For whatever reason, that didn’t seem to be a problem for him at the moment.
***
As soon as he got the textmessage from Slade, Carson headed for the address provided.
From what he could tell, he wasn’t the only one in town looking to help find JJ. There were vehicles lined up on both sides of the street, some he recognized. A few people were standing outside chatting in clusters, most of whom he did recognize.
He found a parking spot a few houses down and hoped the owners would forgive him for parking his van in front of their house. He hoped he wouldn’t be there long.
Carson was walking up to the house when his cousin Zane called out to him. He detoured to where Sawyer, Zane, and Beau were talking, not wanting to be rude, although he was fighting this sense of urgency he wasn’t familiar with. For whatever reason, he was eager to join the search, but he wasn’t sure his motives were entirely altruistic. He wanted to help Slade and Atticus find JJ because he wanted Slade and Atticus to know he wasn’t a complete misanthrope. He had nothing against people, even if he preferred solitude.
“Glad you’re here,” Zane said, slapping him on the back in greeting. “Jaxson call you?”
Zane was referring to Carson’s oldest brother, who seemed to always have a finger on the pulse of the town. “No. I was at the bakery this mornin’ when Brantley showed up.”
“Ah.”
“Hey,” Carson greeted Sawyer and Beau. “Hopin’ I can help.”
“They’ve got several lists of places they’re checkin’ out,” Zane explained. “Go on in, and Luca can tell you where to go from there.”
“Will do.”
Carson left his cousins outside and made his way into the house.
“Hey, Dwayne,” Carson greeted the deputy standing on the front porch. “Keepin’ the peace around here, huh?”
Dwayne flashed a bright smile. “Depends. You here to make my job harder?”
Carson laughed. “You know me. I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Mind if I go inside? See what I can do to help?”
“Luca’s in the living room,” Dwayne explained. “Iris, Frank, and Curtis are in the kitchen.”
Carson wasn’t surprised to hear his aunt and uncles were there. There was rarely an event in this town when at least one or two didn’t show up. And this was one of those times when family came to support family. That’s what they did.
When he stepped inside, he found Luca Switzer, one of Coyote Ridge’s infamous hellraisers, sitting at a computer in the middle of the living room. Sitting beside him was Carson’s cousin, Honor.
“Wanted to pitch in,” he told Luca when the man didn’t bother to look up from his computer screen.
“We need a couple more people in Manor,” Luca said. “You up for that?”
“Whatever, wherever,” he confirmed, grinning while Honor continued to stare at Luca as though she couldn’t understand how he could talk to a person without actually looking at them.
“Good. What’s your phone number?”
Carson gave him the number. A second later, his phone chimed with an incoming text.
“That’s your list. No one else has it right now. Those are vacant businesses, but if you come across any that are open, ask if they’ve seen this guy.”
Carson’s phone chimed again, this time with a photo of a redhead.
“I’ve seen this guy,” Carson told Luca. “At Moonshiners last night.”
Luca still didn’t look up. “You happen to talk to him?”
