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As he answered his phone, Noelle looked at the delicate clock on her credenza and saw that it was now getting close to three o’clock in the morning.
It didn’t take a psychic to see that questioning quickly turned into worry, shown clear as day on his rugged face.
“I’ll be right there.”
When he hung up, Brandon’s body vibrated with an impending mission, already looking at her door. “Can you come with me? I need to go, it’s an emergency. And as we’re stillworking out the threat, I’d feel better if you were with me. Especially with what’s happened.”
“Yeah, gimme a minute to change. What’s happened.”
If possible, his face turned even more somber.
“Leanna and Jordyn have disappeared.”
CHAPTER 8
With the change of shift only a couple of hours away, the department was still relatively calm, apart from the loud male voices booming from one conference room.
Noelle jogged behind Brandon, glad she was wearing flats. Not that she could fall behind with her hand firmly linked with Brandon’s.
Ryland and Nico were in the conference room, standing at one end of the conference table while a few officers were trying not to get their heads bitten off.
The moment they entered the room, Ryland’s snarl dimmed a little, and she could see the desperation in his eyes. As well as Nico’s.
“Hey man, thanks for getting here so fast.”
Brandon took his hand and brought Ryland into a quick hug. Nico looked like a panther about to strike. “Anything for you. So what’s going on?”
Several of the officers tried to explain, but couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Brandon curtly dismissed them, and the poor souls were glad to obey.
Noelle stood close; ears peeled.
“Okay, now, tell me everything. You said that Leanna and Jordyn have disappeared? Go back to when we saw each other last.”
Ryland nodded, and Nico stopped pacing. “After the tour, as we got closer to the hotel, we were still hyped up, so we decided to stop for a nightcap.”
Brandon nodded. “What bar?”
“The Quicksilver.”
Brandon didn’t seem to know the name, so Noelle intervened. “It’s a common hotspot for the cops around here. It’s about one block out. More a pub than a high-scale bar.”
Nico nodded. “That’s the place. And it was packed—nothing suspicious, no bad vibes apart from being pressed shoulder to shoulder to many people. There was a band playing, and it was a lively atmosphere.”
“And then what?”
Ryland rolled his shoulders. “We ordered drinks, cozied up. An hour later, Leanna was tired, so was Jordyn, so the girls went to the bathroom before we went back to the hotel, but they never came back.”
“We checked the bathrooms, the alleys, and streets. Then we returned to the bar. Ryland went to talk to the owner to see if he had any camera footage while I called the police. They sent a patrol but didn’t believe us that Leanna and Jordyn had disappeared. They even brought us here, thinking that we were either crazies or wife beaters and our women escaped. They brought us here, talked about charging us with harassment. It’s ridiculous.” Nico stopped talking, the last words coming out as a snarl.
“It was clear that you were our man and the only one who could help. New Orleans is your city. And Leanna and Jordyn are out there alone. We’re out of our minds, and you’ll go through the red tape much faster than either of us.”
“Brandon is your man. He’s the star recruit of the department. And I’ll help as much as I can.” Noelle blurted out her support for Brandon and reassurance to the two men. She may not have known the two couples for long, but she knew they were good people.
Without looking at her, Brandon reached for her hand, and she squeezed it hard.
“Okay. Let me speak to the guys and untangle the arrest mess. Meanwhile, I’ll head to the Quicksilver with Noelle and start to gather what I can. That way, we won’t lose time.”
Noelle winced. “It must be closed by now, but gimme a minute to reach out to a couple of people I know. I’m pretty sure I can get the owner’s number. I’ll make the call and go get a kit from the lab, just in case.”
