“Sure,” I mutter, and she slips the sleeping little girl into my arms. Her small, warm body presses close to my chest and I lift her higher, adjusting her against me.
“Hurry, baby,” I tell Ellie as her eyes stay fixed on me. “Babe,” I say, and she blinks then turns around, heading back down the hall, and my eyes drop to the tiny girl. I know she’s three from the info Ellie gave me. Her skin is the same cream color as her mother’s. Her cheeks are slightly rosy from sleep, her lips are in a small pout, and her long, dark lashes fan out across her cheeks. She’s beautiful, and she hasn’t even opened her eyes.
“Her dad never even seen her grow up,” Marlene says, putting another cigarette in her mouth.
Looking down at the little girl in my arms, I imagine her being mine and never seeing her. The thought alone causes my heart to bleed and my arms to tighten around her. “Don’t light that,” I growl when she lifts a lighter to the cigarette hanging out of her mouth.
“It’s my house.”
“I don’t give a fuck. You can wait until we’re gone.”
Her face screws up, but she pulls the cigarette out and closes her hand around it.
“Ready,” Ellie says, carrying a large bag over one shoulder then a smaller diaper bag in her other hand. Taking the large bag from her and being careful not to wake Hope, I carry her outside to the truck. Once I have her buckled in the car seat I had my mom pickup when we were still in the hospital, I lift Ellie up into the cab and pull her seatbelt around her.
“Jax.”
“Yeah, babe?” My hands stop and my gaze meets her beautiful brown eyes that are surrounded by long dark lashes.
“I can buckle myself in,” she whispers, and my eyes drop to her mouth. She has a gap between her front teeth that I have become obsessed with since meeting her. Really, I’m obsessed with her mouth. Her lips are plump, the bottom; slightly fuller than the top, the pink so dark that I want to lean in for a taste, just to see if they’re as soft and sweet as they look.
“You owe me for watching Hope,” her aunt says from behind us, breaking the moment and causing a growl to vibrate my chest.
“Stay put.” I growl, clicking her seatbelt into place, stepping back and slamming the door. Once I’m a few steps away, I set the locks and the alarm so I’ll know if Ellie tries to get out then storm up the few stairs into the trailer. Pulling the door closed behind me, the small room turns almost black, the only light coming from a small window in the living room, and a smaller one above the sink in the dirty kitchen.
“What are you doing?” Marlene asks, and I can hear the nervousness in her voice as she backs away from me.
“I’m going to give you a chance to be honest with me. I’m going to ask you where Ellie’s mother is, and I want you to tell me the truth. If you don’t tell me where she is now and I find out later on that you knew her whereabouts and kept that from me, I’m going to make you pay for that mistake.”
“You ain’t the law. You can’t talk to me like this,” she says, putting her hands on her wide hips and looking toward the door.
“You’re right. I’m not a cop, and that information should lead you into doing the smart thing,” I snarl.
“She’s my sister.”
“I don’t give a fuck if she’s the fucking Pope. Tell me where she is.”
“I don’t know,” she says quietly after a long moment.
“You sure you want that to be your final answer?” I ask her, turning toward the door.
“It’s the truth.”
“Remember I warned you,” I say, opening the door and stepping down the rickety stairs to the grass.
“What about my money?”
“Get it from your sister,” I tell her, clicking the alarm for my truck and swinging up inside. I’m so pissed that I can actually feel my heart pounding in my neck. I want to take a can of gasoline and light her damn trailer on fire.
“What did she say?” Ellie asks quietly from my side as I pull out onto the main road. Pulling my eyes from the asphalt, I look over at her quickly, seeing a sadness in her gaze that makes my fist tighten on the steering wheel.
“Nothing, baby.”