Page 14 of Breathless (Seven Brides Seven Brothers Pelican Bay 1)

Jason shook his head. “How are you feeling about all this? It’s pretty wild. Your whole life has changed on a dime.”

“That’s the understatement of the century. I keep thinking I’m about to wake up from a dream or something. For the moment, I just need to focus on finding Logan. The rest of it I can sort through at a later point in time.”

Jason knitted his brows together. “What about Cadence? It must feel surreal to have her walk back into your life with so many bombshells.”

Parker’s jaw hardened. “I don’t get it, to be honest. She said she did all of this for me. But that kind of burns me up inside. I’m a PI. I’m tough. I’ve been through a lot in my career. I know how to handle myself. I could have dealt with Mason on my own. And then we could have—”

“Walked off into the sunset together?” Jason asked.

Jason’s comment rankled. It came too close to the truth. Parker’s brain was muddled with what might have been

“I didn’t say that, did I?” he asked in an annoyed tone.

Jason clapped him on the shoulder. “Bro, you didn’t have to. I know you like I know my own self. It’s okay to feel that way. The two of you were pure magic together. I know how much it cost you when she walked out of your life.”

He let out a groan of frustration. “If she’d only talked to me. Told me everything. I could have been with her and seen my son come into the world. We could have been a family.” Parker heard the agony in his own voice and he hated himself for being so vulnerable. It wasn’t his way. He was tougher than this. Hardened by life and his experiences. Being vulnerable was showing weakness. And ever since Cadence broke his heart, Parker had hardened himself against any further hurts. He walked around now with a shell around him. Tonight, Cadence had broken through that shell with her sudden appearance. And he didn’t really want to dwell on the reasons why. He’d stuffed down so many emotions after she’d broken up with him and walked away without a single glance backward. The pain had been unbearable, so much so that he hadn’t known if he was coming or going most of the time.

“Or you might not be here right now,” Jason said with a pointed look at Parker. “Cadence might have saved your life. A man who would kill your best friend and abduct your child is capable of anything as far as I’m concerned.”

“True,” Parker acknowledged. Part of him wanted to be able to accept Cadence’s actions as a huge sacrifice for love, while another part of him rejected that notion. For the past three years he’d convinced himself she hadn’t loved him at all. She had made him feel that way! It was difficult to reverse those thoughts over the course of a few hours.

It was a tricky thing to wrap one’s head around. He felt frustrated over the past. He knew he was harboring some negativity toward Cadence. It wasn’t right or fair of him to judge her, but he partially blamed her for all the lost years between them. Why hadn’t she come to him? Hadn’t she believed in him enough to know he would have kept her safe?

He shook off his thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on things he couldn’t change.

“Let’s get down to business. I’m going to run a background check on Price. He’s a pretty public figure here in Florida, so I shouldn’t have any trouble finding some intel on him. He’s in his sixties so he must have lived a life before he came crashing into Cadence’s world. I’d like to know more about him and his past.”

Jason nodded. “I can check out the properties he owns and try to get a lead on his whereabouts. A sixty something man with a two-year-old may have left an impression. I’ll try and find out if he’s left the country in the last twenty-four hours.”

“Make sure to check to see if he filed any flight plans with a private plane,” Parker suggested. Jason nodded. The two worked seamlessly together. It never failed to astonish Parker. Sometimes it seemed as if they shared one mind. Often they finished each other’s sentences. Jason hadn’t been in the PI business as long as Parker, but his instincts were every bit as good.

“You still have the computer in the den?” Jason asked.

“Yeah. Why don’t you go set up in there and I’ll use my laptop in here?” Parker threw out the suggestion, knowing they could work separately on leads then reconvene to discuss what each had uncovered.

“Sure thing,” Jason said, pulling open the fridge and taking out a cold soda. He placed it on the counter, then began rummaging in Parker’s cupboards. “Aaah, I hit the jackpot,” he said, grabbing a bag of chips.

Jason always knew how to make Parker smile. Even right now in these terrible circumstances, the sight of his brother acting as if he owned the joint cracked him up. He needed this laugh. The next few hours were going to be grueling. Between the two of them, he and Jason would tap into every single resource they had and track down any and all leads. This wasn’t just any case. This one was personal. Parker had seen the look in his brother’s eyes. They didn’t even have to put into words. They were Donahue’s. And so was Logan.

“When your faith is challenged, you either hold on to it even tighter or let go of it.”

Micah Donahue

Chapter Five

“I’ve got something, Parker.” Jason walked into the kitchen holding some papers up in the air. “I used your printer and copier machine to print them off.”

Parker swung his gaze up from his computer. “What did you find?”

“A private plane registered to Synchro Industries left Miami-Dade airport at four o’clock yesterday afternoon.”

Mason Price’s high profile company was Synchro Industries. Parker felt his p

ulse quicken.

“Where was it headed?”

“I was able to contact one of my buddies at the FAA. Mason filed a flight plan. His destination was California. Cadence’s hunch was right. He flew to Sonoma.”

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