“I have a client,” he told her. “I did a big remodel on his house. He’s a computer security guy. I’ll swing by my office, get his number and reach out. I want to ask for his help to set up some kind of program to monitor the internet. If someone did take Ramon and wants to sell him, there has to be a way for us to get an alert.”
For the first time since she’d realized her parrot was gone, Jax felt a flicker of hope.
“Thank you. That’s a great idea. Then I could buy him back.”
“Yeah and then the police could arrest whoever did it and throw him in jail.”
She didn’t care about justice—she only cared about her family. “You’ll call the guy?”
“Within the hour. I’ll let you know what he says.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course.” He nodded at Ryleigh. “You’re staying?”
“All night.”
“Good. I’ll be in touch.”
Jax sat out on the widow’s walk, her sister next to her. They were on their chaises and wrapped in blankets against the chill. It was probably only in the mid-sixties, so that was something, but it was still cooler than Ramon was used to. She hoped wherever he was, he was warm and fed, then had to blink away tears.
“Go to bed,” she said, staring out into the darkness. Even knowing Ramon wouldn’t fly at night, she felt compelled to sit out here, waiting, hoping he would appear.
“I’m fine,” Ryleigh said with a yawn.
“You’re tired, it’s nearly midnight. Go home.”
“Nope. I’m staying.”
Jax sighed. “You have to work in the morning. You can’t do that on no sleep. Oh, crap. You have a cat. Lucy’s alone. You have to go home to her.”
Ryleigh yawned again, then shook her head. “She’s fine. I texted Alex. He and Noah went to get her. She’s spending the night with them. Noah’s hoping she decides to sleep with him.”
“That would be nice,” she said automatically even as she stared out into the darkness, willing herself to see a familiar parrot swooping down to land on the railing. For a second, she would have sworn she heard the flap of wings, but it was only her imagination.
She drew her knees to her chest. “It hurts to breathe,” she whispered. “My chest is so tight.”
“We’ll find him,” Ryleigh told her.
“Unless he was taken. Then I don’t know.”
“You have that computer kid helping with that. If someone tries to sell him, we’ll know.”
Jax hoped so. Marcus’s client had come through. Actually his sixteen-year-old daughter had gotten involved and set up some kind of program that would monitor any listings for an African gray coming up for sale. Apparently the teen had needed a project for her advanced programming class at high school and had loved the idea of bringing Ramon back home.
More tears fell. Jax brushed them away, then turned to her sister.
“Go home.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Fine. Then at least go lie down in the guest room and get some sleep.”
Ryleigh looked concerned. “What about you?”
“I have to wait for him.”
“You could leave the door open. He’ll come right in and wake you.”
