The Mighty Quinns: Kieran

“Hmm. Strange name.” She held out her hand, the fingertips stained with melted chocolate. Noticing, she wiped her hand on her sweatshirt. “Maddie. I’m Maddie.” She paused. “Maddie Smith.”

He took her hand in his and the moment they touched, Kieran felt an odd sensation race through his body. “Nice to meet you,” he murmured, “Maddie Smith.”

He grabbed his sandwich and took another bite. She had a beautiful voice, strangely melodic with just a tinge of whiskey rasp in it. Though he couldn’t see her eyes, her mouth more than made up for that. It was a perfect Cupid’s bow, lush and kissable, stained a deep berry color. He imagined that she’d taste of cherries if he kissed her.

A strand of hair teased at her temple—a warm blond color, like honey. Well, she was intriguing, that much he’d give her. But after twenty-four hours on a bus, almost anyone with a personality would be intriguing.

“I noticed that you were a little short of money,” she said. “I was wondering if you’d like to make a little more?”

“How?” Kieran asked.

“I need you to go to the counter and buy me a ticket. If you do that, I’ll give you a hundred dollars.”

He gasped. “Just to buy a ticket? Why don’t you want to buy your own ticket?”

“Because I need to get out of town without being noticed,” she explained. “And I’m not sure if they’re going to ask me for I.D.”

“Hmm. You’ve done your best to hide your appearance, you want to get out of town unnoticed and you have a lot of cash. Please don’t tell me you pulled a bank job.”

She laughed a little too loudly, which caused some of the passengers around her to turn and stare. “No. I’ve been putting aside some cash for a while. And I need to get out of town unnoticed because I’m running away and I don’t want anyone to follow me.”

“Oh, well, that makes much more sense. How old are you?”

“A gentleman never asks a lady that,” she said.

“Take off your glasses and let me see your face,” he said. “I’m not going to be responsible for helping some teenager escape a silly fight with her parents.”

She took off her sunglasses and tipped her chin up. “I’m twenty-four,” she said.

His breath caught in his throat as his gaze took in the details of her face. She was no teenager. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, exactly as she claimed. Her eyes, a beautiful caramel color, were ringed with dark lashes, but he only caught a quick glimpse before she put the sunglasses back on.

Why anyone so beautiful would hide behind dark glasses and a baggy hooded sweatshirt was beyond him. He found himself mentally undressing her, slowly discovering the treasure beneath.

“Satisfied?” she asked.

“Not entirely,” he said, swallowing hard.

Maddie reached into the pocket of her hoodie and withdrew a handful of crumpled cash. “Here. Just go get a ticket.”

“To where?”

“Kentucky.”

“Where in Kentucky?”

“Same place you’re going, I suppose,” she said.

“Hey, I don’t even know what’s in Bitney. It could be an awful place to—”

She gave him a gentle shove. “Do it, now. There’s no line.”

“Okay, okay,” he said. “Watch my stuff.” Kieran glanced back at the woman as he walked to the ticket counter. This was turning into some trip.

He gave the agent the necessary information and watched as the man typed it into the computer. A few seconds later the agent handed Kieran a ticket. “That will be $196.00,” he said.

Kieran peeled off enough cash from the wad Maddie had handed him, then grabbed the ticket. “Thanks,” he murmured.

By the time he got back to her, she’d created a small pile of discarded candy bars on his seat. “Licorice,” she said. “I could really go for some red licorice right now.”

He handed her the ticket and her change. “How about putting something other than sugar into your system?” He tore his sub sandwich in half and offered it to her. But her attention was drawn to the wide entrance doors.

She quickly stood, pulling the hood closer to her face. “Save me a spot on the bus,” she muttered. “And don’t let them leave without me.”

“Where are you going?”

“Licorice,” she said.

With that, Kieran watched as she hurried off toward the back of the station. Then he looked around and noticed two men surveying the people seated in the lobby. They split up and slowly walked through the crowd. Kieran didn’t like the look of them. They were wearing dark glasses and were dressed all in black, their sport jackets straining against their broad shoulders and massive arms. They looked like the kind of guys hired to guard the door at a nightclub—or commit a felony.

As one of the goons walked by, he noticed all the candy on the chair next to Kieran. He stopped and Kieran looked up at him.

“You like candy?” the guy asked, pointing to the chair.

“Sure,” Kieran said.

“Is that yours?”

“Yeah. I kind of have a sweet tooth.”

The man reached in the breast pocket of his blazer and pulled out a picture, holding it out in front of Kieran. “You see this girl around here? If you have, it might be worth a little money.”

Kieran took the picture and studied it shrewdly.

He’d been right about her. She was gorgeous. “Who is she?”

“Have you seen her?”

Kieran shook his head. “Nope. I would definitely have noticed a girl like that.”

The goon tucked the photo back into his pocket, then moved on. Kieran watched him. Had anyone else seen Maddie sitting next to him? They’d all turned to look at her when she’d laughed, but would they connect that girl to the scruffy-looking person in the torn jeans and hoodie?

Kieran cursed softly. There wasn’t much he could do for her now. He had no idea where she was hiding and if he got up and left, the guy in the suit might be suspicious enough to follow. Though every instinct warned him that she was in trouble, for some strange reason, he wanted her to make it onto that bus. After all, she still owed him a hundred dollars.

SHE SHOULD HAVE known her mother would send Nick and Rick after her. What she hadn’t expected, though, was that they’d start at the bus station. Why not the airport?

Oh, yeah, it would be easy to trace her movements at the airport. That’s why. And she didn’t have a driver’s license so a car was out of the question. The only way for her to get out of town without leaving a paper trail was by bus. Maybe she should have found a hotel room and holed up for a few days. Then again, she’d have to register and show I.D. “The train,” she muttered. “I should have tried the train.”

Of course her mother could never allow her just the slightest bit of freedom. God, she’d been under her mother’s thumb for years, doing exactly what was expected of her. But after this tour, she’d had enough. Now that she’d sung her last show on the calendar, she was going to start living her life in the way she wanted.