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CHAPTER2
Damien Blaze
Normally we wouldn’t be talking business while at a bar, but my brother Draven was working on a supposedly high-profile case and was waiting for information. I didn’t care, but if he was just going to sit there reading his emails on his phone, I’d rather be someplace else.
“If you’d rather be at your office, feel free to leave,” I said to him while waving to the bartender for another beer.
Draven looked up from his cell phone and replied, “Actually, I’m thinking this is something you might be interested in taking on.”
“I’m not a PI,” I reminded him. Not that I had an issue with my brother’s profession, but it’d landed him in several fights over the years. Something about a cheating husband getting caught in the act by him didn’t usually turn out well. Hell, there was one guy who drew a gun on him and if Draven hadn’t ducked, I’d probably be an only child right now.
Not that my profession never put me in some dangerous situations too, but I was in the business of saving lives. Risking mine to bring home a missing person was well worth the risk.
“Not that far off. I follow people and you search for the missing. If you ask me, what we do is pretty close, just mine is a lot more...interesting,” Draven grinned.
“Snapping photos of people screwing around on their spouses doesn’t sound interesting to me. Hence whoever reached out to you, isn’t a client I would want to take on,” I stated.
“I’m not interested in this one either. Guess she’ll have to get someone else to help her find her family,” he said.
“Her family is missing?” I asked. Now that was a different story.
“Thought you weren’t interested?” he said, smirking.
I glared at him. “Just read what she sent.”
He picked up his phone again and said, “She’s traveling from Canada and is looking for her birth family.”
“Nope. Not interested,” I replied, cutting him off.
“You didn’t even let me finish,” he said.
“Heard enough. I don’t help people find their birth parents,” I said firmly.
He shrugged. “Neither do I, normally. Can’t figure out why she reached out to me. I still think you should read this.” I ignored him and he added, “It’s not like she wants you to stake out her boyfriend or something.”
“Good, because I sure in hell am not eating late night dinners in my car,” I replied. “Not that it matters. I’m not taking the job.”
He snorted. “There is a first time for everything. You might find my line of work isn’t everything you think it is.”
I shook my head. “I work to help find abducted children or Americans who have been taken overseas.”
“Yeah. There is nofunin your line of work.”
“I don’t do it for fun. I do it because they don’t have anyone else who can help them.” In many cases, it was a matter of life and death for those I searched for. Although I was known for having a high success rate, not everything ended the way one wanted. “If you don’t want to help her, then refer her to someone who can. Now, why don’t we finish our drinks and get back to talking about that anniversary gift we’re supposed to be getting for mom and dad,” I stated.
He put his phone on the bar and grabbed his beer. “I still think we should throw them a party.”
“I told you, I’m okay with that. You plan it, and I’ll pay for it,” I said. “But I think they’d be just as happy with a trip to Paris. Mom has been talking about going back there since their twenty-fifth anniversary. I think it’s appropriate to send them back for their fiftieth.”
“Agreed, but there is one problem with that,” he said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Dad already thought of it. I happened to be out for dinner with him last night when the travel agent called to confirm the details. Not only is he taking mom there, but they are going to be traveling through the entire Europe. They will be gone for almost two months.”
“So, they won’t even be here to celebrate. I say we take them out to dinner when they return,” I said. Seemed like the problem was solved. Dad hated surprises anyway.
“Ha. Easy for you, but I totally forgot mom's birthday last month. She is still making me feel guilty about it.”
