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“Cut the innocent act. You knew I was coming here to see you, at your demand, I might add.”
“No one told me you were coming to California, so I was on my way to you.”
“In Chicago?”
“I had a layover. That’s when I got Ranger’s message that you were there.”
I didn’t believe a word she was saying, and I was getting angrier by the minute. “What’s it gonna be? Are you getting on a plane and flying back to California, or should I tell Doc and the other guys that you’ve decided to wing this on your own?”
“Calm down, Landry. I’ll catch the next flight out I can get.”
I ended the call and immediately called Sloane. Not only did I want to hear her voice, I had to warn her that Nick and I had crossed paths in the sky and I’d probably be here another day at least. I left a message when the call went straight to voicemail.
If you see Sloane, tell her I’m trying to reach her, read the text I sent to Cowboy three hours later.
Roger that, he responded.
When I still hadn’t been able to reach her an hour later, I called him. “Have you talked to Sloane?”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
“Out with her mom and dad.”
“Her mom and dad? Where?”
“They didn’t tell me where they were going.”
“She was supposed to be shopping with her mom.”
“She was. When they got back, they left again, this time with her dad.”
“When’s the last time you saw them?”
“A couple of hours ago.”
“You’re supposed to be on her detail, Cowboy.”
“What the hell, Tackle? Her dad told me to take the rest of the day off and get back to the job site. What was I supposed to do?”
“You didn’t think to run that past me?”
“I don’t work for you.”
Since he was right, I didn’t bother calling back when he hung up on me.
I spent the next hour trying to come up with a reason to call either of Sloane’s parents to tell her to turn her damn phone on. By then, Ranger was back with Nick, and she didn’t look the least bit contrite. He, though, looked ready to kill.
“I don’t know why you’re so mad,” she said to him. “It was a simple misunderstanding.”
“You knew Tackle was on his way here, and don’t try to play it off like you didn’t.”
“I’m telling you, I didn’t.”
When I saw the veins in his neck bulge, I stepped between them. “Why don’t you head out? I can take it from here.”
Instead of immediately turning to leave, he looked at Nick.
