Chapter Eighteen
When the waiter came by to ask if he wanted to order another bottle of wine, Jackson realized that Park had been gone for quite some time. He glanced at his watch. It had been over ten minutes. He looked at Gavin, who met his gaze.
“Park’s been gone awhile, hasn’t he?” Jackson asked. He stood.
Gavin stood as well and put a hand on Jackson’s shoulder. “Stay here.Let me handle this.”
“It’s been almost fifteen minutes. It doesn’t take that long to take a piss. Something could have happened.”
“I got that. Stay here.” Gavin looked around the restaurant. “There could have just been a line. Derek is with him, so he should be fine.”
Jackson’s need to see Park was a tangible thing. His mind cooked up worst-case scenarios in which Kenneth Tucker hadcornered Park, threatened him, held him at knife or gunpoint. “No. I need to see that he’s okay.”
Gavin opened his mouth, probably planning to argue some more, but then he shut it and nodded. “Doug, you stay here with Martha. Unless you want to go, too?” He looked pointedly at Martha.
“No, I’m good. All the wine is here,” said Martha.
Jackson followed Gavin out of the restaurant, acrossthe lobby, and toward the corridor to the restrooms. The lobby still bustled, clearly the central hub of police activity in the hotel, and Lacey Peters stood at the center of it, directing traffic. Gavin looked her way and made some kind of hand signal. She nodded. Then Gavin grabbed one of the uniforms and told him to follow.
They walked down the corridor behind the lobby to the public restroom.Gavin threw his arm out as he approached, like a mom throwing her arm across the passenger seat of her car to keep her kid from jerking forward when she stopped suddenly. Jackson heard a loud banging sound, which made him want to run forward to get to Park. He needed to get to Park. He needed to know Park was okay.
“Why are you holding me back?” Jackson growled.
Gavin stopped abruptlyand turned around. He motioned for the uniformed cop to go ahead. Then he turned to Jackson and met his gaze. “Easy, tiger. This is a situation with a lot of variables, and you are not a trained law enforcement officer. I’m trying to keep your ass out of trouble. I only let you come over here with me because you made it clear you wouldn’t listen anyway, so I’m going to keep an eye on you, but youhave to stand out of the way and you have to give me space. I know what I’m doing and I’ll get Park out safely, but you have to get the hell back, okay?”
Jackson took a step back and held up his hands. “Fine.”
“Good.” Gavin’s gaze traveled all over Jackson’s face. “He’s...he’s not just your ex, is he?”
“It’s complicated.” Jackson didn’t want to waste time explaining.
Gavin letout a breath. “Just trying to get the lay of the land. We don’t have time to talk this out now. I’m your friend, Jack, and I want you to be happy, but—”
Jackson held up his hand. “You can’t tell me anything I haven’t thought thirty-seven times in the last few days.”
“You care about him, though.”
“Yeah. I’m not as over him as I thought, I guess.” Jackson took a deep breath, trying tocalm down. Probably Park was safe and Jackson was freaking out over nothing.
Gavin nodded. “Okay. Slow approach.”
They rounded the corner, where they found Dee pounding on the men’s room door as if he intended to knock it down. He kept throwing himself at it, shoulder first. Jackson’s panic level immediately shot back up to eleven.
“I texted Doug for backup,” Dee said, kicking thedoor. “He’s jimmied the lock and I can’t get the door open.”
Gavin immediately went to the door. “Park?”
“And some guy. I heard voices.”
Christ. Jackson’s veins turned to ice. “Tucker?”
“I’m not sure. Park made me wait out here.” Dee leaned against the door and pressed his hand to his forehead. “I’m so fucking sorry. I tried getting in there as soon as I realized something wasoff, but I was too late.”
“Park has a thing about people listening to him pee,” Jackson said.
“I know. I should have checked the room first to make sure it was safe. I didn’t think about it, because cops have been going in and out all afternoon.”
“It’s okay,” said Gavin. “We’ll get the door open.”
