Page 109 of Bad at Love

I’ve already been by the living facility. They told me Storm was here and requested his mother be taken off life support. He signed all the paperwork and then he left. He didn’t even stay with her when she passed… I’m not sure they were supposed to tell me any of that, but I’m glad they did. Not that it gave me any answers, but at least I have something to piece together.

I am going to find him. I have to. Even if he tells me he doesn’t want to be with me or want anything to do with me, I need to try.I should have gone after him that night, and I didn’t. It’s what he wanted me to do. I know it down to my bones. I failed him, and I can’t live with that. So I’m going to find him, tell him everything, and hope for the best.

I’ve laid out everything I know about him in my office. I bought a giant white board that I hung on the wall and I’ve been making notes. There aren’t many. What I keep leaning toward is his friend, Dominic. I recall the wedding and his full name—Dominic Blake. He’s an adult content creator too, and I’ve already checked out his page, but there isn’t a way to message him on his page. I spent more time on that page than I’d like, have seen more of him and his husband than I’d like… and it was all for nothing. It was a dead end.

I don’t have social media, but I created accounts just to look for him. Storm Andrews doesn’t exist there. Neither does Dominic Blake, Mikah Blake, or Mikah Reed—yeah, I recalled his maiden name. But it’s not doing me any good. No matter what I do, I hit a dead end and I’m running out of roads to take.

My phone rings from my desk. I know who it is, but I can’t help but wonder if it’shim.His phone has been off since he left. I try every day, multiple times a day. All calls go straight to voicemail. When I reach my phone, disappointment floods me, even though it’s exactly what I expected.

“Hey, Marta.”

“How are you doing, Gabriel?” she asks gently.

“I’ve been better,” I answer honestly.

“No luck?”

“No luck.” I sit in my desk chair, leaning back and closing my eyes.

“Well, I’ve decided to give you your Christmas present early.”

It’s very early, considering Thanksgiving hasn’t passed yet.

“I’m not in the mood for gifts, Marta.”

“You’ll be in the mood for this one. Check your email.”

“Marta—”

“Check your email,” she says sternly.

I open my laptop and when the screen comes up, I enter my password then navigate to my email. There is a bunch of junk, but through it, I spot the one from Marta. The title saysMerry Christmas.

I double click to open it. The body of the email has nothing but anotherMerry Christmas, but there’s an attachment, so I click on that to open it.

“Did you open it yet?” she asks.

“Doing it now.”

It’s a PDF that opens to my browser. I’m not sure what I’m looking at until I focus on the bits and pieces of information on the page. Name. Birth date. Address. Previous address. Employer.

“Marta…”

“Merry Christmas, Gabriel. That should be enough information, right?”

“I don’t understand,” I breathe out, scrolling down the page to look at the rest of the info listed.

“You know Luiz’s brother is an active cop.”

I gasp. “This is illegal?” I ask in a whisper.

She laughs. “No, it isn’t illegal. I hired a private investigator.”

“A private investigator…”

“That’s right. So you can find your Thunder Storm. According to his bank account, he’s been having a lovely vacation—”

“On Kauai.”

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