Page 13 of The Big Fix

“We’re all crazy about him,” Miguel admitted. “He’s a great guy.”

I appreciated hearing that, but something in his tone bothered me. It was as if he was placating me, saying nice things to keep me calm. As if I needed to be managed. As if I, somehow, needed him to reassure me that everyone liked Owen, and therefore, he certainly wasn’t in any real danger. “I know he’s great,” I said, scowling at him. “What the hell?”

“Sorry,” Miguel muttered. “I don’t mean it like—listen, my people are looking for him, but he’s only been gone a short time, so again, that’s why we haven’t escalated anything. Honestly, we don’t even know what this is yet.”

It was my turn to lean forward in my chair. “I know, but I do need to call in the dogs. My dogs. And respectfully, I know you haven’t done it because you don’t want to rock the boat with your investors.”

“That’s not—”

“You’re not being fair,” Aaron interrupted, and I saw the anger on his face. “I—we—would never purposely sacrifice a member of our team for optics. That’s not how we do business at Sutter.”

I took a deep breath. “You came to me for a reason.”

“No, we—”

“I mean,” I said, talking over him, “you came to me because there’s only so much you can do.” I turned to Miguel. “You would have to assemble a team and get them to Bangkok. Come on. You know you want me to take care of this.”

He shook his head.

“Yes,” I insisted. “It takes care of your PR problem—as in, you don’t even have one anymore—and you don’t have the manpower.”

“I assure you,” Miguel argued, his eyes flat, “I do have the manpower.”

“You’d have to hire people. Contractors. And then you’d have to get them to Thailand. Don’t be ridiculous. Let me take this over for you, and more importantly, for me.”

Both men were sitting there, staring at me.

“Owen is on my payroll,” Aaron pointed out. “We need to be the ones to keep him safe. People need to understand that if you work for me, anywhere in the world, we are responsible for your safety.”

I stood and walked to my desk. “I understand that, I do. But you can’t seriously think I’m going to sit on my hands here and wait for an update.”

Miguel smiled. “No. That’s not what we expect.”

“Then?”

Miguel looked at Aaron. “If we entrust this to Jared, the company washes its hands of the matter, and that’s what we need. And he’s right about the contractors. I have feelers out, but beyond our own people, I’d have to outsource. Our in-house security is for protection, not extraction, and we certainly don’t have mercenaries on our payroll. That’s not what either of us, me or you, wanted.”

Aaron thought a moment and nodded before he stood, Miguel following suit, and faced me. “I’ll defer to your judgment, but please, Jared, if there’s something you need—and we both know I’m talking about funds—please don’t hesitate to contact me.”

“I won’t.”

“And you’ll keep us in the loop.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I will.”

Both men shook my hand, Aaron holding longer, squeezing my hand tight.

“I know it’s hard to be in the dark about where the man you love is. I’ve been where you are, and I promise you, I’m at your disposal.”

What?

I watched them walk out, off-balance for a moment with Aaron Sutter looking over his shoulder at me before the door closed behind him.

The man I loved? What the hell?

Not my friend. Not my colleague. The man I loved.

What?