Jackie wasn’t screaming, so he figured that was something. Still, his chest did feel heavy. He had no idea what that meant. “I just want him back.”
And he was terrified that would never happen. Drummond was a cold bastard. He’d use Boone to get what he wanted or kill him out of spite. Either way, Boone was in danger.
Jackie’s heart clenched when he saw Hugh hang up the phone and then wipe a hand down his face. His expression was grim. “What? Have you found him?” Jackie swallowed tightly. “Is he dead?”
“No, there’s been no word.”
Jackie tried to draw in a clean breath, but the clog in his throat was too thick. “We have to find him.”
They just had to.
“We’ll find him, Jackie. I promise.”
Jackie wished he could believe Hugh’s promise, but he just didn’t know the guy well enough.
“Otto, Tre, and Sawney are coming with a few of their enforcers to help in the search.”
“What about Stellan?” Kye asked. “I’m sure he’d help if you called him.”
“I already did, little bit. He’s going to coordinate with Elder Hamilton. Because we suspect Drummond has Boone, the council has to be involved in the search. As much as I’d like to rip that man’s head off, the council wants him alive. They want to know who he’s been working with and if there are any others like Jackie.”
Jackie shuddered at the mere thought.
“You do think it’s Drummond?” He’d kind of been thinking along those same lines, but hadn’t said anything. He wasn’t sure how much to share, or with whom. He had no idea how much Elder Hamilton had said, or even if he had said anything.
“I can’t say for sure, but it’s looking that way.” Hugh gave Jackie a speculative look. “You don’t have anyone else after you, do you? Old lovers, spurned boyfriends, vengeful employers? Anything like that?”
“Not really. I mean, I’ve only ever had two boyfriends, and we went our separate ways amicably. As for vengeful employers, I’ve worked for myself since college.”
“What about disgruntled customers?”
Jackie shook his head. “Not really.”
Watching his dad work at a hardware store every afternoon after school, Jackie had picked up on a few things, great customer service being one of them. His dad had taught him that if the customer was satisfied, they would come back. You might not get a ton of customers, but the ones you did have would be loyal. Jackie had put into practice what he had learned and had never really had trouble with customers.
“What about harassment for dressing the way you do?”
Jackie wasn’t surprised by that question.
“There’s always someone who looks at me funny, but nothing to even report to the authorities until the vandalism at the store and the house.”
Jackie didn’t know what to think when Hugh’s eyes narrowed.
“The vandalism, those were local boys, right?”
Jackie nodded. “They said some guy paid them to mess with me.”
“Some guy?”
“The boys described him as having dark hair and talking very proper like. They said he drove a red BMW two door, and it had an English license plate. There really wasn’t much more information than that.”
“Does he sound like Drummond to you?”
“He could sound like the man on the moon and I still wouldn’t know if it was Drummond or not. I never actually met the guy. He had some guys named Eric and Tyson do all the dirty work.”
Hugh’s eyebrows shot up. “Then how do you know Drummond was the guy who experimented on you?”
Jackie bristled with indignation. Just because he’d spent the better part of his life as a human didn’t mean he was dumb. “Because I heard his name mentioned several times by Eric and Tyson, plus Elder Hamilton told me he did it.”
