Page 140 of Tangled up in You

MARK

He knew he was a masochist for volunteering for this duty, but he couldn’t help it.

He wanted to see Jesse again, even if only from a distance. If for no other reason than to assure himself she was okay, and that her not contacting them was the final word on the subject.

Still, he couldn’t help thinking about her, even dreaming about her.

And he hated the way Chris pined for her.

Maybe that’s what he really wanted, a chance to tell her how angry he was at how much Chris was hurting.

Yeah, he hurt, too, but that was irrelevant.

His guy’s heart had been broken.

At the very least she owed them an explanation, or a “fuck off,” or…something.

Not radio silence. Not ghosting. Not after what they survived.

He didn’t mention it to Chris, unsure if his guy even knew about today’s event. He hadn’t mentioned it to Mark, so Mark figured Chris was buried too deeply in his work.

He hoped.

Because he didn’t want Chris here to get hurt even more.

They expected probably a thousand people for the public part, and as law enforcement he’d been assigned to act as security inside the large event center where that part of the day’s events would take place.

Guess I am a “cop” today.

He’d picked a spot to stand at the back of the room where he could see all the entrances and waited as attendees filtered in. Over the next hour the room filled, even more than expected. At ten minutes before the start time they were already turning people away to watch on TVs in the lobby and in a smaller event room they hurriedly opened to handle the overflow.

Then there was a low hum of activity when a group of people, escorted by men Mark assumed were private security, headed toward the stage.

The pain slammed into his chest when he recognized Jesse, flanked by a man he knew was her father, and a woman who was carrying a baby. Her step-mom, probably.

But then Jesse turned to the side and his heart nearly stopped when he realized something.

Holy…shit!

CHRISTOPHER

Christopher tried to work in his office but wasn’t getting a damned thing done. He didn’t know where Mark was working today and was almost afraid to ask. The elephant in the room between them—Jesse’s evaporation from their lives—was slowly growing smaller but still present.

He didn’t want to know if Mark was working security for the event he knew Jesse would attend, but he suspected he would.

She’s an adult. She knows where we live—literally.

That she hadn’t reached out to them didn’t speak volumes—it screamed it.

We need to do something with her pack.

She obviously wasn’t returning for it, and it seemed wasteful to throw it away. Yet he hadn’t been able to bring himself to donate or give it away. So it sat in their guest room closet, gathering dust, the clean clothes they’d washed for her neatly stowed in it.

Finally, he gave up, packed his laptop, told his boss he was leaving for the day, and headed out. He was nearly home when his phone rang.

Mark.

He answered. “Yeah?”

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