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“Well, I got to see them in jail this evening,” Elisa quipped. “It’s fine. No charges are being brought, but we do think Hale’s right and the guy he fought with is the same one in the security cam footage we sent you. You got here fast. It’s only been a couple of hours since we talked to you.”
“Private jet,” Jake replied. “We bought it for use between our company and McKay-Taggart. It comes in handy when you want to move quickly. We’re going to install a security system on Ian’s cabin tomorrow afternoon. He was always going to do it, but you guys being in trouble moved up the timeline. And Adam and I will be close in case you need us.”
“No.” Hale put his hands flat on the table like he was trying to be careful with them. “You can’t bring the kids into this. I don’t want any of you involved. This guy nearly killed Mel this afternoon, and the other day when he tried to shoot me, he could have hit Elisa instead of me. And now Jake shows up with the kids for a family Christmas party? What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking my family needed me.” Jake seemed unbothered by Hale’s outburst.
“Then take Van back to Dallas with you and bring Elisa along for the ride. This isn’t about him. It’s about me, so your family isn’t involved,” Hale insisted.
Jake sent Van a confused look. “Who does he think he is?”
“He’s in a spiral.” Van wasn’t sure how to bring him out. He’d never seen Hale so dark before. Hale had resting grim face, but he usually didn’t go to the worst-case scenario. He rode whatever wave they were on and took what came their way.
And he couldn’t anymore because this was a serious relationship, and he had no guidelines. Hale loved rules and boundaries. He thrived on routine and clear expectations, and here he was without any because they hadn’t sat down and talked. Van had been far too invested in his own emotions to remember that Hale had no idea how to handle his. Whatever Van’s parents had done, they’d acknowledged his emotions and validated his feelings. Hale had lived with none of that.
“I’m not in a spiral,” Hale argued.
“You’re totally in a spiral.” Elisa was handling the entire evening with her usual aplomb.
“I don’t even know what you mean by that.” Hale’s words were peppered with exasperation.
It was better than the dead look on his face he’d had the last few hours. “It just means you’re not thinking straight because you’re scared. You’re panicking, and it could hurt all of us. Let’s listen to what Jake has to say and then we’ll come up with a reasonable plan to keep everyone safe while Jake’s team looks for this guy.”
“We don’t…” Hale took a deep breath. “I don’t have the money to hire any team at all.”
Jake’s brow furrowed. “Why would we charge him? What’s happening between the two of you?”
“Let me explain since Van will give you a detailed psychological analysis you don’t need,” Elisa began. “The three of us got together, did some sex stuff, and it got emotional. Van freaked out.”
“I did not freak out,” he complained.
She ignored him. “So Hale and I played it cool while Van got his shit together, and now he’s staying here in Bliss with us so Hale felt the need to bring in more drama by deciding to martyr himself because I could get hurt.”
Jake huffed. “Did anybody tell him about all that time you spent in the military?”
“She can still die,” Hale insisted.
“Sex stuff?” Van was caught on that.
“He doesn’t need a play by play,” she replied. “So they’ve been out of synch for a while now, and it’s annoying the hell out of Hale, who is way overstimulated and needs a nap where more sex stuff happens, if you know what I mean.”
“I am not a child.” Hale’s jaw tightened into a stubborn line.
If it bothered Elisa, she didn’t show it. “That’s why I included the sex stuff, babe. It’s been a rough, emotional day and we’re at the beginning of what I hope is the last relationship of my life. We need to hold on to each other and bond, and the best way to do that is sex.”
There was a reason he was so fucking in love with her. He wanted to move this along so they could get to the good stuff. Van turned back to his brother. “What did you find out that sent you running here so quickly?”
Jake looked like he wanted to talk more, but he pulled open the envelope he’d brought. “I found out the identity of your mystery woman. Her name is Helena Atwell. She was a private investigator in the Houston area. She specialized in missing persons. She did a lot of work for bail bond companies.”
