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“Sir, yes, sir,” Isaiah said sharply, with an edge of sarcasm. He would do it, though. Harley could always count on his operations manager to get things done. “Just one last question and I’ll get right on it.”
“Yeah?”
“What are you really doing down there, Harley?”
And with that, they’d just transitioned from employer-employee to friends chatting on the phone. “I’m investigating a case. What do you mean, what am I doing here?” he asked, knowing full well what his friend meant.
“I mean, since when does the CEO cart his ass down to Charleston for a piddly little case like this?”
“When the CEO gets ti
red of paper-pushing. And this isn’t a piddly case, Isaiah. If this links back to the Steele family, it could become a very high-profile job.”
There were a few moments of silence on the line before Isaiah responded again. “Cut the crap, man. Who is this woman? Tell me you’d still be down there if it were anyone else.”
Harley couldn’t, and they both knew it. He wasn’t one to lie—he preferred avoiding the truth, which wasn’t quite the same thing—and he wasn’t going to lie to his best friend. He’d tell him. He just might not tell him everything. “She’s my ex-girlfriend from back before I joined the navy.”
“I knew it!” Isaiah shouted into the phone. “I knew there was more to it. So, what, you still carrying a torch for her or something?”
“Please,” Harley said. “Have you seen me moon over a woman in the years you’ve known me?”
He was hardly the kind of guy who got wrapped up in a relationship, much less pine for someone. He honestly couldn’t say that he’d had something that even looked like a relationship since he’d been out of the service. He hadn’t had the time, the energy or the inclination. And even if he did, he hadn’t met anyone who made him want more than just a little physical pleasure.
At least until he woke up this morning feeling used for the first time in his life. How the tables had turned when he least expected it...
“No. You’re pretty cool and collected when it comes to the ladies. Too cool, if you ask me.”
“I didn’t.”
Isaiah chuckled into the phone. “You’re a little snippier than usual this morning.”
“I’m not snippy,” Harley said, knowing full well that was exactly the word for his tone of voice. “I’m just not in the mood for you to philosophize about my love life. It’s too damn early. Yes, I was curious about Jade and what had become of her. Yes, I’m trying to do her a favor by finding out what happened to her and keeping her safe in the meantime. But that’s all there is to it.”
“So you’re not sleeping with her?”
Harley sputtered for a moment, knowing that even when he got his words together, Isaiah wouldn’t believe him. “And if I were?” he asked at last.
Isaiah sighed heavily into the receiver and Harley could almost picture him with his feet propped up on the desk as he leaned back almost too far in his executive chair.
“I’d say there’s way more to this story than you’re letting on.”
Seven
“Yes, I’d like to leave another message for Mr. Steele. Please press upon him the importance of my call. It’s about his daughter, Morgan. Yes, it’s Harley Dalton with Dalton Security calling again. I’m working on a case with St. Francis Hospital and it’s imperative that I speak with Mr. or Mrs. Steele as soon as possible about a private matter.”
Harley clicked off with more force than was necessary to terminate a call on a smartphone, and chucked it onto the dashboard of his car. There just wasn’t the same satisfaction as slamming down an old landline phone. He needed some kind of outlet for his frustration. It was the sixth call he’d made to the Steele family’s various numbers over the last three days and all he’d managed to reach were assistants or housekeepers. With them dodging his calls, all he could do now was slip his phone into his pocket and carry on with the last of his interviews.
He should’ve felt some sense of accomplishment by the time Sunday rolled around, but he didn’t. He blamed Isaiah and his relationship meddling for that. All weekend, his friend’s words had made him feel off-kilter for some reason, as though he had some kind of mental vertigo. It made him want to question his own justifications behind this investigation and why he was here in Charleston. He could’ve sent anyone; his friend was right. But Harley had told him to mind his own business and had got off the phone.
Now, days later, he didn’t have a better answer. He just didn’t know. And lately, he had too many other things to worry about.
Not that he hadn’t made significant headway in the investigation over the last few days—he had. With the contact information he received from Isaiah, he’d called all the families, talking to some and leaving messages with others. With the local families he could reach, he’d set up appointments to meet with them at various times over the weekend. He’d been able to talk to every family but the Steeles so far. That didn’t surprise him, but it did raise his suspicions about the wealthy family. Once he finished what he had on his plate for the day, he intended to follow up on them.
With his interviews keeping him away from the house, he’d had to figure out what to do with Jade. Since she didn’t work that Friday or Sunday, he had to factor her into his plans. He scheduled as much as he could while she was working on Saturday, but there was only so much he could do then. In an abundance of caution she felt was unnecessary, he’d insisted that she spend Friday and Sunday afternoons with her parents. She had grumbled at first, suggested going with him—and then finally relented. With Jade’s well-being taken care of for the afternoons, Harley was finally able to conduct his interviews in person.
Each family visit had gone the same way: he’d interviewed the parents, spoken with the daughters if possible, and taken DNA samples from anyone he could. He wasn’t about to rely on clues like physical resemblance to the Nolans. Genetics were a funny thing, with recessive traits playing tricks on your eyes. Just because someone did or didn’t look like their parents wasn’t enough for Harley. He wanted the DNA report in hand to prove without a doubt that they shared enough genetic markers to be parent and child.
Though if asked off the record, Harley would admit all the families he’d met with today could be eliminated. Not a single person he saw had the large doe eyes he’d fallen for back in high school. By process of elimination, that left just the elusive Steele family. He was hoping that wouldn’t be the case, but the minute Isaiah had mentioned how rich and powerful they were, Harley’s instincts had told him that was the path he needed to follow. The most difficult path, of course. To the family who hadn’t returned his calls. With the daughter who left barely any trace of her existence.
