All I've Ever Wanted - Adrianne Byrd [60]
She shook her head. Maybe, but it was more like she was temporarily insane. The Mercedes turned down an alley and, for the first time, she wondered where the driver was headed. Nothing was out here on this side of town.
Max towered over Kennedy. “Going on a little trip?”
She clutched her injured arm closer. “Last time I checked, it was still a free country.”
His gaze grew sterner. “I need you to step off the bus, now.”
“No.” She watched a muscle twitch along his jawline.
“You have a choice. Either you can walk willingly or—” he removed his handcuffs from his belt “—we can give the good folks on this bus a show they’ll never forget.”
She glared at him and tried to decide whether to call his bluff.
His brows rose as if he could read her thoughts.
“You once said that you never knew when to take me seriously. Do you remember what my answer was?”
To always take him seriously. Seething, Kennedy stood. Her gaze fell to the crowd around her. All eyes watched her.
“Could you grab my bag? I think my arm is broken.”
A spark of concern lit his eyes, and then disappeared as if she had imagined it.
“Then I guess I need to get you to a doctor.”
She squeezed by him and waited for him to retrieve her things before moving down the aisle. When she stepped off the bus, she met another crowd of curious stares. This time her audience was the men in blue.
Max descended the stairs behind her, then gripped her good arm and led her firmly toward his car.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed? Is that it?” he asked in a harsh whisper.
“I don’t owe you an explanation,” she hissed back.
He opened the car door for her. “We’ll just see about that.”
Too infuriated for a rebuttal, she got into the car and let her anger boil rampantly through her veins. She watched Max in the side mirror as he talked to his colleagues. A few minutes later, the bus pulled back into traffic and continued on its route.
Her vision blurred as she watched it disappear. What was she going to do now? Despair flooded her heart. There was nothing she could do. Everything was out of her hands.
The driver’s door swung open and Maxwell slid in behind the steering wheel. She noticed the patrol cars had turned off their lights and pulled away.
“It looks like it’s just you and me, kid,” he said. He turned to face her.
“Lucky me.”
He took in a sharp breath, held it, and then exhaled in a long weary sigh. “You do know how to try someone’s patience.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it. You’re not doing such a bad job at it yourself.”
The car fell silent for a moment. Kennedy guessed that he was calculating a different angle.
“Lawrence has your son, doesn’t he?”
She turned away from him. Her actions were as much a dead giveaway as a confession would have been.
“What were you planning on doing once you got to Memphis?”
She sighed, and then gave him a sharp look. “Just cut the crap, all right? I didn’t have a plan. I was going to wing it.”
“You were going to wing it?”
She clenched her teeth.
Max shook his head. “Funny. You look like a bright girl.”
“What do you want from me? I’m trying to save my son.”
“Then why won’t you let me help you do that?” he thundered. “It’s apparent that you can’t do it alone.”
“Well, Shaft. From where I’m sitting, it doesn’t appear that you’re doing such a bang-up job yourself. All you and your partner have managed to do is harass me while spewing out theories. If you were so sure who was behind all of this, why didn’t you do something about it?”
His features turned to stone. “It doesn’t work like that, and you damn well know it.”
“Yeah. We’re dealing with someone who isn’t bound by the same laws and procedures you are. Why can’t you understand that?”
He glared, but didn’t answer.
Kennedy shook her head. “You can’t protect me from everyone on these streets. The gangs have their own laws. I would have thought that you’d have learned that by now.”
He turned from her then, his hands gripping the steering wheel, but he made no attempt to start the car.
“You