Page 51 of I Found You
“Stand up, uncross your arms,” I gritted at him. “What do you know about this?” My tone betrayed my fury, even as I tried to tamp it down.
He must have understood that this wasn’t the time to test his boundaries because he stood up tall and put his hands up in front of him. “Nothing. I swear.”
“Did you lock up before you left?”
“Yeah. I checked all the bays, made sure they were locked, and locked the front door on my way out.”
“What time was that at?”
“About quarter to five.” I could hear a phone vibrating. It must be Jackson’s because I knew it wasn’t mine. He made noattempt to check it while he stood before me. Good.
“We close at five,” I told him. Not sure why that was what I was focused on at this moment. It wasn’t like it was going to matter anyway. I was just so enraged, any and everything had the potential to set me off. Hell, I felt that way before I even showed up to the catastrophe that was my garage. Now, it was simply compounded anger.
“I know. I didn’t think it was a big deal. And you were gone for the day. I shouldn’t have left early. Sorry. But I had nothing to do withthis,” he said, gesturing to the space around us.
I turned around to survey the damage for the millionth time. It got worse every time I looked at it. “Who’s your friend that hangs out here sometimes? The one that drops you off and picks you up?”
My back was to Jackson, still looking out at the immense amount of cleaning up I had to do, but I could tell there was something about that question that he didn’t like.
I thought for a second he wasn’t going to tell me. I was already planning on getting Wes over here to get the information out of him. Wes was a scary bastard when he wanted to be, and he didn’t have to worry about upsetting Maeve in the process. After a beat, Jackson quietly responded, supplying me with a name that just made the top of my list.
“Today, it was Sam.”
“But usually?” I prompted.
“Trey. Trey Myers.”
“Same prick who was harassing the girl?” I nodded to his side where he had been nursing his ribs.
“Yeah,” he admitted quietly.
“Grab gloves. There’s a lot of broken glass. Small stuff goesin the barrels. Large stuff, we’ll just throw out the door in a pile until I can get a dumpster here. Get to cleaning. I have to call the insurance company.”
I shot a quick text off to Wes to give him a new name to work with in his investigation while I made my way into the upturned office. Whoever did this went through everything. I wasn’t sure what, if anything, was missing or if the point was to just dump everything onto the floor for shits and giggles. Digging through the mess, I found a notepad and a pen. The insurance company kept me on hold for thirty-seven minutes before I could get through to someone. They spent a whole five minutes getting the details, relaying that they would be opening a case and someone would be getting in touch with me.
I kept my eye on Jackson as I called each of the owners whose vehicles had been damaged while in my custody. Everyone was equally appalled and understanding. I made sure they knew that I would make it right, somehow. All of my tools were either stolen or broken, so there wasn’t anything I could do right now. I called around to the other garages in neighboring towns to see if they had the space to take on some of the work. Obviously, I would be paying for all repairs. I just hoped that the insurance money wouldn’t get held up anywhere.
Back in the garage space, I tried to stand up one of the fifty-five-gallon drums that was pushed over. When full, the beast weighed about five hundred pounds. I figured since half of the fluid was now on the floor, I would be able to haul it upright again.
When I caught sight of Jackson talking on the phone instead of cleaning, I nearly lost my mind. Raising my voice to get hisattention, I shouted, “Jackson, a hand, please?” I didn’t want him to give his buddy a heads-up that I had him in mind as a suspect. “Who are you on the phone with? Are they more important than getting this shit cleared up?” I asked, maybe a little aggressively.
When he told me that he was talking to his sister, my heart rate sped up as my mood darkened even further. She would take his call, but she wouldn’t take mine. Or at least call me back. After everything that happened yesterday between us, I thought I deserved a callback, no?
I had no idea what was going through her mind. I thought I did; while we were in the middle of enjoying each other’s bodies, I thought I had her all figured out. What made her gasp, what made her moan. I wanted to spend all night learning her every curve. But then she basically shut me out. I still didn’t understand it. But I knew I didn’t like it.
22
Maeve
Jane was babbling away in my back seat as we traveled to the other side of town. She was fully recovered from her bout with viral meningitis and was full of energy and giggles. It made my heart swell with how happy she looked, but even her precious baby cuddles and sense of wonder couldn’t completely pull me out of this funk I was in.
It had been four days since I last talked to Wyatt,thatnight, other than a few quick texts. I was successfully ignoring his calls and texts until he said that he was coming by to check on Jane. I shot him a picture of her and a quick update that she was getting better. Then I told him I needed a little time. I even asked Jackson to watch Jane for a bit so I could meet Josie for coffee.
Jackson had told me about the garage break-in. I couldn’t imagine how upset he must have been. It was killing me to not be there for him, but it was going to kill me to hear him say that we were a mistake too. I had put it off long enough though, and honestly, I missed him more than I would have thought possible. Which was why I was on my way to see himat work now.
I could have called him or texted him, but I needed to see him. Even if it was just one more time.
Pulling into the parking lot out front, I sat in my car for a few minutes while I recited to myself everything I wanted to say to him.
