Page 39 of Receiving His Mercy
“Quiet!” Travis yelled.
Everyone fell quiet. Alexa had returned to studying her laptop, obviously bored now that she’d learned that Caren’s first and last names weren’t the same. Marc was looking confused and he thought that Shane had fallen back asleep. Gable was staring at him as if he’d never seen him before.
He sighed. “Caren is now living in New York. I ran into her a week ago when I was out to dinner.”
“You go out to dinner?” Marc asked.
“Yes,” he said impatiently.
“What sort of restaurant was it?” Gable asked.
“A nice one,” he said, unsure where they were going with this.
“Were you on a date?” Marc asked, sitting up straight. “You can’t have been, right? You don’t date.”
“Stranger things have been known to happen,” Alexa said without looking up. “What’s this woman’s last name?”
Thank God someone was paying attention and being serious.
“Caren Stanford. Five-feet-tall. Blonde hair with pink streaks. Fond of pink and orange. Works as a wedding photographer.”
“Caren is really missing?” Tyler asked. “How do you know?”
“I didn’t think you even liked her,” Clay said. “You actually talked to her the other night?”
“Yes, I talked to her,” he said impatiently. “And I have her number so I can check in with her. My last contact with her was yesterday morning at ten. I have messaged and called several times since and she hasn’t answered. Her phone is now turned off.”
“I’m on it,” Alexa said.
“Wait, so we don’t know she’s missing,” Jace said. “Just that she’s not answering your calls and messages.”
“Which you can’t blame her for,” Clay added. “Considering that you don’t even like her.”
“I don’t dislike her,” he said. “And she answered my other messages. Something is wrong.”
“You’re very concerned about her,” Marc said. “This woman means something to you?”
“She’s under my protection,” he stated.
“Since when?” Jace asked with a frown.
“Since a week ago.”
“Does she know this?” Rusty asked quietly.
“Yes.”
“But does she agree?” Jace asked.
Fuck it. Why did Jace always have to ask the right questions? Must be because he’d been a cop. He was good at reading people.
“No,” he grumbled. “She agreed to me having her number so I could check in. But just because she doesn’t agree to being under my protection doesn’t mean that she’s not.”
“Christ, you have so many red flags it’s a wonder you found someone to date,” Alexa said, leaning her elbow on the table. “I love red flags. They’re like my love language.”
“You need help,” Marc told her. “Serious help.”
“What? Like therapy?” she asked, scrunching up her nose.
