Page 103 of Third Wheel

Damn. Guess he couldn’t put it off any longer, but she did need to know. He was absolutely getting the story about how she accidentally got high later, though.

“Cassidy, I have some… well, we’re not sure it’s bad news yet, but it’s not good news,” he said gently.

“Oh… oh. Damn.” Her energy immediately dropped in reaction, and her next question had a small, fearful quiver to her words. “What did he do now?”

“We’re not sure. He seems to have disappeared. He hasn’t shown up for his job, although he didn’t quit. The lease on his apartment ended, and he’s no longer there.” Kincaid sighed.“We’re not sure where he is. We’re going to do our best to find him quickly and make sure he’s nowhere near you, okay?”

Cassidy took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she answered. “Okay. Do you think he’s coming here?”

“There’s no way of knowing. Maybe he pissed someone off and is on the run. Maybe he got a new job somewhere else and needed to move and didn’t care that he was leaving someone in the lurch.”

“Or maybe he figured out where I am and is coming after me here,” she said quietly.

“Maybe.”

“Do you think I should quit my job? I don’t want to put Brenda in danger.”

“No. Because there are a lot of other things it could be,” he said firmly. “But I do want you to keep an eye out, just in case. I’m also going to let Lincoln and David know that Don has fallen off our radar so they can keep an eye on you.”

“I’ll tell Jensen tonight, too.” She sighed again. “This sucks.”

“It really does. I’ll keep you updated as I get new information.”

“Thanks, Kincaid, I appreciate it.”

He could tell she was sincere, but he still felt like a jerk for having to ruin her day, especially when it sounded like she’d been having a good one. Other than getting accidentally high. But he didn’t feel like he could ask her about that right now. She clearly wanted to get off the phone, probably to take some time to think or process or maybe cry.

Fuck. He hated this. Cassidy didn’t deserve this shit. He gave her the reassurance that he could, but there was only so much he could do. The best thing they could do was find Don as quickly as possible and hopefully discover that he was far, far away from Pittsburgh.

After calling Cassidy, he called Lincoln, then David. He didn’t ask David about Cassidy’s new job. No point in making things harder for her. The other man didn’t offer up any information about it, either. He really was going to need to get the full story from Cassidy as soon as he could.

Getting off the phone, he looked over at Zach, who appeared frustrated.

“Nothing?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“Nothing. I’m sure now that everyone’s on the lookout we’ll find something soon. And some of those subs should be hired by the FBI because… damn. I’m pretty sure Domi and Rae were on a computer before I even finished my first sentence.” He shook his head. “If someone doesn’t figure out where he went in the next twenty-four hours, I’ll be surprised.”

Kincaid hoped so.

The sound of the keypad on the front door made both of them look up. Despite the shitty turn of the night, just knowing that Amy was home made him feel better.

“Hey, guys,” she said, walking in with a smile and pushing the door shut behind her. Almost immediately, her expression changed. “What’s wrong?”

“Cassidy’s ex is in the wind,” Kincaid said. “We’re talking to some people to try to figure out where he might have gone.”

“Oh… that’s awful. Do you think…” Her voice trailed off.

“We don’t know,” Kincaid said firmly. Part of him feared that Don was doing exactly what they were afraid of, but there were other possibilities as well. He wasn’t going to have anyone panicking until they knew they had reason to. It was always possible the guy had just disappeared off the face of the planet, which would not be the worst thing, as long as he never resurfaced.

Callous? Yes. Kincaid didn’t care. Cassidy deserved peace, and Don didn’t deserve shit.

“How did dinner with your parents go?” Zach asked. It almost felt wrong to change the subject, but there really was nothing more they could do for Cassidy right now. As soon as he had a lead, Kincaid would pursue it. They just didn’t have one at the moment, and… the most pressing issue within his personal life was the result of Amy’s dinner with her parents.

Sometimes, it felt wrong not to be able to do more, but he’d long ago had to accept that life continued. A really fast way to burn out was not to let himself live his life because someone else’s life was fucked up. Cassidy wasn’t in immediate danger, and even if she was, she needed the team up in Pennsylvania. He wouldn’t be able to do more than drive up there and miss everything, anyway.

“Dinner was good,” Amy said, perking up a little. “They want to meet you. Again. More formally, as my boyfriends, I mean. My dad is a little weirded out by it. I think Mom is taking it a lot better, but she’s still not seeing it as ‘real’ in some ways. Having dinner with you will make it more real.”

“Interesting.” Kincaid chuckled. “Sounds a little like my parents.” Though his parents were more of the ‘we’re determined to be open-minded no matter what you throw at us’ type. They’d been a little taken aback by his announcement that he was now poly as well bisexual and that he had both a boyfriend and a girlfriend, but they’d quickly rallied and voiced their full support.

---