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“Jumped on your bike as soon as you knew Rachel hadn’t found her, drove two hours to her house, and are standing on her porch. If that doesn’t tell you how you feel about her, then you’re dumber than I thought you were.”
A grin tugged at my lips when I heard the teasing in his tone, but he wasn’t wrong. “Just don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“Don’t want anything to happen to her, you file a missing person’s report with the police. You don’t organize a one-man search and rescue.” When he inhaled, I knew he was smoking. “You admit how you feel, shit’ll go a lot easier.”
Wanting the attention off myself, I pointed out what was obvious to me. “You sure you aren’t talking about yourself?”
“What do you mean?”
“You got somethin’ going on with Rachel?”
“Nah, we just have some shit in common, that’s all. Besides, she’s got a boyfriend, and I don’t share. You know that, brother.”
I did know that. Ritz might date a lot of women, but only one at a time, and she had to be single. I never saw him break his own rules, and I doubt I ever will.
“Shit,” he cursed. “Rachel’s calling me. I’ll call you right back.”
Jamming my phone into the pocket of my jeans, I pulled a small tool from my other pocket and got to work on her front door lock. I shook my head when I easily unlocked her front door. She should have a better lock on this door, and as soon as I saw her, I would tell her that.
The idea that I may never see her again tore through my mind and caused a pain in my chest that I couldn’t explain. Or maybe I didn’t want to. Ritz was right about one thing. She’d gotten under my skin. I panicked when I heard Rachel couldn’t find her, and very few people could rattle me like that.
Pushing open her door, I stepped inside and was immediately hit with her scent. After turning on the lights, I quickly moved through her space, noting that everything was how we left it on Friday. My military training made me observant, so I didn’t usually miss much. I’d know if something was out of place or missing. I just had to keep my cool while I scoured her townhouse because I’d never forgive myself if I missed something important.
When my phone rang, I yanked it from my pocket, hit accept, and put it to my ear without looking. I assumed it was Ritz calling me back until I heard the voice on the other end.
“Anything?” Bear asked.
I ran my hand over my beard while I walked up the stairs. “Nothin’ yet. Ritz is talking to Rachel, and she said she can’t find her. I’m in her house right now, brother, and there are no signs she ever came back here. Her bags aren’t here, and the shoes she had on aren’t by the door.”
“Dammit,” Bear cursed, and I heard a soft voice that sounded distant.
I knew he was talking to Josie when it was obvious he moved the phone away from him and replied, “Nothing.”
“Rachel have any idea where she’d go?”
“None,” I answered while I searched her bathroom. None of the girly shit I’d seen in my bathroom over the weekend had been put back.
“We’re gonna need some help.”
I was afraid he was going to say that. We had no idea what happened and no way of finding out without knocking on every fucking door between here and the clubhouse, which was impossible. “Who are you thinking?”
“Maybe Kyle.”
“With Elite?” I asked, curious as to why he would use him. Kyle was an IT expert who worked for Elite Securities, a private security company in New Hope. We’d used them before, but not very often, and we’d only used Kyle to help track down money trails or tap into people’s phones, shit like that. We’d had some enemies over the years, and unfortunately, we hadn’t always been able to track them without Elite’s help.
“Yeah. I’m wondering if he can tap into the city’s cameras. I know they have them in New Hope, especially at intersections. I’m assuming if New Hope has them, most places would.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “That’s a good idea.”
He snorted. “It was Josie’s, actually.”
“How the hell did she think of that?”
“She ran a red light one time in New Hope, by mistake she says.” I heard Josie’s voice, and he chuckled before continuing. “Anyway, they found her by taking a picture of her plate and calling her.”
“They ticket her?”
“No. Let her off with a warning, but still good to know they’re watching.”
