Page 81 of Mark my Words

“Go with the bad...”

“Evan had a panic attack in the cab, and the driver kicked him out.”

“What the fuck? They kicked a guy having a panic attack out on the street?” What the hell kind of cab company did that?

“In fact, it was some kind of parking lot, apparently, but don’t worry, I told the dispatcher that he would be dealt with later,” Emory said with a wry grin.

“So, what’s the good news?”

“I’ve got an address of where he was dropped off. Chances are that he’ll probably still be in the vicinity,” Emory said, holding up his phone with a map displayed on the screen. At least we had somewhere to start.

“Shit. Let’s hope the poor dude didn’t get jumped.” I’d seen people mid-panic attack before; that was a vulnerable state to be in and then dumped on the street.

“I’m gonna call Nathan and see if he can come with me to look. You fly out in the morning, so you should probably go help with Chase,” Emory said quietly, not leaving any room for argument.

“Are you sure?” I wanted to help and felt like I was getting thrown on babysitting duty.

“It’s getting late. You know Isobel won’t let you delay your travel plans. Someone should get some sleep tonight. We’ll find him.”

“Is there any other footage you guys need?” I’d almost forgotten Howard was still waiting for us.

“Can you email me the clip of that woman confronting the guy in the gray suit?” I wanted proof if we needed to go after her. Isobel may have been able to get rid of her temporarily, but if she came after Chase or Evan again, I wasn’t above calling in someone to make it clear she was to keep her distance—permanently.

He started typing again and asked for my email. Seconds later, my phone vibrated with a message.

“I also included a gif of your man striding out that door.” Howard winked. “He’s hot AF.”

“Your man?” Emory asked with wide eyes.

I shook my head and fought the urge to throw things at Howie’s head. “Don’t worry about it, Em.”

We thanked Howard for his help and walked back down the hall to the front desk. The manager wasn’t there, so we returned to check in with the others.

“Hey mehr, how is she?“ Emory asked, putting his arm around Talia’s back. Chase was seated at the table blankly, staring down at her hands.

It looked like most of the press had called it a night and left. Only a few stragglers at the bar and people from in-house at the publishing company remained.

“No luck?” Sam stepped in behind me with his hand touching my back. I managed to hold still despite the jolt I felt at the contact.

I couldn’t believe what I’d said in that office because I didn’t get attached. I didn’t have a real claim on Sam, and I certainly didn’t need to continue obsessing over this limbo we’d been in for the last several weeks. “We got a lead, but no. We don’t know exactly where he is now.”

Nathan joined us a few minutes later, and we quietly decided Talia, and I would get Chase to bed while the guys went to look for Evan.

“I’ve got an idea,” Sam said suddenly.

“We’re desperate enough. Let’s hear it.” He narrowed his eyes at me before looking back at the group.

“Evan’s got an Apple Watch.”

Shooting a skeptical look in his direction, I wasn’t sure how that was helpful. “This is your brilliant idea?”

“Let him finish. I think I know where he’s going with this,” Em scolded, and I closed my mouth. The dude had the intimidating Dominant persona down pat.

“Chase, do you happen to know his passcode?” Sam pulled Evan’s phone out of his pocket, where he’d put it after Evan had entrusted him with it earlier in the night, and slid it across the table. She picked it up slowly and let out a shuddering breath before she typed in a code.

“Nicely done.” I looked back at Sam. His eyes met mine, and I found myself unable to look away from the intense blue.

“We can track his watch and maybe ping it. Hopefully, that’ll help us track him down,” Sam explained.

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