Until Kelly by Vera Quinn
Chapter Twenty-Three
Trask
All I see is red. I want to destroy the hate this man in front of me is spewing at my woman. No one has the right to be so spiteful toward Kelly—the woman I have come to love with everything that I am.
“Man, I’m not your enemy,” the man says.
“Trask, get yourself under control,” Botie tells me. I hear him but I all I see is red and I want to destroy everything in my path. I need to protect my woman.
“Does everyone not see the woman in question is gone?” the bigger of the two men asks. What he says registers in my head, and I look around the room. Kelly is gone. I need to find her. I start to leave but Botie catches my arm.
“We need to sort these two out before we go looking for Kelly. She’s probably headed home to regroup.” Botie is right. The faster I get these two assholes on their way down the road, the sooner I can get to Kelly and get her back in my arms.
“You two start explaining before I call the sheriff. What the hell did you say to my woman? Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?” I spit out question after question while pointing at the two men.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you. Kelly told you who I was. Who are you and how are you mixed up with Kelly?” the shorter of the two men asks.
“This is Jax and Sage Mayson. They are guest here. They came in last night,” Haddie tells us. I think back to what Kelly said. I was too mad about what Sage said to Kelly to listen closely to what she said. Yes, she said his name.
“We were hired to investigate Kelly, but we never thought that she was the woman that she is. We were hired to do a background check on her,” Jax tells us. “We are private investigators.”
“Who hired you?” Botie asks. I don’t need to ask that question. It couldn’t be anyone else but my parents. People in this town may gossip about you behind your back—it’s part of small-town living—but only my parents would go to the extent of hiring someone to do their dirty work.
“We can’t give out that information. It’s confidential,” Jax tells us.
“Think about it, Botie. Only Donald and Skeeter Stillman would do that. I’ll handle them later.” I look at the man that Kelly called Sage. “Why do you think my Kelly is your Kelly?”
“Trask, Kelly said it herself. Give these gentlemen a chance to explain. Our girl is in trouble and we need to find out how we can help.” Haddie tries to calm me down. She’s right, Kelly did say it. No, it can’t be right. Kelly isn’t the woman they are talking about. She can’t be. My woman is gentle and compassionate. My brain can’t follow what is being said. My heart knows my woman better.
“I’m married to her twin sister, Kimberly. A little over a year ago, we were told Kelly was dead.” Sage looks in his phone and then shows us all a picture that looks just like Kelly, but she has blond hair. I look at the picture and then at Sage. I see the other man is doing something on his phone. I take Sage’s phone in my hand and I look at the picture of the woman closer. The woman’s hair is different but there is something else, her eyes. They’re the same shape and color but in my woman’s eyes, I have always been able to read her heart. This woman’s I can’t. I hand the phone back to Sage. I look at the man and I see the pity he has for me in his eyes. He isn’t a bad man. I would guess neither of these men are. I still don’t like the way Sage talked to my woman like she was yesterday’s trash.
“Tell me everything,” I tell Sage and he looks at Jax. It’s like they are having a conversation between each other without words.
“I can only tell you what I know. I have no idea how she is still alive or why she is here,” Sage says.
“Just give me what you know,” I tell him.
“Trask, you may want to let Kelly explain first.” Lyric speaks up.
“Kelly isn’t here right now, and I need to know what is going on so I can help her.” I’m not sure I want to know what Sage has to say but I need to.
“We have no reason to lie to you,” Jax says. I guess that is true, but I have no reason to trust them either.
“Tell him what you have to say, and Trask can decide what he wants to believe.” Botie speaks up beside me.
“Everyone, just sit down so we can talk about this and find out how to help our girl,” Haddie suggest. I sit in the chair closest to me. Sage and Jax remain standing but the rest sit down.
“Alright, both you and Kelly have said that you are married to her twin sister. Explain the rest of the shit you were spewing at my woman.” I give Sage a look letting him know I don’t appreciate anything he said, and I don’t trust him.
“I didn’t come here to cause you problems. I am just working a case and I was shocked to see Kelly alive.” Sage seems to be weighing his word before he says them. “Kelly has had a troubled childhood and the woman that raised her was cold and not a good person. Kelly and Kim were separated at birth. Their mother, Ginny, kept Kelly and gave Kim up for adoption. Kelly’s childhood from what I have heard wasn’t a good one. Their mother was a drug addict and prostitute. Those are facts. Until Kim was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney failure, she had no idea that she was adopted. She and Kelly reconnected when Kim went looking for her, hoping Kelly could help her with her medical issues. Her adopted parents are good people, but they decided they wouldn’t tell Kim about the adoption. When she needed a match for her to get a kidney transplant, they broke down and told her.” Sage stops and looks at Jax and then back to me. “Kim found Kelly and Kelly was going to donate a kidney, but she backed out and took off. Right after that, there was a human trafficking case in our area. Jax’s sister was kidnapped, and she had seen Kelly’s body when she escaped. Everyone was told that Kelly was dead. The FBI came to my woman and told her that her sister was dead. There was a body cremated. Kim has been tortured by the last argument that she had with Kelly. I just don’t know how Kelly could still be alive,” Sage tells us. He is deep in thought. He looks up at Jax and Jax nods his head yes.
“What did you mean when you were talking about a john and drugs?” I ask.
“You need to talk to Kelly about that.” Jax speaks up.
“I’m asking Sage,” I say in a dull voice. This is all too much.
“I’m not telling you anything that I don’t have facts to back up. When Kim and I first met, I had to leave town for a job. When I returned to town, I went to a club. I thought it was Kim approaching me, so we had some drinks. I caught Kelly trying to drop a drug in my drink so she could get my wallet. It’s not the first time she had tried it to other people. I was pissed, and I took it out on Kim because I thought she was an only child. Then I found out she had a twin. I hated Kelly for the shit I put Kim through, but I know now it was the environment she was raised in. I know Kelly used drugs but today she seemed to have a clear head. I’m not making excuses for her because I still wouldn’t turn my back on Kelly, but I understand her better. I was adopted and I thank God every day for the people that are my family now. I am incredibly lucky to be a Mayson.” I can see that it wasn’t easy for Sage to say what he has.
“The only way any of this could be possible is if Kelly is in some kind of protection program. We all need to keep this to ourselves until I can get in contact with the authorities. I put a call into Special Agent Torres, but it keeps going to voicemail,” Jax tells us and my heart freezes with fear that someone is hunting Kelly.
“You said there was a human trafficking case. Kelly could be in trouble if she is on her own.” Botie states the obvious.
“I know my parents are the ones to hire you two, but there is no dirt on my woman that would make a bit of difference to me. I know who Kelly is. I know her heart. It’s in her eyes. Sage, you showed me a picture of her twin sister and they look almost the same except for the eyes. My woman’s heart can be seen through her eyes. I know Kelly loves me and I also know that we can work through anything else. It will just take time.” I speak straight from my heart. “The Kelly you knew has changed. She is gone. The woman I know is strong, and she loves with her whole heart. I want to hire the two of you to find my woman but do it discreetly. If there are people who want to hurt her, then I want her safe. Don’t give my parents anything on Kelly. I will pay them back every penny they have paid you and I will take care of telling them.” Jax looks at Sage. Sage nods at Jax this time.
“This is family, no payment required. We’ll fly under the radar on everything we find. No one says anything to anyone until we know Kelly is safe and we talk to Torres or Kace, the two special agents from the FBI who are on the case. Does everyone understand?” Jax looks at everyone in the room.
“We understand. Find our girl,” Haddie tells the two men. I don’t know what I am feeling right now but I know I can’t see my parents until I know Kelly is safe.