High Stakes Gamble

Chapter Twenty-Five

As they left the prison, Kai thought about the earlier brief time alone with Ham behind a mirrored window and about their pertinent discussion. He’d learned another lesson about the woman that made his heart beat faster every time he was in the same room with her.

Speaking from the side of his mouth, the big Irishman had first broken the silence. “Aurora’s working her.”

“I know. But is she a better fighter?”

“Oh man, you really don’t know our Rory. She’s the best I’ve ever seen. Cool and methodical, she knows all the moves and practices most days.”

“Yeah, but she just recently had a baby, for Christ sake. She can’t be at her best.”

“No matter, she’ll compensate… watch and learn.”

***

After the loose ends were tied up, and the three were on their way out of the modern secure facility, Kai couldn’t resist his words full of sarcasm. “What happened to—I’ll let her win just to get the information we need?”

Aurora strode beside him, ignoring his question.

“And how the hell did you know she was their half-sister?”

He moved to open the driver’s door, then stood in front of her before she could slip inside. Ham hung onto the opened passenger door, all ears.

Aurora waited in front of him impatiently. “I played a long shot. It wasn’t making sense to have this girl going from being a pickpocket to a murderer for no reason. There had to be some tie, some enticement vital enough to persuade her. Then I thought of her name, checked her heritage, got Ray working on it and he found the connections. She’d lived in Kowloon, the same part of China as Chu and she’d made numerous phone calls to Leon when she first arrived stateside a few months ago. Sooo…” She shrugged her shoulders.

That made sense. Pissed him off that she hadn’t shared any of this with him earlier, but then again, he wasn’t her partner anymore. “You knew she had nothing to help with in the investigation? How?”

Aurora seemed surprised by his remark. “You caught that did you?”

“Remember, I’ve worked with you before.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me.”

He struggled not to show the affect her cutting remark had on his raw insides. He waited, not moving.

Finally, she shrugged and answered. “Her eyes were blank when I mentioned Lily. If she’d known anything at all, satisfaction would have appeared; she wouldn’t have been able to stop herself.”

“Then why did you fight with her?”

“Hell. Because I wanted to hit something and I needed to knock some sense into the arrogant bitch. About time someone did it.”

Ham burst out laughing. “Hey cowboy, don’t say I didn’t tell you.”

A radio call interrupted their banter. “Calling Detective Morelli. White Peterbilt has been detained. Multiple shots fired—”

Within seconds, they piled into the vehicle and left the parking lot with tires squealing.

As hard as it was to relinquish command, Kai had stepped aside, leaving Aurora to take the driver’s seat. She knew the area, he didn’t. Plus her driving skills couldn’t be questioned; the woman was a maniac behind the wheel. And she’d know the shortest route to where officers had blocked the unsub. He settled into the back and slowly tried to breathe his apprehension under control.

Finding Lily had to happen. If he never gave this woman another thing in his life, returning her baby would make up some little bit towards the pain he’d already inflicted. He flexed his hands that itched to destroy the murderous snake who’d taken his beautiful child in the first place.