“Crowe here.”
“Hey. I know you’re on vacation, so I hate to bother you, but we have a situation here I’m hoping you can help us out with.”
“Give me one second.” I shifted around and managed to get up without falling on my ass. Something about talking to Wolfewhile I lounged in a hammock just felt wrong. “Okay, I’m here. What’s up?”
“You’re at your cabin?”
“I am.”
“Good. You remember Noah Gentry?”
“Of course.” I would never forget the young man we rescued along with Julius. The way he looked the day we found him down in that basement was burned into my brain. That and the change in him in the few weeks he stayed in the apartment at Three Bears headquarters. I’d never know how he managed to have such a positive attitude after such a horrid ordeal. Not that he’d fully recovered in those few weeks, but we’d all seen what a resilient spirit he had.
“Has there been a development in the case?”
I knew they’d been monitoring the dark web, watching for any searches or mentions of him. We might have brought Merrick down, but when Wade Roark gave his statement, he implied that the man who bought Noah had paid a hefty price for him and that he wouldn’t give up easily. That had left us all uneasy.
“Maybe. We got a hit on someone getting way too close to Noah for our comfort. It could be nothing, but I have a bad feeling about it, and he isn’t answering our calls.”
“Have you called the local authorities?”
“No. This guy has a lot of money, Crowe. I’m not sure who to trust. Besides, it could be nothing.”
“Or it could be something,” I pointed out.
“Exactly. Now that Noah’s in Houston, your cabin is closer to him than we are. I’d feel better if you could go put eyes on him, maybe suggest he answer when we call. We can add some time to your vacation afterwards.”
“Don’t worry about that. I wasn’t doing anything today anyway. It won’t take me but a few hours. Do you have an address for him?”
“Kat will have it before you get to Houston.”
“Sounds good. I’ve been wanting to take Blackbird out for a drive, anyway.” Because I lived where I worked and Three Bears Tactical paid well, I didn’t have many expenses, which allowed me to splurge when my dream car, a 1971Plymouth Barracuda, in perfect condition, had come up for auction. She was sleek, black, and all mine.
Hopefully, I’d just enjoy some quality time with Blackbird, find Noah safe and sound, and be home to enjoy my book by evening.
Chapter three
Noah
Levi and I pulled into the wedding venue in the shop’s sprinter van, and our boss, Carina, pulled in next to us in her car. We got out and met her at the back of the van. This was the biggest wedding we’d done, and we were on a serious time crunch to get everything set up.
“Okay, boys, here’s the plan,” she said. “Let’s knock out the easy stuff first. If you two can lay out the corsages and the boutonnieres, I’ll get the bridal bouquets in place and put out the aisle markers, then the three of us can work together to get the arch done.”
I reached in and lightly ran a finger over one of the peonies. “These make such a pretty bouquet, and they’re perfect flowers for weddings.”
I’d spent countless hours out in my mother’s flower garden with her. She was the one who taught me the language of flowers and how you could send a message with a bouquet. I missed her every single day, but being surrounded by flowers helped me keep her memory alive.
“Yep, fidelity, long-lasting love, and a fortunate marriage,” Carina said with a smile. “Anyway, let’s get to work.”
Levi and I spent the next half hour bringing in all the flowers from the van. When we did an event like this, we always loaded up buckets with extra flowers just to be safe, but they couldn’t be left in the van on a day like today, or they would get hot. Once those were inside, we got the boxes out of the van that were filled with the flowers we’d prepared yesterday and took them to the prep-room.
We spread everything out and inspected the corsages and boutonnieres. We tried to be careful with them, but the flowers were delicate, and inevitably, there would be some loss. Levi and I worked together to remove any bruised petals before laying them out so the wedding planner could see to their distribution.
Levi plucked a petal off one of the corsages and said, “My roommate and I are going to be hitting the clubs after work tonight if you want to join us.”
I focused on the flowers in front of me and answered him without looking up. “Sorry, I have plans for tonight, but thanks for the invite.” I didn’t really have plans, but I didn’t want to explain why to him. Truth was, I’d made a lot of progress withmy therapist, but not enough to be comfortable going clubbing. Getting drugged and kidnapped could do that to a guy.
He looked at me skeptically. Fair enough, since it wasn’t true, and I’d never been a good liar. “Well, if your plans change, just let me know.”
