Hearts and Aces (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 7) by Kaylie Hunter (great books for teens txt) 📗

run security here. Kelsey, come look at this satellite image.”

I joined him and Tech at the table and looked over Tech’s shoulder. They had satellite images of a large house surrounded by several outbuildings and what appeared to be a tall metal fence.

“Anything look familiar?”

“No. I could only see a dirt road and the forest. I didn’t see any buildings.”

“How wide was the road?” Wayne asked.

“Barely a car width wide. It was definitely a back road.”

Tech zoomed out, but the forest was too thick to see anything for miles. Two small cities, distanced about the same radius from the guys’ last known location, were possible options to the east.

“I can send two teams,” Wayne said, looking up at me. “I can have them scout both cities.”

“No.” I stepped over to Tweedle and placed a hand on her shoulder. “This is the part where we have to have faith. Sending more men will only complicate their situation.”

Tweedle wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Someone needs to run to the store. I need more flour. The best thing for me to do right now is to bake.”

“I sent some guys to the store earlier,” Tyler said. “We have enough flour to start a cookie factory.”

Tweedle smiled at him as she moved into the kitchen. “Any requests?”

“Chocolate chip cookies!” Katie said.

“Brownies,” Tech said.

“Lemon poppyseed muffins,” Tyler said.

“Banana nut bread,” Lisa said.

Tweedle looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m not picky. A distraction is a good idea, though. I brought home the Miami case files.”

“You’ve gone through those files a million times,” Tech said, glancing sideways at me. “I know Uncle Hank asked you to take a look, but let’s focus on our backlogged cases first.”

“Fine. Just give me a case to take my mind off things.”

Tech and Bridget gathered our other laptops and started them up. Tech pointed me toward a file that Kemp had created for quick-glance service requests that had been emailed to us. I took the oldest request and started working.

Chapter Ten

Ten minutes later, Jackson entered through the front door, turning to Reggie who was behind him. “No! I don’t want to hear it. I don’t need to know what you did. I know you—and I know Kelsey. Whatever you did, it had to have been pretty bad for her to unleash that level of retribution.”

“Babe, I swear I was in the right.”

Jackson shook his head and looked at me. Everyone else was staring at Reggie, or more precisely, the artwork all over his face.

“Does he know yet?” I asked Jackson.

“Not yet. I need a drink. You?”

“No. You’ll need to skip the booze, too. Stick to strong coffee. If we get the call the guys are in trouble, I’ll need you to go to Mexico with me.”

Pops stood and walked over to place his hands on the breakfast bar as he glared at Reggie. “What in Sam Hill did you do this time?”

“Nothing,” Reggie said, walking around Pops and into the kitchen.

Pops pointed at Reggie. “Your forehead says otherwise!”

Reggie raised an eyebrow, then glanced at his reflection in the microwave. “Shit!”

“No,” Katie said, walking over to read Reggie’s forehead. “It says idiot.” She looked back at me with a smirk.

“I like the picture of the little boy peeing on his left cheek,” Tech said, dumping a pile of files on the table.

“The cat whiskers are cute,” Tweedle said, grinning as she poured a bag of chocolate chips into a batch of cookie dough.

“It’s part of the theme,” Wayne said before taking a drink of his coffee. “Look at his chest.”

Reggie opened his shirt which was still unbuttoned. The word pussycat was written in big block letters.

“It was a struggle to keep our art rated PG,” Wayne said, chuckling. “We had to adapt so the kids wouldn’t see something inappropriate.”

“This will wash off, right?” Reggie asked.

I shrugged. “Eventually.”

“I know better than to ask,” Jackson said, shaking his head. “But what did he do?”

“Blake Foster is a young and barely trained guard of Aces who had an obsession with his long-lost missing teenage crush. Reggie was supposed to ensure Blake didn’t leave Headquarters, but instead he flew him to Indiana on my dime. They arrived on scene right before the property was to be swept and our suspect questioned.”

Jackson turned to face Reggie. “You’re lucky she only had you tranquilized!”

“It wasn’t fair. Poor Blake had been searching for Allie for years. You should have heard him.”

“He was too emotionally involved!” Jackson stormed into the living room, rubbing a hand over his head. “Wayne, I want the expenses billed to Reggie. He’ll cover the cost of the plane and anything else he spent.”

“Now, let’s not get carried away,” Reggie said, walking over to hold Jackson’s hand. “Kelsey can afford it.” Reggie pouted at Jackson, batting his eyelashes dramatically.

With the catlike eyelashes and whiskers, even Jackson was having a hard time keeping a straight face. “You’re paying the money. I don’t care if it empties your bank account.”

“Fine.” Reggie stomped toward the basement stairs like a petulant child. “I’m going to shower downstairs.”

Jackson turned to me. “Are you sure I can’t drink?”

“The guys ran into trouble in Mexico,” Wayne said. “We’re waiting to hear from them.”

Wayne filled Jackson in on what little we knew.

“How long has it been?” Jackson asked.

“Half an hour? Maybe a little longer,” I said.

“I need a burner phone.”

Katie went to the credenza and opened the bottom drawer. “Charged and ready.”

Jackson called a number from memory. Based on the number of digits he’d entered I knew the call was out of the country. He spoke in rapid Spanish so I only understood a handful of words. Wake. Trouble. Soon. Be Ready.

“Care to enlighten the