Page 23 of Casey's Hero

A tall, muscular man dropped down from the driver’s seat and headed toward them. His hair was longer, and he wore a button-down shirt and dress slacks, but Jacob would’ve known the man anywhere. He held out his hand. “Hank, I’m glad you’re here.”

“Rooster.” He took his hand and pulled him into a hard hug. “Good to see you, man.”

“And you.” Jacob turned to Casey. “Hank Patterson, this is Casey Wesson, the wedding planner.”

Casey shook Hank’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Hawk’s fiancée. You did a lot to help Kalea out when she was in a tight spot.”

“We were just glad we could. Hawk was the one who pulled it off. Between him and Kalea, they make a great team. I hope to get her to come to work for me at the Brotherhood Protectors.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “I thought you only hired former military.”

“I do, for the most part. But I’d make an exception for someone as talented and determined as Kalea. She’s sharp.”

“She’s been too busy running her father’s ranch to work for anyone else,” Casey said. “But with Hawk missing, she might consider becoming a Brotherhood Protector just to find her man.”

Hank gave Casey a lopsided grin. “She wouldn’t have to join the Brotherhood to get us to help. He’s one of our own. We’ll find him with or without her assistance. And, if I know Hawk, he’ll be fighting his way back. The man’s been chomping at thebit to marry that woman before she gets away.” Hank chuckled. “I have my guy, Swede, working on the license plate. Have you learned anything else?”

“As a matter of fact,” Jacob started, “there is something that happened at the bachelor party that might bear looking into.”

“Yeah?” Hank raised his eyebrows.

A policeman entered the building with the hotel clerk.

“Let’s go with them. You might want to see the room.” Jacob waved Hank ahead of him as he entered the building. The police and hotel clerk took the elevator. “We can take the stairs.” As they climbed to the fifth floor, Jacob told him about Camila’s drama at the Big Wave.

“Does she have a last name?” Hank asked.

“I don’t have it. Hawk only told us her first name,” Jacob said.

“I’ll get Swede on it,” Hank said. “Maybe he can access some criminal databases. She might have a record.”

“It might be worth calling McP’s in San Diego to see if the bartender remembers her,” Jacob said. “She might have been a regular back when Hawk met her there.”

“How is Kalea taking it?” Hank asked Casey.

Casey’s cheeks reddened. “I haven’t told her. I’d hoped we could find him and get him to the church on time without informing her. She called this morning freaked out when he didn’t answer his cell phone. I can’t imagine how she’ll react when she learns he’s missing.”

“She needs to know,” Hank said.

Casey inhaled and let go of the breath in a long sigh. “I know, but could we hold off a little longer? He might turn up.” She gave Hank a weak grin. “It could happen.”

Hank nodded. “Okay. I won’t tell her. If we don’t find him in the next couple of hours, you need to be the one to break itto her.” They emerged onto the fifth floor and hurried toward Hawk’s room, where the police were investigating.

Hank stood outside the room, looking in at the mess, a frown denting his brow. “He didn’t leave of his own volition.”

“That was our guess,” Jacob said. “The two guys in the video were pretty big.”

“Still can’t imagine them getting the drop on Hawkins.”

Jacob exchanged a glance with Casey. “He was pretty drunk when we left him in bed. And why would they take his tuxedo?”

Casey crossed her arms over her chest. “Camila. Maybe she has some half-baked idea that he’ll marry her if she gets him away from Kalea.”

“The woman is out of her mind,” Hank said. “Hawk’s crazy about Kalea.”

“And she’s crazy about him,” Casey said. “We have to find him.”

The police officers dusted for prints. The one in charge asked Casey and Jacob to drop by the station to give them their prints so they could rule theirs out when they were comparing with those they’d found.

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