Page 86 of Parker

His friend refrained from useless platitudes and remained quiet, for which Parker was thankful. And over the next several seconds, neither man uttered a single word.

Because what was there to say?

Fact was, they didn’t have shit to go on, and unless something dropped in their laps, Quinn was as good as dead.

I’m not giving up on you, baby. But I need some help. Something to tell me where you are. Please, Quinn. Please, if there’s any way to reach me…

His computer dinged with yet another fucking MMO message request, this time fromthirdunrecognizable username. Parker’s back teeth ground together as he moved his cursor toward the X.

Why the hell these guys had all chosen this moment to start bombarding him with requests was a mystery, but he wanted to reach through his screen, find the dickheads, and—

His index finger froze a millisecond before clicking the mouse. Removing his hand to avoid accidentally closing out the newest request, Parker leaned in closer.

“What’s the matter?” Asher asked from the seat beside him. “You know that player or something?”

He studied the username with an expert eye… MN1PD1X.

Number one man? Number one cop? Ten years on the job?

One by one, Parker ran through every possible solution for the alpha-numeric name. But the more he considered, the more time he felt he was wasting.

“Mani-Pedi?”

He looked to his left. “Huh?”

“The username.” Asher pointed to the screen. “Looks like Mani Pedi. Not sure what the X is for, but… I don’t know.” He settled back against his chair. “Just trying to think.”

Mani Pedi…X. Why the X?

Personal chefs, mani-pedi spa days, designer clothes… That’s you, Parker. But this isn’t me.

His heart thumped hard. Could that be it? Was the X for the user’s disdain for mani pedi’s?

One way to find out…

Refusing to get his hopes up, Parker grabbed the sleek mouse and opened his dashboard in the MMO the message requests had originated from. Clicking open his messages, he immediately found the first two…

PERSCH3FX and DZ1NRCTHZX

“Holy shit.” The explicative came out a disbelieving whisper.

“What?” Asher sat up straighter. “You got something?”

“You’re a fucking genius,” he declared. “Well, maybe. At least I think…” Parker licked his lips and turned to his friend. “Okay, it may just be the desperation, so…I need to know if I’m making something out of shit that isn’t really there.”

“I trust that big brain of yours, Park. Especially when it comes to all this gaming stuff.” Asher’s dark eyes shone with sincerity. “You say it’s there, it probably is. But okay.” He motioned to the screen. “Show me what you’ve got.”

Swallowing back a sudden rush of emotion from the other man’s heartfelt words, Parker straightened his spine and got to work. “Like I said, it could be nothing, but…”

Keeping the story short and to the point, he told Asher about the conversation between him and Quinn the day he’d surprised her. Luckily, Parker remembered what the frustrated woman had said to him…word for feisty word.

When he was finished, he pointed out the similarities.

“Quinn said she didn’t do personal chefs.” Parker pointed to one of the usernames…PERSCH3FX.“She doesn’t do mani pedis.” Another point toward MN1PD1X. “And she told me she doesn’t do designer clothes.” Final username…DZ1NRCTHZX.

“Holy shit, Park.” Asher’s widened gaze swung to his. “You really think she found a way to communicate to you through that game?”

“That’s exactly what I think.” Parker’s fingers flew across the keyboard.

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