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“Oh, I specialize in pissing people off. But none have threatened me if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Alexis and Ellie offered that reward money for information about their sister. Maybe it’s someone after that?” Even as Zak asked the question, he shook his head. “But that doesn’t make sense either. If the money’s the goal, why call you?”
“I don’t know,” Cal said for the third time, letting out an exasperated sigh. All these questions were the same ones circling in his mind like relentless vultures. But he had no answers, only speculation and a gut feeling that told him this was far from a coincidence. This was something big. “Maybe she thinks she needs a lawyer.”
Zak studied him for a moment longer. “Does Ash know about this?”
“He does, but he can’t do anything until I have proof a crime was committed. And, right now, I don’t even know if one was.”
Zak nodded to the printout. “Girl could be a runaway.”
“I got that sense, but from where? There’s no report of a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl matching her description missing from anywhere in the county. If there were, Ash would’ve been able to do something to help.”
Zak lifted a shoulder. “Mountain people. I bet a lot of kids up there have no formal records—no birth certificates or social security cards. She could be one of them.”
If that were the case, she’d be nearly impossible to find, but Cal had never met a challenge he couldn’t conquer. This was another puzzle to be solved—a complex and urgent one, but a puzzle, nonetheless.
“Could be,” Cal murmured, turning the printout this way and that, as if that might help him make sense of the girl’s story. “Guess I’ll need to start knocking on some doors up in the hills.”
Zak grunted. “Be careful. They’re not exactly welcoming to outsiders. First time I went up there asking questions, I got shot at.”
“Wasn’t it Shane that shot at you?”
“The bastard. I’ve mostly forgiven him.” Zak sat up again, the chair creaking under him as he straightened. “You coming to the wedding this weekend?”
Shit, he’d nearly forgotten Shane and Alexis were getting married this weekend and, for a moment, he considered begging off. After all, he was the last person Ellie wanted to see, and she’d be there, standing at her sister’s side as maid of honor. No doubt in a dress that would hug her curves and drive him mad all night with the urge to peel her out of it. He could easily make up an excuse—work was always a convenient one since his job required he be on call twenty-four/seven. But he’d already sent in his RSVP. And maybe it made him a masochist, but he really wanted to see Ellie in that dress.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” he said finally, tucking the photograph into his jacket pocket. But he was already thinking beyond the wedding, his wheels turning with ways he might gain the trust of the mountain people. He was a lawyer, after all. Convincing people was part of his job description.
He made a move toward the door. Just as his hand touched the knob, Zak’s voice stopped him in his tracks. “One more thing...”
He turned back. “Yeah?”
Zak’s eyes bore into him, serious and intent. “Before you go stirring up a hornet’s nest, being a white knight and all... Remember, you’re not just risking your neck. There are other people who’d be affected if something happened to you.” He cracked a smile. “And for some reason, we like you around here, Holden. So stay safe, and if you need anything, you let us know.”
chapter
four
The wedding looked like something out of a fairy tale. The towering redwoods created a natural cathedral and sunbeams filtered through the leaves above, casting a magical glow over the entire scene.
Ellie stood to the side of the rustic arbor, watching with teary eyes as her sister moved toward a future she once doubted Alexis would have. A year and a half ago, she’d flown to this remote stretch of California in a panic after Alexis was abducted from in front of her motel, terrified her last remaining sister was gone forever. But now here Lexi was, getting married in this beautiful forest with wildflowers spilling along the edges of the aisle.
What Alexis had survived was beyond comprehension, and yet in all that darkness, she had found light in Shane. He wasn’t the kind of man Ellie had pictured for her sister. He was intimidating—his face, body, and soul all badly scarred from a mission gone wrong when he was a Navy SEAL—but the love shining in his eyes as he watched Alexis approach was tangible. He was more relaxed now than when Ellie first met him, more at ease with himself and others. He’d done a lot of work on himself over the past year to make sure he could be what Alexis needed, and Ellie loved him for it.
Shane’s gaze never left his bride as she approached in a satin sheath gown with her hair spilling in soft golden waves over her shoulders. He looked awe-struck, and who could blame him? Alexis was always beautiful, but today she glowed. When he slipped the ring on her finger and declared his vows, his words weren’t the overly romanticized phrases that Ellie had heard in past weddings she’d attended. Instead, they were raw and truthful, baring his soul to the woman he loved and promised to protect.
As the couple sealed their marriage with a kiss, Ellie dabbed away her tears and let her gaze drift over the small crowd. Zak, Anna, and their two daughters, Bella and Poppy, took up one row of chairs on the groom’s side. Donovan, Sasha, and their ten-month-old son, Hudson, were in another row with Ash and Rose. Behind them sat the intense Pierce St. James with Sawyer Murphy and Sawyer’s dog, Zelda, who was decked out in a lace tutu for the occasion.
Shane’s teammates.
His family-by-choice.
Alexis and Ellie’s parents sat on the bride’s side, along with a handful of friends from Chicago. It was surreal seeing those friends again. Chicago felt like a lifetime ago now. The Summers girls had traded tall buildings and loud city noises for towering redwoods and gentle whispers of the coastal wind. A different life, a different world. But it was here that Ellie found a sense of belonging she had never felt in Chicago.
It was here that felt like home.
And he was here.
