Chapter Six
It had been over two weeks, and he was dead tired and extremely worried about Kyla. Every day that went by, he got more anxious. He’d found the bus she was on and tracked her to Florida. When he asked the people at the station about her, they said they’d never seen her, so he tracked down the bus driver, but he was on the road, so that took a few days, and he’d left several messages on the guy’s phone, but Duncan assumed he never checked it because he never got a call back.
Duncan gave a huge sigh of relief when the bus driver finally called him back.
Fortunately, the guy remembered her, and he told him she got off the bus in Columbus, Georgia, because of an incident on the bus.
As Duncan backtracked, he couldn’t get the story the bus driver had told him out of his mind.
The bus hadn’t been crowded that day so he could see everyone well. He told Duncan he’d kept his gaze on Kyla because she seemed so sad and alone and he was concerned. He said at one point in the ride, she screamed. The bus driver saw one of the male passengers in the seat next to her. He couldn’t see what he was doing. The man said, “I was trying my best to stop the vehicle as quickly as possible. Fortunately, there was an undercover cop on board, and he took the guy down.
“You see, we’d been having problems with someone molesting passengers, so they had cops on board to see if they could catch him.” The bus driver shook his head. “The bastard had his hand down her pants when the cop got to them. I hope he rots in jail. The cop got off in Columbus with the guy, and I knew he wanted a statement from the young woman, so I think that’s why she got off in there too instead of going to Florida.”
So, now, he was on his way to Georgia. Dammit, he didn’t know what he would do if he couldn’t find her soon. He’d never stop looking for her, but a woman like that on her own was a recipe for disaster, and he’d feel guilty for the rest of his life if anything happened to her.
At five o’clock in the evening the next day, Duncan finally found her. The relief he felt was so profound he shook.
He sat down at the counter of a small restaurant and watched as she served the customers. He noticed a stark change in her appearance. She was several pounds lighter, pale, and with no smile or signs of life in her eyes.
He stiffened when she came his way.
“What can I get you?” she asked without looking up.
“Hi, Kyla.”
Her head snapped up, and her eyes rounded in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been looking for you.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone is concerned about you.”
“Well, please tell them they don’t have to be. I’m doing fine.”
“You’re not doing fine. You look like you’ve been sick.”
“No, I’m just tired.”
“I want you to come home with me,” he said.
“No, but thank you. This is my home now.”
He looked around the dingy place. “No, you don’t belong here.”
He hated the tears that filled her eyes, but she seemed to fight them back. “I don’t belong anywhere, but I have to find a place for myself, and for now, this is it.”
He shook his head. “Your home is with me.” He hated the brief light of emotion she had in her eyes before the wall came down.
“Go away, Duncan.”
“I’m not leaving here without you.”
“Last time I checked, I was an adult, so I can do what I want.”
“Yes, sweetheart, I know you’re an adult, but I’m still taking you back.”
She pressed on one of her temples like she had a headache, and it worried him. “Listen, I have to get back to work.”