Page 52 of Love In The Shadows

“Where’s Reed?” I asked loudly enough that the three women to my right all swiveled around.

The blonde sighed. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’ll be back in a few minutes once you’ve had a chance to look over the menu.” She stalked off to tend to customers at the other side of the bar.

“You know Reed?”

I pushed off from the bar and went to join the trio of ladies, addressing the pretty woman with the long, dark waves. “I do. Are you a friend of his and Paige’s?”

They all smiled and nodded. “Longtime friends with Paige, and we’ve adopted Reed as an honorary member of our little club.”

“And you’re here to see Paige?” I prompted.

The blonde said, “We’re here with Paige, actually, but she was helping an employee and told us to go ahead without her. But it’s been a while. We were just considering sending out some kind of search party but don’t want to interrupt if there’s something…delicate…going on.”

“Where was she?”

“The office.”

I glanced back at the bar where the blonde bartender had informed me no one had picked up the office phone, my stomach twisting into tighter knots by the second.

“Thanks, ladies,” I said, already three feet away as I stormed across the club to get to the office.

I bypassed the Employees Only sign and slammed the door open.

“What the fuck!” An angry Reed Parkston shouted, glaring at me. “If Richie sent you to rough me up, I only have one thing to say?—”

The distinct sound of a gun cocking echoed through the room, and half a heartbeat later, Reed raised a piece from under the edge of the desk as he shot to his feet.

I held my hands up, palms out. “Back the hell off, Parkston. I’m not here to rough you up. Put the gun down. Now.”

Reed’s eyes narrowed to thin slits. “Where is she? Where does he have her?”

“Who?”

“Paige!”

I noticed a slight tremor of the gun. He was scared shitless.

“Listen to me, Parkston, I’m not in the mood to fuck around. I can help you, but you gotta put the goddamn gun down.”

Reed considered me for a moment and then lowered it to the desk. He collapsed back into his leather chair and frantically raked his hands through his hair as though trying to rid them of the sensation of holding the cold metal in the first place.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me. I’m losing it.”

I eyed the gun. It was still within his reach, but I took a gamble and kept my own piece tucked into the back of my jeans as I stalked into the room. I planted my hands on the desk.

“Start at the beginning.”

“Who are you?” Reed demanded. “Don’t you work for that piece of shit, Dalton?”

I tugged my FBI badge from my back pocket and dropped it open for him, letting it answer his question about my loyalties. “I’m one of the good guys, Parkston. I won’t get into all the details right now but rest assured that I’m on your side. Now, if you’re done asking questions, how about you start answering some of mine.”

Reed stared at my badge and then at me as though comparing the image to my face. I looked slightly different than the picture, but it was close enough. The photo had been snapped a few years back, and I was clean-shaven with lighter hair. Bennett. Not Eric.

Reed made up his mind and offered a slight nod. I snapped the badge shut, re-pocketed it, and planted my hands on the desk.

“What happened? Where is Tor—” I stopped myself, mentally kicking myself from almost giving up Tori’s name. “Where is Avery?”

“I don’t know,” Reed replied, his voice still shaky. “If she was with Paige…oh God. She was probably taken, too. He didn’t say on the message, but?—”

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