Page 56 of Desolation

“It’s complicated.”

“You’ve seen her again I presume?”

I nod. “Yesterday. Turns out she didn’t leave. But her life’s a mess. Far too complicated for me to get involved in.”

We climb the steps to the lot. “But you want more with her?”

I stop on the stairs. That’s the thought that’s been bugging me since I woke up this morning. “I’m not sure, man.”

“Well let me tell you this. If it’s complicated, she’s probably worth it. Charlie was complicated but I wouldn’t change a thing about us. Catherine was a complication for Jackson but he fought through it all to have her. Maybe this woman is the right woman for you. You just need to get through the tough part.”

He turns and walks the rest of the stairs and I watch him go.

Maybe he’s right, maybe she is worth it. I just don’t know if my heart or my head can handle complicated, right now.

* * *

I scoop up the file on my desk and jog over to David’s office. I’ve been buried in paperwork all day. Hell, I even canceled on Mari because I felt like I was about to have a breakthrough on this case.

I get to his office and the lights are off. That’s when I notice that it’s past eight o’clock. I remember Jimmy leaving not too long ago but time flew by as I cracked through some coding. I didn’t realize three hours had passed.

I roam the office and notice I am the only one left.

I send a text to David, hoping he isn’t busy and shut the lights down in the office.

I run out to my Jeep and start heading in the direction of David’s neighborhood. I don’t know exactly where he lives, I just hope he answers me as I head that way.

I don’t know much about him but he seems like a workaholic so I am hoping he won’t be bothered by me. But I need him to look over something, maybe run a few names in his software to check that I’m right.

He texts me as I am halfway to his house and I plug the address into my GPS.

The man is rich as fuck, his house making it abundantly clear as I pull into his drive. I barely know anything about him but I would like to know how he made his millions.

He opens the door as I walk up the front step. “Landon, good to see you outside the office.”

“I would normally disagree but holy shit, man, I can’t believe you live here.”

He shrugs. “Worked my ass off earlier on. It paid off.”

He walks toward the kitchen and the view of the ocean has me stop in my tracks. It’s fucking beautiful. I love my view but this one is clearly worth the tens of millions he paid for this place.

“Take a seat. Do you want anything to drink? Beer, water?”

“Water is fine.”

“Oh, right. You don’t drink.”

I shake my head as he sets a bottle of water in front of me. “Let me go grab my laptop.”

He walks away and I get up and walk toward his floor to ceiling windows to take in the view of the ocean from the cliffside. I never thought I would see how the other half lives. Well Jackson is pretty loaded but he has nothing compared to David.

David walks back in the room. “Quite the view, huh?”

“The ocean is one of my favorite places to be. The smell of the salt water is my favorite scent.”

David nods and then grabs a remote off the table. “I hear you. Let me one up this then.”

He hits a button and the doors open automatically letting the smell of salty air permeate the room.

---