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“Her battery must be out of juice.” Either that or the thing that I hadn’t voice out loud yet.
Maisie shook her head. “Bonnie never lets her phone get lower than twenty-five percent. She’s actually kind of anal about it.”
I looked up at Maisie in disbelief. “The Bonnie you knew doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Don’t say that! I know she’s been in some trouble lately, but can you say you wouldn’t do the same in her situation?”
I couldn’t say that, not without being a liar. “I’m not judging, okay? Hell, I’m the last one to judge anyone, but it’s a fact. Bonnie is hooked on drugs and she’s hooked hard.”
“She’s not,” Maisie protested.
“She is. What the hell do you think happened at Midnight Mass? Bullets just found their way into every available surface?”
“That’s enough, Cal.” Not even Virgil’s threatening tone could stop my tirade.
“She’s been spiraling for weeks, scoring dope from the fucking Crusaders. On credit. Who do you think grabbed her from Emerald Isle?”
Maisie’s blue eyes widened in shock. The best way to describe the look she wore was stricken. Both hands on her chest, she couldn’t believe the words I said to her. “No.”
“Yes! I’ve been trying to help her. Ma has too. But she’s gotta want it for herself.”
Maisie turned to look at Virgil, betrayal written all over her face. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugged. “You needed to see it for yourself. It was the only way you’d believe it.”
Tears streamed down Maisie’s face. Virgil practically crumbled at her feet, wrapping his big arms around her and pulling her in his lap. “I’m a shitty friend.”
“Addicts hide things, Maisie. It’s their nature. You know now and that’s what matters.” Her steely gaze turned to me. “Is there anything else you can do to find her?”
I glanced at my computer, down at the last ping from Bonnie’s phone. It was one tiny dot in the middle of the goddamn desert. She could be anywhere.
“One more thing, but I need Jasper’s help.” And his permission, but we could talk about that later.
Sadie nodded and clapped her hands to clear the room. “We’ll be in the dining room.”
Jasper nodded and waited until we were alone. “Something more than friendship going on with you and Bonnie?”
Hell yes. “Doesn’t matter. I need you to call Agent Marshall.” It was a desperate move but one I was willing to take.
“What? Fuck that. We don’t need his help.”
“We do. The only thing I’ve come up with in two fucking hours is that Bonnie is somewhere near Red Rock! He has the tools we need and we have something he needs.”
“We do?”
I nodded and held up a flash drive. “We do. Now are you gonna call him or force me to go behind your back?” It wasn’t how things were done in the Ashby family, but it had never been an issue before.
Jasper stared at me; his green eyes missed nothing. They saw the tension around my mouth and the way my hands couldn’t be still, and he knew. “All right I’ll set up a meeting, but you better share everything with me before he gets it. Got it?”
“Not a problem. Tell him twenty minutes at Jade House.”
Jasper frowned. “In the mood for sushi while your girlfriend’s missing?”
“They have private rooms, asshole, and I just reserved the VIP room with the private entrance. Pass the word along. Boss.”
Jasper’s deep amused laugh echoed in the salon and followed us down the hall where he updated the family. “We should be back in an hour or so.” As soon as we were on the road, Jasper turned to me. “Talk.”
“This would’ve been easier if you’d let Oliver drive us.”
“Why? I’m capable of driving and listening at the same time.” That was what his words said, but my grip on the oh shit bar said something entirely different. “Don’t be a pussy, Cal. Speed is fun.”
“I’d like to get to the meeting in one piece, maybe stay that way for a few years.”
Jasper let out a loud, barking laugh. “See, Calvin, that’s your problem. You’re too afraid to embrace your wild side. We all have it, that damned Ashby blood in our veins. We can’t help it. But you try so hard to suppress that part of you.”
“I don’t remember a lot, but I remember enough.”
“Look, our old man was a piece of shit, plain and simple. He wasn’t always, but you’ll never get to know that man. Hell, I barely believe he used to exist. But in this business? Our family business? Having a little bit of the devil in you is what keeps you alive. What keeps those you love alive.”
I thought about his words as Jasper’s sports car zipped through town, purring like a wild cat as he stopped and started on a dime, speeding into turns and dodging slow drivers like a video game. Was my brother right? Did I hide from life? Did I suppress the devil to my own fucking detriment?
