Chapter Six
10:35A.M.
Baz paced the living room, doing hisbest not to stop every time Luca stopped typing. It wasn’t easy when he wanted to spin around and demand Luca tell him where JJ was. Why hadn’t he found her yet? Every second she was missing was excruciating.
He tapped his phone screen, checking for a text message from JJ. There weren’t any. There weren’t going to be any. But he couldn’t help himself. He desperately wanted her to text and tell him she was okay and needed to be picked up.
He couldn’t believe this was happening. When she came home, he was never going to let her out of his sight again. Ever.
“There’s a truck pullin’ up,” the deputy who was keeping them company said from his spot by the front door.
Luca’s fingers paused only briefly before they started their repetitiousrat-tat-tatagain.
Baz headed for the front window to look out at the street. The brief hope he’d felt deflated when he realized it wasn’t JJ, and his breath shuddered when he saw his father getting out of his truck.
Wesley Buchanan was the sort of man who wouldn’t be able to hide if he were all camo’d up in the jungle. He was a big man with teal blue eyes and dark blonde hair, and he carried himself with authority, even now, as he headed for the front door. Baz watched as he skimmed the neighborhood, likely looking for signs of life because Wes had never met a stranger.
Baz waited until his father was on the front porch before he stepped outside. The moment he did, his father grabbed him and pulled him in for a bear hug. For one brief moment, Baz felt safe, as though everything was going to be all right. His father had a way of making him feel as though nothing bad could possibly happen.
Unfortunately, Wes was no more capable of turning back time than anyone else, so for the moment, the worsthadalready happened, and the most he could hope for was for Brantley and Reese to find JJ soon.
“We’re gonna get her back,” his dad said, his tone fierce and full of promise.
Baz hugged his dad and fought the urge to cry. “Who called you?”
Wes pulled back and looked at him with eyes full of love. “Elana. I think she’s JJ’s assistant.”
Baz nodded.
“She said JJ gave her all our information, and if anything ever happened to call us.”
Of course she did because that was something JJ would think about. More than likely, she’d been anticipating a baby being born, but it worked in this case, too.
“What can I do?” Wes offered, opening the door so they could go inside.
As soon as they did, Luca looked up, but Baz could tell he wasn’t prepared with good news. Or any news at all.
“Dad, this is Deputy Downs,” Baz introduced. “Deputy Downs, meet my father, Wesley Buchanan.”
As was always the case when he met someone new, Wes gave the man his full attention. If Baz hadn’t been a panicked mess, he might’ve found it amusing that both men stood a little taller as they shook hands. Deputy Dwayne Downs was a couple of inches shorter than Wes but still appeared bigger. The dark-skinned black man was built like a Mack truck, probably not an ounce of fat on him. The same couldn’t be said for Wes at this point in his life, but he hadn’t let himself go completely.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Buchanan.”
“Wes, please,” Baz’s father corrected.
Baz motioned toward Luca. “Dad, this is Luca Switzer. He’s a co-worker.”
“More like he’s the boss man,” Luca said, standing up and holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
“Call me Wes.” He shook Luca’s hand. “And put me to work. How can I help?”
Luca looked at Baz.
“You don’t need my permission,” Baz said. “I’ll take all the help we can get.”
“I managed to get a list of vacant properties in the area,” Luca explained. “I sent it to Reese already, but if—”
“Send it to my phone,” Wes instructed, rattling off his phone number. “And let Reese know I’ll start from the bottom if he focuses on the top.”
