If anybody had told me a week or two ago that I’d been hitting the streets with the baby sister of my best friend from back home, trying to find a drug-addicted friend of hers, I would’ve laughed.

But then again, if anyone knew how quickly life could throw a whole bunch of shit at once, it was me.

We’d been to just about every shelter, every dive, every place I could think of, and when I’d run empty on ideas, I’d hit up a few friends for more ideas. Camry hadn’t exactly been a slouch herself, even before we’d started brainstorming, but I could see that she was running on empty. Hell, I was running on empty. I hadn’t eaten anything before we’d left, and the temperature had dropped enough that I’d given Camry my jacket more than an hour ago.

Still, I wanted to keep looking because I couldn’t stand to see the despair in her eyes. I just didn’t know where else to go.

This part of Vegas wouldn’t have been a place I’d have been comfortable alone, and having her here with me just made it harder.

“Come on, sweetheart, let’s go,” I said, cupping her elbow as she eyed yet another dive. “Let’s tuck in for the night, and we’ll try again tomorrow.”

“Daytin might not have until tomorrow,” she said, her jaw set in a stubborn line. Her pretty face turned toward me, her eyes cool and determined, hard as diamonds. Her nose was slightly crooked now, and she had an inch-long scar on her temple, but it was the world-weary look in her eyes, the tightness around her mouth, that made me wonder just exactly what had happened since I’d last seen her. She was definitely not the kid I remembered from Sydney, that was for certain.

Yet, in a way, she was.

She was…fearless. She’d always been that. Fearless and determined. Once she set her mind on something, nothing and no one could stop her. I’d never told Kaleb, but I’d admired her a bit for that.

Resisting the urge to catch a thick, sun-streaked lock of hair and twist it around my finger, I held her gaze. “I get that, but you won’t be any good to your friend if something happens to you. It’s late and getting later. Do you have any idea what this city gets like this time of night?”

She cocked her head, her eyes level on mine. “Actually, I do. But if you want to bail, go ahead.” She flapped a hand at me, looking unconcerned. “I can handle myself. Thanks for your help earlier. I can send you some money to cover the inconvenience once I get back to California.”

She turned on her heel to go without a look back.

Gaping at her, for a moment all I could do was stare.

By the time I got my ass moving, she’d already turned the corner and when I got down there, she was nowhere in sight.

“Shit!”

I felt like hitting something, but since that wouldn’t do any good, I studied the street around me, then focused on the buildings. Strip bars—and not the classy kind. Regular dives, and a few stores—the kind that had bars on the windows and advertisements that focused on booze and cigarettes. One of those was the closest to me, so I headed there. We’d hit a lot of joints like that tonight, Camry flashing her friend’s picture at as many people as she could get to look.

She’d probably gone in there for more of the same.

With a plan in mind, I started forward. I’d gone only a few steps when the door burst open and somebody took off running. He skidded, hit the ground—and I heard a noise, something that shattered the relative calm of the night. It echoed, loud and booming.

Fuck.

A gunshot. That was a gunshot.

And a split second later, there was a scream.

Panic shot through me, and I took off. My right leg screamed at me, reminding me that I wasn’t supposed to move like this anymore. Not after the injuery that had stopped my football career.

I wasn’t supposed to hear a sound like that coming from Camry either.

I burst through the door in time to see a man lunging for her and the instincts that had made me one of my countries best footballers had me acting without conscious thought. I dove low, my left shoulder taking him right in his gut.

As we went down together, I saw Camry fall back, one hand going to her chest.

She was…no...

I had to concentrate, scramble to stay on top of the skinny, too-strong bastard who was struggling and swinging at me.

He got a punch in my ribs, then somehow slammed his foot into my messed-up leg, sending a wave of nauseating pain through me. Swearing, I drove my knee into his nuts, and he went limp. Shoving upright, I took a second to grab his sweaty hair and slammed his head against the floor.

Just as I did, though, I saw a shadow from the corner of my eye.

Oh, fuck—

But then the man toppled, hitting the ground like a hundred-pound weight, revealing Camry behind him, holding a wooden baseball bat in her hands, her stance made more for cricket than baseball, but it’d gotten the job done. She blinked, shuddered, blinked again.

“It’s okay,” I said softly, holding out a hand for the bat.

Another shudder racked her and slowly, she lowered the bat. That was when I saw that the sleeves of my jacket were covering her hands. I swallowed a chuckle, or tried to.

“What?” she asked defensively.

“I guess I’m lucky that bat didn’t fly out of your hands and hit me,” I said, gesturing to her hands. “You’ve got a good grip, but we should roll the sleeves up next time. Just in case we end up in a store hold-up again.”

“Yeah.” She smiled tightly and turned away, leaning the bat against a cooler of Coca-Cola. “Come on. I’ll get a drink somewhere else. I don’t want the cops to show up and slow me down.”

I caught up with her nearly halfway down the block, my teeth gritted against the pain every step brought me. I hadn’t broken anything—I knew all too well what that felt like—but I’d done some damage.

“Hold up, hold up,” I said. But she kept on walking.

Exasperated, I caught her arm. I might have been hurt, but I was still quite a bit bigger than her.

She swung around, looking at me like she wanted to hit me, like she wanted to cry.

If she’d done either or both, I would’ve felt better. This was all my fault.

“Camry…” Uncertain what I wanted to say, I reached toward her face, needing to touch her. To reassure myself that she hadn’t been harmed.

She jerked back, eyes wide and scared.

I lowered my hand, feeling foolish. “It’s late. You were almost held up. Fuck, we ought to be back there calling the cops.”

“No!” she half-shouted at me, then, to my horror, tears filled her eyes.

No, I changed my mind. I didn’t want her to cry. I couldn’t bear to see it. I started to reach for her again, but before I could touch her, she spun away again and stormed off.

For such a petite thing, she moved faster than hell.

After jogging to catch up with her, I fell into step next to her and did my best not to limp. “We’re running out of places to look tonight, kid.”

The kid came out of habit. And as soon as it left my lips, I felt like an idiot. Camry was no more a kid now than I was. If I was remembering my math correctly, she should be about twenty-one, twenty-two by now.

“I know that,” she said in a low, tight voice. “But I have to try.”

I couldn’t deny her that, not even after everything we’d just been through. “One more place.”

She looked like she wanted to argue. But slowly, she nodded.

One more.

An hour later, I unlocked her hotel room door and stepped aside so she could pass. Her narrow shoulders were slumped, her head bowed. Everything about her was defeated. The feisty girl who’d once kicked me hard enough to chip a tooth didn’t have any fight left in her.

I’d told myself I’d just walk her up to her room and make sure she got inside okay. This wasn’t a bad hotel, but it wasn’t a great one either, especially for a girl on her own.

I’d done that. She was here safely. I could remind her to use the security bolt on the door, and then leave, my obligation to my friend fulfilled.

Instead, I slid into the room and closed the door behind me.

“Just because you didn’t find her tonight doesn’t mean you won’t.”

“I know.”

Again, that same, low tight voice.

Frustrated, I shoved a hand through my hair then rubbed the nape of my neck. “I can make some calls. I know people. They might have a better idea where your friend could have gone.”

Camry hadn’t specifically told me what Daytin was into, but I’d seen enough to know the missing girl had been into some pretty shady shit. It made me wonder just how Camry might have hooked up with such a girl, though. I knew Cam had some problems—Kaleb had told me that last year—

but just how bad had things been?

“Thank you. Any help is great.”

“Camry…”

She spun around, eyes bright and hot. “What?” she half-yelled. “Do you want me to say thank you again? Thank you, Jacen. I appreciate you running in to save me earlier. I appreciate you waltzing all over the armpit of Las Vegas, helping me look for a kid you don’t even know. Thank you. I appreciate it. But do we have to keep talking about it?”

“I…we weren’t,” I said, biting back the temper snapping inside. “And I might have run in to save you, but you were swinging a pretty mean bat there,” I added in a faint smile, but it didn’t do anything to ease the tension. Sighing, I asked, “Cam, what’s wrong? I thought we were friends.”

The anger on her face flickered, then faded. “I…fuck, Jacen. It’s not you. It’s me. I’m scared. I’m worried about Daytin. I’m just a mess. You should just—”

I wanted to hug her.

The vulnerable look on her face made me want to hold her and promise everything would be okay. That wasn’t the typical reaction for me when it came to women and vulnerable. Usually, I wanted to run like hell.

But not this time. All I could think of doing was stepping forward, wrapping her in my arms and hugging her.

That wasn’t what happened.

Instead, I kissed her.