Page 12 of Love on the Run

Jake shot him a dark look. “Don’t you have to get home for dinner along about now?”

“That I do, unless I want Darcy to get cross at me.” Kyle got up, smiling. “Here’s hoping you have a quieter night this time.”

“I’d better, because I’ve got some work to do.”

Kyle was still grinning when he left, and Jake knew why. It was because Jake was going into what Kyle called “marshal mode.” Jake had been a US Marshal for a few years after the Army before moving back to Montana, and he never really stopped behaving like one. The careful detective work and his attention to minute details often made his deputies laugh, but they knew he had a knack for it. And it had come in handy on more than one occasion.

Jake sat down at his desk, determined to settle his mind about Callie’s story. He first read Kyle’s report on the car, which didn’t add much to what Kyle had told him. So it wasn’t Callie’s car. Of course, she hadn’t claimed that it was. He’d made that assumption. And it was possible she was using a friend’s car for the evening. Although if he’d lent a car to a friend, he’d wonder why it hadn’t been returned by now. Or, Jake thought, the car was her boyfriend’s. She had clammed up when Jake asked about his name, but she wouldn’t have thought of the car registration. Now Jake could check on the scumbag who had hurt Callie.

He checked the plates against the federal database for stolen cars, and got nothing. But it might take up to twenty-four hours for a car reported as stolen to show up in the system. He sat back, idly tapping a pen on the edge of his desk.

Next he entered Bellamy’s name into the federal system. A moment later the profile on his computer screen made him sit back in his chair.This guy, her guy, had a record, he thought. An Edward Bellamy, resident of California, showed up with a string of minor drug offenses for carrying and dealing, and a weapons charge, doing time in San Quentin on two different occasions. Jake stared at the photo. Callie couldn’t possibly have been dating this loser. He was too old for her, for one. And he looked like a rat. Granted, anyone in a mugshot looked like a rat, but it simply didn’t add up.

Unless Calista wasn’t who she seemed to be. Jake saw her at a vulnerable moment, and had instantly assumed she needed help, or protection. But he didn’t know her at all. She could be up to her ears in trouble. Maybe she was a con artist who used her looks to get people to do what she asked. Could she have been putting on an act?

Jake tried to look at her objectively, but didn’t like it. Calliehadbeen seriously hurt. He knew that she had been under the influence of the sedative last night, suggestible and more open than she would be otherwise. She hadn’t been lying last night. It was her story in the morning that was hesitant, careful.

Time to check on Callie herself. He entered her name in the same database and waited. Nothing. If Calista Reed was her real name, she didn’t have any criminal record.

But there were other ways to search. Jake grinned without humor. He had a shortcut there. He looked up a number on his own phone and dialed it, hoping it was not too late to catch a first shift worker on the West Coast.

After a few seconds, someone picked up. “LAPD, Detective Tyler Holt.”

“Hey Ty, it’s Jake.”

“Jake?” Ty’s voice was incredulous. “How the hell are you, man? Thought you dropped off the face of the earth.” Ty had been one of Jake’s closest friends in the Army, where they’d gone through the grueling process to become Rangers.

“Still in Montana.”

“Montanaisanother planet, Brand. At least from where I’m looking.”

“Maybe so. Listen, Ty, I’m sorry to haul in a favor, but I need you to look something up for me.”

“Anything, brother. You know you don’t have to ask.”

“Just a couple of names. And...Ty. Not a word to anyone. Not yet. I’m in the middle of something that feels a little weird.”

“Consider my lips sealed.”

“Okay. First, is there a missing persons report for a Calista Reed? That’s with a C as in Charlie, double e in Reed. Would have been in the last day or two.”

There was a silence as Ty put the name in. “Hmm,” he said. “No, nothing.”

Jake wasn’t sure if that worried him or not. “Okay, here’s another. Edward Bellamy.”

Ty entered it. “No missing persons, but I got a few hits for an outstanding warrant. You got some details of this guy? Birth date? Middle name?”

“How about a vehicle registration?” Jake grinned. “That specific enough for you?”

“That will help.”

Jake gave him the info, and waited while it went through. “What’s going on, bro?” Ty asked while they waited. “I haven’t heard from you in a year.”

“Honestly, you haven’t missed much. Life here is pretty quiet.”

“Except for this missing Calista?”

“She doesn’t seem to be missed, though.” Jake frowned. “Which surprises me a little.”

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