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“Yeah, I remember that. I have your resume on file. What happened to you?” he asks, and I can hear the smile on his face.
“My dad ended up sending me off to train with the navy, and just as I was nearing the last few weeks, I got news my father was killed.”
“Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?”
I breathe in deeply. “Actually, there is. I’d like to meet with you. Possibly to join the team, and I have a job that I need some help with. The only men who would be able to handle this are Cole Security.”
“I’m intrigued,” he tells me, and I can hear it in his voice.
“Can we set up a meeting? I don’t want to get into the specifics on the phone, but I’d like to catch you up, and you can decide if it’s something you’d be able to help me with.”
“Sounds good. I’m in Virginia. Can you make it here?”
I think quickly. I’ll go see Autumn’s mom, then I’ll head home, pack, and tell my mother I’ll be back. The funeral is not for a few days, so it will give me time to fly down and make it back in time.
“Yes, I can be there this evening,” I tell him. “I’ll get my dad’s plane ready, and I’ll let you know once I land.”
“I’ll be here. If I’m in a meeting when you arrive, just ask for Mark. I’ll see you soon.”
“Thanks, Jackson.” I hang up, exhaling my breath in a whoosh of relief.
With the car pulling up outside Autumn’s mom’s apartment, the nervous energy that’s been racing through me is at tipping point.
When I reach the door, I knock, waiting for someone to open. Brenda Starling, Autumn’s mom, opens the door, and I’m met with a shell of the woman I grew up around. She looks like she hasn’t stopped crying for months.
My heart sinks to my stomach. The thought of my girl missing, stolen, makes me rage inside. We stare at each other for so long because I don’t know what to say, and I’m almost certain she’s shocked to see me.
“JD?” My hair is shorter than when I left. I have a slight dusting of scruff, and I’m sure I’ve aged years while I’ve been away. I’m no longer the young boy who fell in love with her daughter. I’m a man who is adamant about making sure Autumn returns home safely, and then I’ll ensure she spends her life with me.
“Where is she? Is there any news?” are the first questions that leave me.
Mrs. Starling steps aside, allowing me into the apartment. The moment the door shuts, the woman I’ve come to know as strong and resilient breaks down. The need to console her overtakes me. She’s been more of a mother to me than my own has. Her grip on my shirt is fierce, as if I’m the only link to Autumn and she doesn’t want to let me go.
She sobs into my chest, her body shaking, and I feel her pain in my soul. The heartbreak is not foreign to me because it feels as if I’ve lost a part of who I am.
“S-s-she’s gone. I c-c-can’t even tell you what happened.” Her watery gaze locks on mine. “I was at work,” she tells me, guiding me through the house into the living room. “When I got home, she was nowhere to be seen."
“I’ve just spoken to Jackson Cole; he runs a security company based in Virginia, and he’s said he’ll help. I still need to give him the specifics, but I don’t doubt him and his team will find her.” I have no qualms about going out there on my own to search for her, but I know they’ll have contacts and connections I have no access to. If anyone can locate her, it will be him.
“I’m worried, JD. I’m so worried. She’s not someone who would run off,” Brenda tells me what I already know. Deep down, I wonder if Dad had anything to do with this. I know I contacted Autumn, sending her the video when I know I shouldn’t have. But I needed her to know I loved her.
If this is my father’s last resort at getting back at me, it’s backfired. He’s dead, and I have no other way of finding out if he put in the call to have Autumn taken.
I should tell Brenda, but that would only make her angrier. So, for the moment, I let it lie because I know as soon as I find out the truth, I’ll end up digging up his cold body and killing him again and again.
“I’m going to Cole Security’s offices today. I’ll have a talk with them, and we’ll start the search. I’m not sure where she would be, but I promise you, Mrs. Starling, I will find Autumn.”
