4. Landon
4
LANDON
“ H ey, Max.” I take a seat in the all too familiar office where I seem to spend so much of my time these days. It makes a change, dealing with Max and this security work compared to being a Navy SEAL, but I love it equally. Heading into the Navy was a logical step for me after seeing Daniel and his family making great careers for themselves there, and this was the natural progression after that. My career has kinda worked itself out for me, which is great. At thirty-two years of age, I see people with the same number of years under their belts still struggling to make ends meet. “How are things going? What do you have for me?”
“Well, I wanted to check how you’re doing first.” Max laughs. “You haven’t been back from Argentina long, and that was one hell of a job. Extracting Pablo from that drugs gang must have taken its toll on you. Are you ready for another job?”
I offer my boss a one-shouldered shrug while trying my hardest to ignore the exhaustion racing through my body. “I’m always ready, you know me. Plus, while getting Pablo out was hard, it was made easier knowing that it was the right thing to do. His circumstances led him down that path, he didn’t want to be there, and he was in over his head. Poor guy would have ended up killed had he not gotten in touch with us. Now, he’s set up and about to become a model citizen, I’m sure.”
That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Making the world a better place, making a difference. That’s what I saw from living with Daniel and his family. There were all about doing something meaningful and making the world safer, which is something I’ve always admired greatly and love to emulate. Because I’ve never been able to control my parents and the shit that they apparently enjoy bringing into the world, I try to counteract that by being a much better person, by helping, not hindering.
“True, true.” Max nods carefully. “I wouldn’t have allowed you to put yourself in danger had I not thought that Pablo would go on to do great things. I’ll keep an eye on him now to ensure that he does and is out of harm’s way the whole time. But, that’s for me to worry about, not you. For you, I wanted to talk about an assignment that I think you will be perfect for.”
I sit up straighter in my seat, feeling a smile already starting to creep on my face. Maybe other people wouldn’t be so keen to throw themselves into danger to help strangers, but I feel pumped and excited. I can’t wait to get my teeth into a juicy new case and to find a way to solve it. It gives me an adrenaline rush like no other, which is probably why I’m such a workaholic.
“What do you have?” I demand. “Whatever it is, I’m ready for it. You know me. Always ready for action.”
“Well, this morning, I had a call from a cop.” I raise an eyebrow in surprise, which causes Max to laugh. We don’t often get contacted by the police for our help. “I know, I know, but apparently, he’s a high-profile cop and he fears that this is all linked to him. By getting other police officers involved, he’s concerned about making this whole situation a lot worse.”
“What situation?” I’m intrigued now. This is very mysterious, unlike anything I’ve worked on before, or so it seems.
“His daughter is a journalist for the local newspaper where they live. Lola Rose, she goes by. She was last known to be interviewing criminals for a story, which unfortunately due to low budgets, she did alone, and now she has gone missing. This police officer told me that she hasn’t been gone for long enough to file a missing person’s report anyway, but he knows deep in his gut that something is wrong. He never struggles to get ahold of her, but now he is. She’s not picking up.”
“And he doesn’t think that Lola might just be busy?” I laugh awkwardly. “It seems a bit extreme to me. She might just want some peace from him or something. She might just be chilling out without Daddy breathing down her neck.”
“You ever had a gut feeling?” Max knots his eyebrows together. “Because often, they’re right and we ignore them.”
Shit, now isn’t that the truth? The last time I had a gut-wrenching sensation was over a decade ago when my life was completely turned upside-down in the worst way possible. I couldn’t ignore that even if I wanted to, but it turned out to be correct. Maybe I shouldn’t be quite as dismissive about this guy as I’ve been. The cop could know what he’s doing.
“Okay, so you want me to go and check out where she was last seen? See what I can figure out? See if she’s still there?”
“I do,” Max agrees. “And this is an apartment block where a lot of criminals live when they’re supposedly trying to get their lives back on track because of the cheap rent, so you might have to dig deep. The cop can’t go himself because he arrested a lot of these assholes in his time, and again, he doesn’t want to make things worse. His daughter’s life is at stake.”
“Sure, of course.” I feel a lot more somber now. This could be some serious shit here. “I’ll see what I can find out. I’ll be discrete too. If this cop is worried, then we don’t want word to get out that he’s looking for his kid. It’ll get every crackpot asshole out demanding ransom money or whatever. Especially if he’s arrested them and they hate his guts.”
“Yes, and here is the address.” Max keeps his eyes fixed on me as he hands me the paper. At first, I don’t understand why he’s acting so weirdly… until my eyes read the words on the page and my heart sinks. “Will this be alright with you?”
“This is the area that my dad was in last,” I whisper. “You don’t think he could have a part in this, do you?”
Max is the only person who knows that I’m not Landon Cooper, who I pretend to be using my cousin’s surname. He knows that Bill and Alice Ross are my criminal parents. He has even helped me to keep track of where they are because as much as I don’t want to see them, I want to know what the fuck is going on in their messed-up lives. My mother is still in jail for a string of robberies that she was a part of, but my father is out for the moment and known to be in this exact area.
“I think that could be his apartment block,” Max replies quietly. “So, if this is too much for you, I understand. But I also think that your father might be able to help you solve this. He might talk to you more than he will anyone else, and if he knows anything, then we could be able to save this young journalist’s life. You know your father wants to be in touch with you.”
“I do, but I’m pretty sure that’s just desperation and a need for money.” I sigh heavily, knowing that I’ll have to push my own family shit to one side for the moment to help others. Damn my need to make the world a better place. “But I suppose if I can use that to my advantage, then I should, shouldn’t I? I’ll see what I can find. Oh, do you have any details about this woman?”
“I don’t have much,” Max admits. “The cop was a little vague since he’s still trying to keep this all under wraps, but he’s paid up front so I know he’s good for whatever we do. She has dark hair, blue eyes, and a couple of tattoos. I’m sure she will stand out from the rest of the scum in that place. If you have any issues, though, just give me a call, okay?”
I nod, knowing that I’m very unlikely to do that. I much prefer to do things alone. It’s how I work best, but I guess it’s good to know that I always have backup should I need it. Especially since this is going to be my father I’m dealing with. I don’t know what version of him I’m going to be getting right now, but it won’t be a good one. It never is. My leaving home seemed to be a catalyst for my parents too, but it sent them down a bad path rather than along a good one. Fucking shame.
I can’t stop myself from feeling resentful that they cared more about living their hedonistic lives than being parents, but I suppose it worked out okay for me career-wise. At least I escaped into the military before anything crazy could happen.
“I’m going to go over there right away.” A surge of determination flows right through me. “I’m going to get this sorted now.”
And if I have to finally confront my father after all these years at the same time, then so be it. I can kill two birds with one stone. Now, I’m the one with a strange sensation in my gut, one that I just know is correct, but it’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I have to be. I don’t have the option to break down right now. That isn’t going to work. Not a chance in hell.
I wasn’t expecting this today, I have to admit. I didn’t need much rest after the Argentina debacle, but I might have considered a time-out if I had known that I would be heading straight into the lion’s den today. I wouldn’t have raced to the office this morning all excited to get started. I would have taken the time to work out what’s for the best.
But I’m here now. This is happening, so I might as well get on with it and see where I end up. I leave the office with a confident swagger and stroll to my car like I don’t have anything to worry about in the world. I don’t want anyone to see that I’m freaking out because the past has caught up with me at long last. No one needs to know about that. I don’t want anyone I work with to know anything about the reality that I’ve lived in my whole life. I’m not that person. I’m not burdened with that shit, and I don’t want things to change now. Just because Bill has cropped back up again and shown his ugly face, it doesn’t change who I am and what I’ve built for myself.
There’s a reason that I’ve always hidden the truth about my identity ever since I walked out of my parents’ house at eighteen years old, and that’s because I never wanted to get mixed in with their nonsense. I never wanted to be tarnished with the same brush. People thought that I would go the same way as my family, and I was determined not to, so I totally went the opposite way with everything. But I guess there is only so long that you can avoid the inevitable, and it’s finally here. For a little while, at least, I’m about to accept my fate as Landon Ross for a while. I just hope this Lola Rose chick is easy to find and save because the less time I spend mixed up in this job, the better, as far as I’m concerned.