“Her house on Foote Avenue was my first stop.” Chase filled them in as to seeing the breakfast dishes and the wine bottle and glasses. He told them about meeting Bill and Carol and exchanging phone numbers. “Jade’s neighbors are concerned and will call me if they see her.”
“After her house, did you go to the place where she works?” Cash asked.
“Yes, it’s one of those big, turn-of-the-century Victorians on lower Cascade. It was dark and deserted when I got there.” Chase rubbed his forehead and gave them a brief account of the Spatafore brothers. “Jade told me they often fill her schedule with clients until seven or eight in the evening.” The thought occurred to him she’d mentioned that when she was tipsy as well as sober. The realization was another confirmation she was telling him the truth. “So they must have closed up shop early.”
“Because Franco abducted her,” Coop stated bluntly, then winced. “Sorry, Chase.”
“No, you’re right,” he said. “Which is why Franco sent Axel Bisbee to warn me off.” Chase filled in some highlights of his conversation with the so-called private investigator.
“Spawned an alter ego?” Cash repeated, hands on his hips. “What a load of crap.”
“She could have lashed out at Ragsdale at the picnic,” Coop said. “Instead, she graciously brushed him off and lent me a hand all in one fell swoop.”
“I saw the stress and pain of Jade falling off Jubilee, and she laughed,” Bob said.
“Right.” Chase nodded, his mind flashing to the stress and pain he’d surely caused Jade in taking her virginity. With a sexy smile, she’d purred of wanting him again. He gave himself a mental shake. “Her car was not in her garage or in the employee parking lot at her office.”
“Franco has it,” Cash said. “It’ll have a tracker on it too.”
“So where do these Spatafore sidewinders live?” Coop asked.
“I don’t know,” Chase said, thinking Coop’s reference to the venomous snake was an apt comparison. His cell phone signaled a text, and with hope in his heart, he read the message. “Jade’s neighbors checking in. She’s still not home, and they want to know if I’ve heard from her.” As the others stood by, he texted,No.
Bob was scrolling on his cell phone. “The only info I can find on a Franco or Mateo Spatafore is just their office address on Cascade Avenue. Nothing on Axel Bisbee.”
“I know where we can get information,” Chase said and looked at Cash.
“Southside Suzy’s,” Cash said.
“I’ve gotta clean up first,” Chase said.
“Me too,” Cash said. “Meet you back here in an hour?”
“Forty-five minutes,” Chase replied. “Come packin’ a city gun, not a ranch revolver.”
“Absolutely,” Cash said and took off toward his vehicle.
“Tell Vince I said hello,” Coop said.
When Chase had been about a year old, a man named Vincent South had crashed his Harley Davidson on the main road in front of Triple C Ranch-Central. Coop, along with Carson, Chase’s dad, had found Vince struggling to crawl out from under the motorcycle. Not wanting an ambulance called and with a Harley that would no longer start, they convinced Vince to let them patch him up. Chase’s mom and grandmother had cooked a hearty dinner. Vince had loved his steak and told them about his new steakhouse and bar in downtown Colorado Springs. Coop and Carson had loaded his motorcycle into the back of a pickup and driven him to south Tejon Street, where he and his teenage daughter, Suzy, lived above his establishment. His wife had since passed of cancer, and he’d never remarried. Vince had become a direct customer and remained a loyal family friend to the present day.
“I’ll tell Vince,” Chase replied.
“You boys be careful,” Coop said. “When riled, both of you have an ornery, wild side.”
“Which we get from our famous rodeo champion grandfather,” Chase said as a compliment. He took off toward his house and said over his shoulder, “Coop, you and Bob keep your eyes peeled for Jade or anybody suspicious.”
“Hell, yes. I’ll tell Teresa,” Bob said.
“I’ll go see Chloe and Rachel,” Coop called.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
“I’m going upstairs,” Franco told Mateo after Chase Cooper had made a screeching U-turn in the middle of Cascade Avenue and Axel Bisbee had quietly weaseled out of the living room.
Mateo caught Franco’s arm. “Do not touch her. She’s fragile, and the wrong word or move could undo what I’ve accomplished so far.”
Franco jerked his arm away from his brother and poured himself more bourbon. “I want to ascertain if she’s open to my advances now that you’ve worked with her.”
