Page 23 of Twisted Hearts

Drinks. A woman. Someone to help me relax.

That was exactly what I needed.

As I locked my office door, the phone rang at Charlie’s desk. Normally I wouldn’t answer her phone, but it was Friday night. No one called for help on Friday night. It was Monday mornings when we received most of our calls—people who didn’t come home from weekend trips, spouses who caught their partners cheating, or suspected it.

Friday nights were typically quiet, and my interest was piqued.

But I was already going to be late, so I let it go. The red light blinking on the phone turned solid, and the ringing stopped.

I turned, moved down the hallway to the one room where someone might still be, and saw Jaxon on the phone, dark brows pulled in.

He ran a hand over his bald head while his face pinched with irritation.

“I understand, sir.” This clipped tone of his was one I was becoming familiar with. When he liked you, he showed no emotion. If you said something that amused him, he showed no emotion. The only emotions Jaxon showed were when someone pissed him off, which meant this guy on the other end of the phone was pissing him off.

He saw me in his doorway, my brows raised in question, and he rolled his eyes before saying, “And like I said, I’m going to need more information than that if you want me to consider your case. I’ve already got a list of missing people a mile long and an office full of men with their plates already full. If you want to convince me this job is more important, that this woman is more important, you need to give me more. At least a name.”

A jackass who wouldn’t give us a name to even start a search? Not good.

“Then I can’t help you. Enjoy your weekend,” Jaxon said. He hung up and turned to grab a black sweatshirt he’d removed at some point during the day.

“Who was that?”

“Some mayor in South Carolina. Wants me to find his son’s ‘missing’ fiancée, ran out on their wedding. Won’t tell me more than that.”

Now I understood Jaxon’s irritation.

“There are very few reasons why a woman ditches a guy on her wedding day.” Sometimes cheating. Much more rarely it was simple cold feet. Mostly, it was abuse. With eternity barreling down on them, seeing their future, it was amazing the strength women could find in those final few moments of freedom.

“Yup. Wouldn’t have helped him anyway except to find the girl and get her help if she needs it, but he won’t give me a name until I tell him I’ll take the case, so it’s lose-lose for everyone.”

“Sucks, man. You going to let it go?” I asked.

Jaxon might not have shown a lot of emotion, but like Charlie said, he had them, and at the top of the list of things he hated was women being abused.

“For the weekend. Can’t be that hard to figure out since he’s a mayor. Just need to look for wedding announcements and I’ll get a name somehow.”

“Let me know if you need the help.”

“You want to look into it first, have at it.”

We entered the elevator, and I thought about that call. Had she gone ‘missing’ before her wedding or the day of? If it was on her wedding day, it would have been a week earlier.

Which meant that woman had left a week ago at least, and she was still gone. This guy waited a week to seek help in looking for her? And why wasn’t it the fiancé? Something didn’t add up.

“I’ll look into it.”

“Good.” His muscled, strong hand slapped down on my shoulder and gave me a shake. “New guy also buys me the first drink of the night, just so you know.”

Of course he did.

* * *

The bar was packedby the time I arrived. Jaxon, with his ninja skills, was already there, relaxed at a table with Charlie and looking like he’d been there for hours. How he managed to find parking and haul his ass inside before me was anyone’s guess.

Dreammaker’s was cool, different from the run-down, small-town bars I was used to in Kansas. I hadn’t been out much since arriving in Raleigh. I’d showed up right after New Year’s, rented a townhome, unpacked, and gotten straight to work. Since my new hours weren’t exactly a typical nine-to-five job, the opportunities to get out and explore were minimal.

Maybe that was why I’d been so stressed. The last time I had relaxed seemed like forever ago, and before I’d moved, my uncle had been dealing with some health problems, casting a pall over the holidays.

---