Page 106 of Perfect Pitch

A laugh rumbles from my chest. “Sounds like Charlie.”

She swats at me. “That’s not fair. He’s not here to defend himself.”

“I assure you, any good photos of him were likely taken twenty or thirty times,” I deadpan.

She giggles before a muffled sob escapes. I pass a hand through her hair. “Want me to tell you a story about Charlie to get your mind off things?”

She snuggles deeper into my embrace. “Yes, please.”

“I may have mentioned he was married five times—”

“The first night we went out when you asked if I wanted to become Mrs. Charles Henderson number six?” she interrupts sweetly.

I press a smacking kiss to her lips. “Right. Well, Charlie’s first three marriages didn’t work out because he was always deployed.”

“He was in the military?”

“He was a Navy SEAL.” I can’t conceal the pride in my voice.

“Wow.” In true Austyn style, she easily accepts that by saying, “So, what you’re saying is that if we get into a fight, your uncle could toss you over his shoulder?”

“Even at his age,” I admit ruefully.

She fans herself before teasing, “Now I know why there have been five wives.”

I give her a smacking kiss in between my chest heaving with laughter. “Goof. Now do you want the rest of the story?”

She settles back down. “Me and Trevor were related to wife number four. Their marriage didn’t end badly, but Charlie was different back then.”

“Different how?”

“He had a mission—one he was determined to fulfill at all costs.”

“Which was?”

“Finding missing children.” At her sharply indrawn breath I explain, “Charlie had served a full twenty-five in the navy and was deployed to some of the worst hellholes on the planet. The commonality between them was the neglect and abuse children were suffering. He kept sane, believing that back home—here in the US—that wasn’t happening.”

“But that wasn’t the case,” Austyn sums up astutely.

“No, it wasn’t. And when he found that out, he went to work for a private investigations firm owned by the brother of his fourth wife—my uncle, Thomas Laskey. My uncle Thomas was a real winner.”

“Why do you say that?”

“At the end, he wanted to sell his company. He had a buyer but didn’t want to transfer Uncle Charlie’s contract. So he canned Uncle Charlie on the day the new owners were supposed to do a final walkthrough.”

Outrage descends on Austyn’s delicate features. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Not even. Fortunately for everyone”—myself included, I silently add—“Charlie ran into the new owners on his way out the door. He gave them the inside scoop to everything.”

“And they kept him on?”

I nod. “He headed up the Missing Persons and Protective Services division of Hudson Investigation until he retired a few years ago.”

She frowns. “Hudson as in Colby and the Freemans.”

“You got it.” I give her a quick dossier of some of Hudson’s cases that have received press coverage. “We have offices in New York, Connecticut, and DC, and the owners are considering expanding to the West Coast.”

She’s silent a moment before she probes delicately, “Can I ask what you do?”

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