his arms.

She heaved a long sigh and lazily caressed his chest, wishing he was staying there with them, but as reality began to settle upon them, the truth that he was leaving in the morning stubbornly intruded upon the more pleasant thoughts that were beginning to form.

“Will you be okay?” she whispered.

His fingertips trailed up and down her arm. “About the case?”

“That and going back to New Orleans,” she replied. “I don't like the idea of you going alone. I should be with you. You don't know what these people might be capable of if they're cornered, Kyle.”

He pressed a kiss to her hair. “I appreciate your concern, sweetheart, but I'm only going down there to try to find Rhodes and ask him some questions. I'm not planning to rush in half-cocked, demanding answers. Rhodes was already pissed at me. If I go in there all badass, he's going to clam up again.”

“And what if his bosses come looking for you?” Abby demanded, her heart beginning to race as she considered the danger he might be walking into. “What then?”

“Then I'll deal with it,” he assured her. “It'll be fine. Trust me.”

She lifted her head from his chest so that she could hold his gaze and get a read on whether he was as unconcerned as he seemed or if it was all an act for her benefit. When he gave her that cockeyed, arrogant grin of his, she sighed. “I do trust you. But that doesn't mean I'm going to worry any less.”

He cupped her cheek. “I'll be home before you know it.”

“And then what?” she asked before she could bite back the words. Before her questions could open up an entirely different conversation, she quickly amended, “How are Emma and Tyler supposed to just go back to their normal routine?”

Kyle's brows came together as he considered the question. “I'm hoping that when I return, I'll be able to answer some of Emma's questions, the biggest one right now being what happened to your brother-in-law.”

Abby closed her eyes at the thought of the horrible fate that might've befallen Curtis and how the truth of his criminal activities and the manner in which he'd paid for those actions would hurt her family. She edged closer to Kyle, seeking the comfort only the warmth of his arms seemed able to provide.

“I don't know what to tell them,” she murmured. “I don't know how to break it to Ty that his father is a heartless, greedy son of a bitch who used people in heinous ways.”

“Then don't,” Kyle replied. “Let his mother figure out the best way to handle that news. It should come from her.”

Abby shook her head a little. “Emma's never been able to handle conflict or confrontation. That always fell to me. Even when she and Curtis were fighting and he'd storm off in a rage to some corner of the world to sulk, I'd have to be the one to call him and try to smooth things over between them. I wish I'd never bothered.”

Kyle lifted her chin with his knuckle so that she was looking up into his penetrating gaze. “You can't save everyone from pain in this one, Abby.” When she tried to look away, his hand shifted so that he was lightly but firmly grasping her chin. “I know you, sweetheart. I know you would shield them all from harm if you could. You've been doing it your entire life. But all you can do is be there for them while they're hurting and pull them through to the other side.”

She reached up and caressed his strong jaw, knowing his advice was offered from experience. She hadn't known him when he'd lost his mother to cancer, but she'd heard him talk about her often enough to feel like she knew how deeply Theresa Dawson had loved her boys and how much they'd adored her. Abby could only hope her own children might feel that kind of unconditional love for her someday.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You are the strongest woman I know, Abby. But if you need
me
, I'm here.”

Abby closed her eyes and nestled into him again, wishing she was half as strong as he believed her to be, wishing she'd been strong enough three years before to tell him the truth and not let him leave town without knowing how much she loved him.

“Kyle,” she whispered, “there's something I have to tell you.”

* * *

Kyle stiffened at the tone in her voice. It was the same tone he used when delivering death notifications to the family of victims. Whatever Abby was about to tell him, it wasn't good.

When she sat up and turned her back to him to let her legs hang over the side of the bed, his stomach twisted with apprehension. But he'd just told her he'd be there for her, so he sure as hell wasn't about to go chickenshit on her now when she was clearly reaching out to take him up on his offer.

He sat up and scooted closer, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing a kiss against the back of her shoulder. “I'm here, sweetheart. You can tell me anything.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her shoulders dipping in dejection on the exhale. “I fell in love with you the first time I saw you,” she told him. “The moment our eyes met, when you shook my hand…the effect was staggering. I'd never responded to anyone that way.”

He chuckled, using it to cover his sudden relief. “Sorry?” When she didn't share in his amusement, he pressed another kiss to her skin and then rested his chin on her shoulder. “If it helps, I felt the same way about you. It killed me that we were going to be working together, that I'd have to see you every day and not be able to touch you.”

She briefly pressed her head against his but then pulled away a little, subtly distancing herself from him. “When you announced you were leaving, I just… Well, I knew we couldn't have a future, but I wanted to be in your arms just once. That day at the lake was unbelievable. Unfortunately, I realized it wasn't going to be as easy to let you go as I'd thought.”

“It wasn't easy for me to leave either,” he assured her, meaning it. Knowing he'd have to tell her good-bye had hung over him like a dark cloud the entire summer, coloring every moment of happiness they'd shared. “I'd hoped that we could continue things long distance after I left. I wanted to make it work, Abby. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have told you how much I loved you.”

She nodded but didn't speak for a moment. And when she did finally go on, her voice was tight as if choked by emotion. “I had hoped so too. But then”—she took a deep shuddering breath—“two days before you left, I went to the doctor because I'd missed my period.”

Kyle's stomach dropped at warp speed, and he drew away from her, having a pretty damned good idea what he was about to hear next but not believing it at the same time. Abby wouldn't have kept something like that from him. Not Abby. Not the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He ran a hand down his face, waiting for her to speak, needing to hear it from her.

She cleared her throat. “The doctor confirmed I was pregnant.”

Sorrow and rage hit Kyle like a ton of bricks. Suddenly Joe's apology in the bar made sense. And that just added to Kyle's fury.
He
hadn't known that Abby was pregnant, and yet somehow his
brother
had?

“Abby…” he croaked. He had to work to keep his voice even when he continued. “Did Joe and Sadie know about this?”

“Sadie did,” she admitted. “She's my best friend. I had to confide in someone. But I didn't say a word to Joe. I swear it.”

Kyle's jaw began to ache, and he forced himself to quit grinding his back teeth in order to say, “Since I don't currently have a toddler running around calling me ‘Dad,' I assume you got an abortion.”

She spun around on a gasp, her eyes wide, horrified. “What? No! You think I wouldn't want to have our child? It was a precious—albeit unexpected—gift.”

He frowned at her, perplexed and impatient to know the rest. “So what happened then?” he demanded, his voice overly loud. “Did you have the baby?”

She shushed him with a glance toward the door. “Lower your voice!”

“Do we have a kid somewhere that I didn't even know about?” he hissed.

She lunged to her feet, pacing naked in the confines of the room. As hurt and upset as he was, Kyle couldn't help but appreciate the way the moonlight coming in through the window played upon her fair skin and pale hair, giving her an almost ethereal glow.

“No.”

The single word brought him out of his reverie and his gaze snapped to her face, which was twisted with sorrow. “You miscarried,” he guessed.

She nodded. “A few weeks later.”

He wanted to go to her, to wrap her in his arms and soothe away her sorrow. But his hurt at being kept in the dark made him stay where he was. “Why didn't you tell me any of this before now?”

Abby wrapped her arms around herself and ran her hands up and down her arms, clearly needing the comfort he was being an ass about withholding. “You were leaving,” she said as if that explained everything. “You had plans, a future. I didn't want to ruin that for you.”

He felt the heat in his cheeks as a new wave of anger washed over him. “You thought that I'd choose a job over you and my
child
?” As soon as he said it, he realized this was the same thing he'd accused his father of all these years. Was it so hard to imagine that Abby might think he'd be the same kind of father? He threw back the covers and started gathering his clothes. “Don't you know me better than that?”

She came to him and grabbed his bicep. “Yes,” she said, her eyes pleading with him to understand as they met and held his furious gaze. “I do. That's why I didn't tell you.”

He shook his head. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I knew you'd stay.” Her grip on his arm tightened slightly. “I didn't want you to give up everything you'd dreamed of because of me. I didn't want our relationship to have that hanging over us. I would've always wondered—you would've always wondered—if we were only together because we felt like we
had
to be. I saw what that did to my parents. I didn't want that for us. For
you
.”

Kyle stared at her for a moment in disbelief. He understood what she was saying, understood where she was coming from and why she hadn't told him. But it didn't take away the sting of not knowing. The fact that she'd doubted the depth of his love for her, that she'd made a decision that had been
his
to make, hurt him more than he cared to admit. He jerked his arm out of her grasp and pulled on his pants.

She reached out to him, but her touch fell short. “Kyle, please try to understand…”

He strode toward the door. “I understand, Abby,” he snapped as he grasped the doorknob. “I just need some time by myself right now.”

Kyle closed the door softly behind him in spite of his urge to slam it and strode down the hall on bare feet so as not to wake Emma or Tyler. He'd planned to just duck into one of the other rooms and crash for the night until he could leave at first light, but he somehow knew he wouldn't be able to sleep even if he tried.