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He smiled, his blinding pearly whites popping out, and his fingers worried through his neatly shaven beard.
“Call me Micah. We’re not at the station.” He reached out and tucked his fingertip under my chin. “Everything okay?” he said.
The silence stretched awkwardly as that damn clock ticked in the background. As soon as he left, I planned to rip the thing off my wall and smash it to pieces. I caught my reflection in the mirror hanging on the bathroom door. A vision of my sister’s smiling face taunted me. Her crooked smile hitched up the corner of her mouth.
“Uh, no.” I finally said, sighing in defeat. “My sister may be missing.”
Quinn, always the kind soldier, snapped to attention. He pulled out his pen and tiny notebook he kept in his pocket out of habit from being in law enforcement.
“When did you last see her? And I need a description of her.” He held his pen to his pad, ready to write.
I sighed and walked over to my bathroom, grabbing the picture of my beautiful sister and handing it numbly to the man I knew would find her. With everything in me, I just hoped we would locate her soon.
“She’s a hooker,” I blurted out, word vomit style. Staring at me with a mix of compassion and confusion, Quinn cleared his throat.
“Uh, okay. Well, do you know what circles she works in?”
I racked my brain, struggling to remember vital information that would help the investigation.
“Yeah, I think so. She’s higher ranked than the streets. She does escort detail with high profile clients…people you don’t want to know about.” I added, watching Detective Quinn blow out an unsure breath.
“I have to ask,” he said at last. “Is there anyone I know?”
I scrunched my nose in disgust. Unable to filter my thoughts. Begrudgingly, I muttered, “Chief Doger.”
Now Quinn made a face. His perfectly featured face looked repulsed and had me laughing. I was unable to hide my snort.
“Yeah, okay, better left unsaid,” he agreed, his face was now tinted green.
I laughed harder, my unease and worry fading just the slightest bit with Quinn by my side. His kind eyes and strong jaw just made a person feel more at ease. He was such a sweet man who had been through so much. He was the definition of the notion of ‘light still shining through darkness.’ Micah Quinn was a fucking beacon of sunshine and…my friend.
Guilt settled in my gut like a train, so I chewed on my ruined lip even more.
“What’d you do, Ella Fox?” he said at last, studying me and giving me a tone that could rival any fantastic big brother.
I took the collar of my halter top, pulling it up over my nose. It was a nervous habit I’d done since I was a child. The action made me feel safe.
“C’mon. It’s okay. Come out of your shell, Ella. No need to turtle.” He snickered at my glare.
I couldn’t think of a dumb thing to change his last name to, so I sighed and relented my escape.
“Okay, fine,” I whined, sounding every bit like the child still hidden inside me. “I may have been stalking the owner ofBlack Mirrors…”
His face looked stern, but he allowed me to continue.
Taking a deep breath, I said, “And I may have heard something from inside the club, picked the lock with a hairpin my sister clipped in my boobs for a weird date she set up to try to help, which didn’t, and I left him anyway. Also, my date is actually part of the drug ring we’re chasing, and when I snuck into the club, there may have been a young man who needed my help—just a teenager, maybe nineteen or twenty.”
I sighed, not wanting to continue, but did so when he cocked his head to the side and urged me to keep talking with a simple lift of his chin.
“And, I may have saved him and run off, only to randomly pass out in a dumpster and wake up in a ton of pain because of my own stupidity. And I didn’t tell you because I know I fucked up and may be a horrible person.”
After I finished my word vomit session, I just waited and waited as Quinn took what was only probably a minute to process my words, but it felt like an hour. He kept eyeing me as he thought, his face making all kinds of expressions, none of them great.
I just stared at him sheepishly.
“Then we need to go find your sister. Now.”
My mouth gaped. He was going to help me? Off books? He could lose his badge for this. Hell, we could be thrown behind bars with the prisoners we put there.
