“All right.” He stands. “I’m going to take a nap.” I stand up to give him a hug. When he’s on the road, he doesn’t get a ton of sleep. On the weekends, he tries to catch up. “Try to stay out of trouble.”
“I’ll stay out of it, but if it finds me, that’s on it. Not me.” Dad chuckles, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.
“Text me that boy’s number. I want to have it on hand.” I want to laugh every time he calls Bam a boy.
“Got it.” I grab my phone and do it now before I forget. I want to text Bam and see what he’s up to, but I know he’ll be back when he can, and I don’t want to bother him and make him think he needs to rush back here. He’s been giving me all of his extra time.
Instead, I take a quick shower and change before pulling out my notebooks to go over them again. Andy said when you’re not sure of what you’re working on, go back to the start. I let out a sigh because this is the third time I’ve done that. I pray this time something I wrote down will give me insight into what the heck really happened to Cole.
I keep circling back to what my dad said about Cole’s father. It is weird how he didn’t report him missing for days, but it’s hard to wrap my mind around his own father being involved.
Plus, you have all the other people missing, too. Maybe I should go back over and talk to him again. See if he’s heard anything new and get a better look around his place. I could pretend to need to use the bathroom and really go peek around in Cole’s room. I’m sure the cops already did, but a different set of eyes can see different things.
I glance up from my pile of notebooks when I hear a knock at the front door. I scramble to my feet, not caring if I appear overexcited. I think Bam and I are past the playing-it-cool phase. The man has been inside of me and told me he loves me. He’s now stuck with me. I fling open the door to throw myself at him but freeze when I see Cole’s dad standing there. I can’t hide the surprise on my face.
What kind of voodoo magic is this? I conjured him with my thoughts, but I wanted to go to his home.
“Hey.” Cole’s dad looks disheveled with dark circles under his eyes. Damn, I bet my dad would look even worse if it was me that was gone or dead. “How are you doing?” It’s a stupid question, but I think you’re still supposed to ask. I don’t want to be rude and ask what the heck he’s doing at my house.
“Can we talk?” he asks.
“Sure, what’s up?” I close the door behind me as I step outside.
“Not here.” He glances up and down the street. It’s pretty empty out.
“You want to come in? My dad’s here.” He shakes his head no.
“I don’t want anyone hearing this. What about my truck?” I glance behind him to where his old Ford F-150 is parked.
“I, uh?—”
“I think I know who is behind this,” he says, cutting me off. Again, he looks up and down the street, now making me paranoid too. “It’s bigger than you know. I’m not sure who I can trust, but I know you care and might be able to find a real answer with the information I have.” The man looks like he’s about to cry.
“Okay, yeah.”
“Thank you.” I watch relief fill his face, his shoulders dropping. I follow him toward his truck. He opens the passenger door for me.
“Hold on, I need to tell my dad that?—”
“No.” He moves to block my path, shoving me into his truck. I try to push back, dropping my notebook. “Sorry,” he says before I feel a needle pierce my neck. “You gave me no choice,” I hear him say before the world goes black.
Chapter Thirty-Five
BAM
The sun’s dropping down the horizon before I get back to Josie’s place. Niki and I finished our to-do list, and Niki ran the funds back to Carter while I went home.Home.It’s really Josie and her dad’s place, but the cozy walls, colorful carpets, and small oak table in the kitchen with the flipped-down leaf that we always keep up now that I’m hanging around is more welcoming than the apartment that Niki and I have shared since we started working for the Riders. It’s the place I think about at the end of the day. There’s a magnet drawing me there. Or maybe it’s just Josie. Wherever she is, I want to be.
I put my face up to the video camera in case someone checks it before I knock and then open the door. It’s quiet enough I can hear the ticking of the clock in the kitchen. Everyone must be napping. I toe off my shoes and pad quietly down the hall.
Abe’s door is closed, but Josie’s is wide open, and her room is empty. I check the bathroom and living room and end up in the kitchen, confused. Her phone says she’s here. I ping it. The chime comes from the bedroom. I find it face down next to a bunch of notebooks on her desk. The last text is from me.
Be home soon
She wouldn’t leave the house, or at least not stray very far away, without her phone. I hurry out of her bedroom and run right into her dad.
“Sorry, Abe. You know where Josie is? She left her phone on her desk.”
Abe rubs his eyes. “Can’t be far then.”
