Chapter Thirty-Six
Theo
I’m sitting at my desk at the Cage, failing to do any work at all as I think about seeing June in two hours, when Raphael walks in.
“Hey, boss,” he says, dropping into the chair across from me. “I was wondering how late church is going to be tonight? A few of us wanted to go out later.”
I give him an unimpressed, blank look. He’s not the first one to ask a version of that. None of my guys would consider missing church, not for something as trivial as Valentine’s Day, but they’ll happily try to get out early if there’s a chance of getting laid.
“It won’t be long.” If I’m honest with myself, I may cancel church so I can spend the entire evening picking June apart with my teeth, depending on how it goes when I pick her up.
“Sweet.” He doesn’t move to stand, and a flicker of hesitation crosses his face.
“What is it, Raph?”
“I just… You know that cop? The one who hires you occasionally?”
My brows pull together. “Lorry?”
“Yeah. Well…” He licks his lips as if his mouth has gone dry, then shifts in the chair, breaking eye contact. “He was here earlier. Asking about June.”
There’s a stutter in my chest. “What about June?”
“Just, you know. Who she is. How long you two have been together, that sort of thing.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing!” he quickly says. “Just that she’s your girl and y’all have been together a little over a month.”
Fuck. That could ruin my story about getting close to her for Lorry. He only came to me three weeks ago, if that. But Raph is an idiot, so it won’t be hard to explain this away as him not knowing what he’s talking about.
“And that’s all?”
Raph hesitates. I sit forward, eyes boring into him.
Finally, he says, “I didn’t think anything of it!
I know he’s been a client for a long time.
I swear, I didn’t tell him anything bad.
He just asked what she was like. I said we all really like her.
He asked how often she’s here. I started getting unsure then, so I just said a bit, ya know, like she’s here some, but I didn’t say it was all the time.
Then he asked if she partakes in club activities, and I know we’re not supposed to talk to outsiders about that shit, so I just shook my head. ”
“Okay…” I dangle the word like a noose, waiting for Raph to wrap it around his neck.
“He asked if she ever got violent. Of course, I didn’t tell him about that day she saved your life. I’d never do that, boss.”
I’d think not. “Did he ask anything else?”
Raph shakes his head. “No, no, I swear. He talked briefly to Bella, but I think she told him to fuck off, because he left in a hurry after that. I thought maybe he was just interested in the boss’s new girl. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But I dunno. It was a bit weird.”
“When was this exactly?”
“Like fifteen minutes ago, I swear.”
I lean further across the desk, letting some of the lethal darkness rise to my eyes.
“If I find out you’ve said anything more about June to anyone outside of the Saints, especially a fucking cop, I will rip the skin off your arms and hang you with it from the ceiling of the Cage so everyone can watch you die, do you understand me? ”
His Adam’s apple bobs with a swallow. He nods, pushing back as if adding a few inches of distance between us will save his life.
“Make sure everyone knows not to even breathe in Lorry’s direction.”
He nods again and scrambles up from the chair. “Yes, sir, of course.”
“Good.” I settle back, forcing myself to appear calmer than I am. “Send Bella in here.”
Raph runs out quickly. Bella saunters in minutes later and tells me that Lorry asked her about ‘the boss’s new girl,’ and she told him to fuck off if he wasn’t going to order a drink.
I believe her, and a quick look at the cameras will confirm her story.
Dismissing her, I turn back to the computer and rub my temples, wondering what the hell Lorry was thinking.
This is bad, but it’s not the end of the world. I can explain away anything Raph says.
But now it’s even more imperative that we put an end to Lorry’s investigation as soon as possible. If he’s gotten to the point that he’s asking my guys about her, then his tentative trust in me must be growing thin.
I text June to remind her I’ll be by later with her car, and she likes my message but doesn’t text back.
The next hour and a half are sheer torture. The clock moves slower than it ever has.
Finally, blissfully, I’m parking her car in front of the office. I text her first, and after waiting ten minutes, in case she still has a client, I decide to get her myself. The front door is unlocked, but the space is quiet. Her office is locked, and there’s no response when I knock.
“June?” Stepping back, I notice there’s no light coming from under the door.
With a frown, I turn to check the other doors in the office building.
All but one are shut. The open one has a black and gold nameplate.
Inside is an older man with small rectangular glasses and blonde hair.
He looks up from his desktop when I knock.
“Can I help you?” he asks.
“Have you seen June Graves today?”
His forehead wrinkles as he takes in my appearance. I try not to bristle under his scrutiny. Ever since the police wasted precious time assuming I did something to Shiloh rather than looking for the actual sick fuck who took her, it pisses me off when anyone makes assumptions.
“And you are?”
“Theo, her friend. I’m supposed to pick her up today.”
“Ms. Graves left about twenty minutes ago.” He drops his attention back to his computer, silently dismissing me.
An instinctual seed that something was wrong planted in my gut when she didn’t respond to my text. Now it feels like a quickly growing poisonous tree.
Twenty minutes? She didn’t text me. I pull out my phone and click her name, but the call goes straight to voicemail.
Hurrying back to her door, I grab the doorknob and use all my strength to break the flimsy lock and force it open.
The office is dark and empty, everything put away and organized.
Not a single book, pillow, or tissue is out of place.
Her desk computer is turned off, and there are no phones in the drawers.
Starting to panic, I call her again. Then I try James, but his phone goes to voicemail too, which would worry me if I didn't know he’s in practice. He always turns off his phone during practice. Luna is next, and she answers after two rings.
“Sup, boss?”
“Have you heard from June today?”
“I texted her earlier to ask if she was coming to church tonight, but she never replied. I figured she was busy at work. James reminded me it’s the end of the thirty days.
That doesn’t mean she’s going to stop hanging around, though, does it?
Because if you brought this badass little killer into my life just to—”
I hang up, trying June again. Voicemail. Her trackers are all off, which isn’t surprising because since the one in her wallet, she’s found anything I’ve tried planting within hours and destroyed them. The cameras I still have in her house show no movement. Neither do the ones in my house.
But Sadie… the tracker in her car flashes at her house. Maybe June decided to go there so she wouldn’t have to see me at all now that the month is over.
Almost hoping that’s the case, I find Sadie’s contact in my phone and click dial. There’s not even a full ring before she answers.
“If you’re calling for the best friend’s advice on what to get June for Valentine’s Day, then I’m sorry to inform you that you’re too late.”
“Is June there?”
“No? Why?”
“Has she called you today?”
“No…”
“So you haven’t heard from her at all?” The tree of poisonous panic has reached my lungs, vines squeezing them tight.
“Not today. Why? What’s going on?”
I turn in a circle in the office without answering. June’s not at her house or mine. Her trackers are off. Her phone is off. She hasn’t talked to Luna or Sadie. She supposedly left twenty minutes ago.
No matter what she planned to do now that our month-long deal is over, she wouldn’t just disappear like this. Not when she knows about my past.
My breaths have turned short and sharp, loud enough for Sadie to hear. It takes a moment for my ears to register that she’s nearly yelling into the phone.
“Theo Zervas! Tell me what the hell is happening! Where is June?”
I shake my head even though she can’t see me. “I don’t know. I don’t… I was supposed to pick her up from work. She’s not here.”
“Maybe she went—”
“Her car is here.” No need to tell her that I drove it here.
“Hold on, I’ll text her.”
“No point. Her phone is off.”
“ Fuck ,” she hisses. “Okay, you stay there. I’ll call the girls. Maybe I should call the cops.”
“No!” I shout. “No cops.”
“Why? If she’s missing…”
“Sadie, no.” Fuck, June can’t have more cops looking into her life.
Even to find her. I don’t think she’d be labeled a missing person; after all, it’s not a crime to run away or stop talking to your friends, and there’s no obvious threat to her life, but still.
She can’t be on their radar at all . Not when she’s already on…
“Lorry.” I don’t realize I’ve said it out loud until Sadie asks who that is. “It doesn’t matter,” I answer. I should hang up. June would kill me if I told her best friend about her bloody hobby.
“Bullshit it doesn’t matter! You tell me my best friend is missing and I can’t call the cops, and then you say some random lady’s name?”
“Lorry is a guy,” I correct automatically.
“That’s worse!”
“Look, don’t worry. I’ll figure it out. I’ll find her.”
“Fuck that. You’ve known her a couple of weeks. She’s been my best friend for years.”
“Fine! Ask Rose and Evelyn if they’ve seen her. Check with her other friends,” I say, hoping to keep Sadie busy long enough for me to figure out what the fuck is happening. “I’ll talk to the Saints and let you know what I find out.”