Page 9 of I Found You
“You’re trouble, boy. Always have been. Good thing your little brother is here to keep you in line.”
“Hey, Ronnie, don’t talk like that. Calling a grown man little does damage to his ego.” Luke laughed.
“You two don’t need any help stroking your ego,” she replied.
My lips spread into a wide grin, and I opened my mouth to speak, because really, who could let a comment like that slide. But she cut me off before I could get a word out, raising her finger in the air, bright orange polish on the nails. The laughter in her eyes matched mine. “Nope. I heard it as soon as it came out. I’m not accepting commentary on that statement. Enjoy, boys.” Ronnie moved to the other side of the bar to serve the other couple of people in here, leaving Luke and me by ourselves.
“Hey, man, sorry if I fucked things up for you tonight with Jules. I knew she’d be irritated, but I didn’t expect a blowout.”
Luke kept his eyes on his glass, his fingers swiping through the condensation. “Could you hear us?”
“Yeah, you two weren’t exactly whispering in there.”
“It’s fine. I don’t really want to talk about it.” He threw his head back, swallowing half his drink like it was a shot.
“Okay, sure. Anytime though.” He nodded, his hand rubbing over his mouth and jaw. “How’s things at work? Any update on Baby Girl’s case?” I asked casually, taking a sip of my drink.
“Wyatt, I can’t talk to you about an open investigation. You’re too close to this. I’m sure the little girl is fine. The social workers found a home for her while we are gathering all of the evidence to figure out who she belongs to and how she ended up on the side of the road.” He narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t get Wes involved, did you? I told you, this is a police matter. We don’t need a civilian screwing things up for us.”
“No, Wes has been too busy with his own workload. I haven’t asked him to step in on this. I can get him to if needed though. You know damn well Wes will get me this information if I ask him to.” I knew it would piss Luke off to no end if I got Wes involved. He’d offered to—as soon as the police were gone and my statement was taken, Wes asked if I wanted him to find out what he could. I had an in at the police department; I shouldn’t need my PI best friend to drop everything he had going on for this. “I get it, alright? You can’t tell me anything.”
Luke raised his brow with a side-eye glance. He didn’t trust that I would drop the matter. But that was fine. I had two ins at the police department, anyway.
“I’m going to hit the head, then one more before we leave?” he asked.
“Yup, sounds good.”
I watched Luke from the corner of my eye. As soon as he was out of sight, I grabbed his phone, which he had left on the bar top. It tried facial recognition first, but I bypassed it for the PIN method. It was either Juliet’s birthday or their wedding anniversary. The fucker was sappy as hell. I tried their anniversary first. Nailed it.
Bringing up his contacts, I called my brother’s work friend Scarlett. It was a small town, so I knew more than a few of our cops. Some of them from my own sins, some of them just from living in town. But Scarlett was different. She and Luke had been friends for a few years now. She always came to any parties or cookouts at Luke’s. I think she had a crush on him, but he’d been with Juliet longer than he’d known Scarlett.
She answered on the second ring, sounding out of breath. “Hey, Luke, what are you up to?”
“Hey, Scarlett, it’s actually Wyatt. I borrowed Luke’s phone. Is this a bad time?”
“No, I was just working out. Is everything alright?” I could hear the tension in her voice. She must be wondering why I would be calling her, thinking it was an emergency.
“Absolutely. I have a huge favor to ask you though,” I asked, my voice sultry. I had no qualms about turning on the charm.
“Oh, sure. Um, does Luke know you’re calling me? Asking for thisfavor.”
“He’s here with me at Harpoon’s. He just stepped away though. It’s actually work related. Do you know the name of the family that took in that little girl that I found?”
“You could have asked Luke that. Why are you calling me? He’s not blabbing, is he?” she laughed. “You can’t fool me, Wyatt Wilder. If Luke’s keeping that information from you,so am I.”
“No, Luke, ah, just can’t remember their names,” I lied.
“You are a terrible liar. That was the least convincing line I ever heard.”
“Come on, Letty,” I said, using the nickname that Luke sometimes used, specifically when he drank too much at those backyard cookouts. “I get the confidentiality of it. I just want to make sure she’s okay. I’m trying to be a good guy here. I feel like she’s my responsibility.” I didn’t mean to say that last part, but it didn’t make it any less true. That little girl was my responsibility now.
“That’s what Kara is for, Wyatt. She will be well taken care of until we find her a permanent home, ideally with her family,” Scarlett said quietly.
“Kara Dawson?” I beamed as Luke took his seat at the bar again. He heard me say her name and turned his head to me so fast I was surprised he didn’t break his neck.
“Wyatt,” Scarlett cautioned, “do not get involved. Leave this alone.”
“Letty, my girl. Next time I see you, I’m giving you my best kiss,” I told her as I grinned at my brother.
