Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
M att pulled into an open space along the street, put his truck in Park, and cut the engine. A glance at the dash showed he was twenty minutes early. Gavin was meeting with Quinn this morning to go over a couple of their upcoming cases, and he’d asked Matt to sit in.
The two men had been friends long before Matt’s arrival in town, and Gavin tried to keep Quinn in the loop on cases that directly involved Hudson Island. Gavin claimed it was out of professional courtesy. Matt figured the true motivation was staying on the sheriff’s good side in case Hudson Security stirred up shit for the island.
Matt glanced down the street, and when his gaze landed on Ray’s Diner, he smiled, thoughts drifting to the past weekend. It had been... different. That was for damn sure.
He rarely had people over to his place, and when he did, it was either Cade, Four, or his brother. He’d been enjoying his solitude this past year—he winced. Enjoying was a bit of a stretch. Regardless, he’d grown accustomed to his house being quiet. If he wanted noise, he went to the gym or Monty’s Tavern.
However, with Scarlet and Daisy staying over, it had been anything but quiet. Not that they were obnoxiously loud or anything. They just went about their lives, filling his home with the sounds of children’s television shows, padding feet, and joyful laughter. It was a good kind of different.
The junk food–fueled movie night on Saturday had been great. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d indulged like that. Definitely not any time this past year, and not even when he’d been married. High school maybe?
Similarly, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d stepped foot on a playground. But yesterday had been a good time. He’d enjoyed spending the morning with Daisy. And part of him had taken pride in the fact that she wasn’t shy with him—but she was with Four. And Mrs. Abbot, Mrs. Yoshida, and Mrs. Green. The only other person Daisy had interacted with at the diner was Martha, but the woman was practically her grandmother. Or was it great-grandmother? Didn’t matter. What did matter was that Daisy felt safe with him. It filled his damn heart.
While eating lunch at Ray’s, Scarlet had updated everyone on the break-in and the upcoming repairs to her apartment. When she’d mentioned that the final repairs were still two to three weeks out, Matt had told her that she and Daisy were welcome to stay as long as they needed. She’d worried aloud about them being an imposition, but he’d simply stated that they weren’t. That there was more than enough space for them.
For the rest of their meal, Matt had done his best to ignore the stares and sly grins sent his way by the gossip train ladies.
If he were being completely honest with himself, he would admit he’d just had the best weekend in... Shit, he didn’t even know. But a fucking long time. Being with Scarlet and Daisy was so relaxing, so normal, so fucking comfortable... like it’s what they had always done.
It worried him, though. Because he really liked having them in his home, in his space, and it was getting harder and harder to imagine them leaving.
This morning, when they’d gotten ready for work? Yeah, they’d bumped into each other a couple of times in the kitchen—he’d gone for the drawer to get a spoon while she’d reached into a cabinet for a glass—but it had been nice. And he certainly hadn’t minded grabbing on to her slim waist to balance her. Not one bit.
Then, on their way out the door, when Scarlet had shot him that shy smile and Daisy had called out, “Bye, Matty!” his heart had just about stopped.
Yeah, he was in trouble.
Matt blew out a noisy breath and glanced at the clock on the dash again. Still fifteen minutes until his meeting with Gavin and Quinn. Enough time to call someone and hash this out, but... that wasn’t what he did. For better or worse, he’d never been one to talk about his feelings and shit. Even with his therapist, he usually relayed the bare minimum.
No, he preferred to hit the gym and pound on a heavy bag instead. Or spar with some guy who wanted to take his head off. It wasn’t exactly the healthiest way to handle his feelings—or not handle his feelings—but it’s what he knew.
However, there was one person he knew he could always count on. Granted, he could count on Cade, too. But there truly was only one person who Matt swore could read his damn thoughts.
His phone rang, and he answered without looking at the display. It wasn’t necessary. “It seems our twin-telepathy shit is alive and well.”
“How ya doing, big brother?”
Matt chuckled. As in shape as he was—and he was in damn good shape—he still didn’t hold a candle to his “little” brother. They were identical twins, and Matt was eight minutes the elder, but Jake was definitely the bigger guy. “I’m doing okay. You?”
“Cut the shit, bro. What’s going on?”
He grinned. Yup, just like Jake to get to the point. “I’ve got fifteen minutes to kill before I need to head into a meeting, and I’m sitting in my damn truck thinking about the best fucking weekend I’ve had in forever.”
Jake whistled long and low. “I’m intrigued. Spill.”
Letting out a breath, he told his brother about Scarlet and Daisy. About being tongue-tied. About the break-in. About their breakfasts and visiting the cats and watching movies with M&M popcorn and playing at the playground. He ended with their very public lunch at the diner, and when he finished speaking, Jake remained quiet.
“Shit,” Matt groaned. “I bored you to fucking death, didn’t I?”
“Don’t be stupid. It’s just I . . .”
His eyes narrowed at the hesitancy in his brother’s voice. “You what?”
“You just sound... happy.” Jake cleared his throat. “I haven’t heard you sound like this in a really long fucking time, bro. You know I’m the sappier of the two of us, so you gotta give me a minute.” It was his brother’s turn to blow out a breath. “Carm and I have been so damn worried about you. You don’t understand what a relief it is to hear some excitement in your voice.”
Matt closed his eyes. He knew he’d been struggling this past year. Getting shot, being away from the force, and then the clusterfuck of his divorce... Life had been rough. He just hadn’t realized how much his misery had affected those around him. His throat grew tight. “I’m sorry, little brother. I didn’t know that?—”
“No, Matt. There’s nothing for you to apologize for. I’m just so damn thrilled to hear you happy. So what’s the problem?”
His forehead scrunched. “Why do you think there’s a problem?”
“Our twin-telepathy shit, remember? So, again, what’s the problem?”
“Scarlet,” he said in a growl.
“The same Scarlet whose name sounds like fucking rainbows shooting out of your mouth when you talk about her? That Scarlet?”
He chuckled. He couldn’t help it. “Yes, asshole, that Scarlet.”
“Aaand?”
“And she’s young. A lot younger than me.”
“Holy shit, Matt. Is she legal?”
He scoffed. “Fuck you, dude. Of course she’s legal.” Barely. Fuck!
“How old is she? And how old’s her daughter?”
“She’s twenty-three. Daisy’s four.”
“Well...” Matt could practically hear Jake’s grimace. “I mean, it could be worse. Twenty-three is young, but she could be, like, nineteen.”
Matt sighed and dropped his head against the headrest. “Not helping, man.”
Jake laughed. “Dude, I’m just fucking with you. Look, you and I both know that age does not determine maturity. It doesn’t determine how kind someone is or whether you’re compatible with them. She’s an adult. You’re an adult. Period. Are you attracted to her?”
“Yeah.” Attracted was an inadequate word for how drawn he felt to her. She was fucking beautiful, but truthfully, it wasn’t just her looks that pulled him in. She was so much more than her appearance...
“Okay, then. So she’s young. But you know what, big bro? I like how you sound when you talk about her. That is what matters to me.”
That’s what was beginning to matter to him, too. Still... “She has her whole damn life in front of her, Jake. Why the hell would she want to saddle herself with a fucking forty-year-old divorced guy?”
Jake scoffed. “Because you’re all washed-up and decrepit?”
He rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I take it nothing has happened between the two of you yet?”
Matt scowled. “I invited her and Daisy to stay with me so they have a safe place to live while their apartment is getting repaired. Not to take advantage of Scarlet. I’m not a complete asshole, Jake.”
“You’re right. You’re just a little bit of an asshole. Kidding. Kinda.” Jake chuckled. “So, have you at least asked her out, then?”
Matt said nothing.
His brother heaved out a sigh. A sigh Matt was very familiar with. It meant you’re a complete moron . “You know what one of the most important things I’ve learned from Carmen is?”
“She’s way smarter than you, so it could be any number of things.”
Jake snorted. “You’re not wrong. But the most important thing I’ve learned is that I don’t know shit.”
“I could have told you that.”
Jake continued as if Matt hadn’t spoken, “Particularly about anything having to do with women. So, my advice is to talk to Scarlet. Be a fucking adult and ask her if she’d be interested in going on a date with you.”
Matt opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Damn. His brother’s advice was so much easier said than done.
“Look, man, I don’t know what went down with you and Krista... but I have my theories.”
Matt blocked out the hurt and bitterness that swelled at the mention of his ex-wife’s name. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. But guess what? Not every woman is like Krista. And from what you’ve told me about Scarlet, she’s nice. She’s a good person, right?”
“She is.” He had no doubts about that.
“So be honest with her.”
Matt ran a hand over his jaw. Again, so simple. Yet... not. “Thanks, little bro.”
“Always. By the way, Carmen and I are heading to the island either next weekend or the one after. We’re waiting for a couple calendar things to set before deciding. Carm wants to stay at the resort, so you don’t have to worry about us being in your hair.”
His lips quirked. “It’s your house, dude.”
“Whatever. But I want to meet Scarlet and Daisy. Make it happen, okay?”
“What exactly am I making happen?” Matt asked, arching an eyebrow even though his brother couldn’t see it.
Jake snickered. “At this point? Anything. This overanalyzing bullshit you’re doing is stupid. So stop it and man the fuck up. Oh, and on a random full-transparency kind of note, I’m setting up a meeting with Gavin when I’m in town. He’s interested in these new cameras I came up with.”
Matt grinned. His brother—bless him—was a bona fide nerd. A workaholic, brilliant-in-all-things-tech nerd, to be exact. The man ran a gaming empire, was a co-owner of a wildly successful Irish pub in Seattle, and in his limited downtime, he loved to tinker with shit and had designed an entire line of miniscule superspy-type cameras. Jake was fucking awesome.
“Speak of the devil,” Matt said as he saw Gavin walking down the sidewalk. “I have a meeting with the guy now, so I gotta go.”
“Cool. I’ll catch you later, bro.”
“Hey!” he called out before Jake could hang up. “Thanks for checking in, man. I didn’t realize how much I needed to talk to you today. Give Carm my love.”
“Will do. Love ya, bro.”
Climbing out of his truck, a sense of calm, of rightness, settled over him. He was so damn glad he’d spoken with his brother. Jake had a way of putting things into perspective, and he loved the guy more than words could express.
He pocketed his phone and walked across the street to where Gavin waited for him. Greeting the man with a chin lift, he fell in stride as they turned the corner toward the sheriff’s department.
“How was your weekend?” Gavin asked. “Are Scarlet and Daisy doing—” He held up a hand as he brought his ringing phone to his ear. After answering, the troubled look on his face had Matt’s gut tightening. “Okay. We’ll be right there.”
Gavin hung up, then spun around and headed in the direction from which they’d come. Matt kept up, unease building with each hurried step.
“That was Martha,” Gavin said, voice low. “She says something’s going on at the diner and we need to come in and act like regular customers.”
Matt’s stomach dropped. Shit. Scarlet was working this morning...
Picking up their pace, they walked through the front door of Ray’s Diner in less than a minute.
“Well, hello, you two,” Martha called out, waving them over to where she stood on the opposite side of the diner. “I have your usual table ready for you.”
The hairs on the back of Matt’s neck rose. They didn’t have a usual table. But he kept his expression neutral and followed Gavin to the booth along the far window.
Martha seated them with a tight smile. “Be right back with your usuals, boys.”
She returned moments later, placing a large omelet in front of Matt and a breakfast-sandwich-and-hash-brown combo in front of Gavin. Neither were their usuals. The older woman remained standing at the end of their booth, and Matt studied her.
Martha was beautifully round. Her dark-brown eyes always twinkled with mischief, and her heart-shaped face was usually filled with laugh lines. But not today. Today, tension emanated from her frame, and deep, worried grooves cut the planes of her face.
She caught Matt’s gaze, and her eyes widened the smallest amount as they darted to the man seated at the table behind her. “Enjoy your food now. I’ll be back to check on you soon.”
“Thank you, Martha,” Matt said, nodding.
“You’re very welcome.” She turned and moved on to the man she’d indicated.
After years as a detective, it had become second nature for Matt to memorize the details of his surroundings. As such, he’d noted all the patrons upon entering the diner. But nothing special had stood out about the man Martha now served.
White male. Mid-thirties to late-forties. Blue eyes and closely cropped, borderline buzz-cut light-brown hair. Though the guy was sitting, Matt pegged him to be roughly six feet tall and around two-twenty. He’d been in shape at some point but had since gone soft, and he had the look of someone who hadn’t lived an easy life.
The dingy white T-shirt he wore showed off the shitty tattoos on his right forearm. Well-worn jeans and scuffed black motorcycle boots completed his attire. He was clean-shaven, but Matt would bet his life savings that the guy had recently sported a full beard. The tan lines on his face were a dead giveaway.
In a tone that was a million times more casual than he felt, Matt said to Gavin, “Man, I’m starving. Chow down. Then we’ll talk.”
Gavin grabbed his fork and scooped up some hash browns, but he didn’t eat.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Martha said to the man, handing him back a photo. “I don’t recognize the girl. We’ve had a number of different waitresses over the last few years, but none that look like her. I can show my husband if you want, but his memory’s not so great these days.”
Matt caught Gavin’s stare and knew the hard look on his friend’s face matched his own. Ray’s Diner had not had a number of different waitresses over the last few years. Aside from Scarlet, the six other members of the waitstaff had been employed here for years, some for decades. As for her comment about Ray? Eighty-plus years and all, the man’s mind remained a steel trap.
“Are you sure?” the man asked, waving the photo. “This was taken seven or eight years ago, so she’d be in her early twenties now. She’s blond in the photo, but she used to change her hair color a lot.”
“No, sorry,” Martha said. “She looks like a sweet girl, though. I hope you find her.”
“You’re sure you haven’t had anyone working here that looks like her? Five-two? Petite?”
Matt’s eyes tore across the restaurant, but there was no sign of Scarlet. Who stood five-two and had black hair liberally streaked with pink, teal, and purple.
What the hell does this fucker want?
“Well, of course I have a petite little waitress who works here.” Martha chuckled, taking the man’s empty plate. “But I’ve known little Scarlet since she was an itty-bitty girl.”
The hairs on Matt’s arms rose. Another bald-faced lie.
“Are there other diners on the island?” Frustration laced the man’s tone.
Martha shook her head. “Not on Hudson. However, I know there are dozens over on Whidbey Island next door.”
The man frowned. “Is Whidbey the same size as this island?”
“Lord no!” Martha chortled. “Whidbey’s easily three, maybe four times the size of little ole Hudson. Like I said, they have dozens of diners. Your best bets on the south end would be in Clinton and Langley, then Coupeville in the middle of the island. If you head north, there are a bunch in Oak Harbor by the naval station.” She pointed at the photo. “You’ll probably have better luck over there, though it will probably take a while since Whidbey’s so big.”
Rising from his table, the man grumbled something Matt couldn’t hear but had Martha nodding. He stuffed some bills in the guest check holder and handed it to her. “Thanks. Keep the change.”
“Safe travels,” she called out after him.
The instant the front door closed behind the man, Martha returned to their booth. Concern strained her features.
“Where is she?” Matt demanded.
Martha motioned with her head. “In the back. The guy sat in her section, but she was on break in the office, talking with the bank. Paula was covering the table and said the guy showed her the photo and started asking a bunch of questions. She said he made her twitchy. And that the photo kind of resembled Scarlet, so she came and got me. I told Scarlet to stay in the back and took over her table just in case. Then I saw the two of you walking down the street, so I called Hudson Security’s main number, and they patched me through.” She patted Gavin’s shoulder.
“What exactly was the photo of?” Matt asked.
Martha pressed her lips into a tight line, and her eyes filled. “My little teenage Scarlet all gussied up. Sitting and carrying on with a bunch of older biker men. She was bleached blond, heavy makeup, and all leather and denim, like a mini biker hussy.” Her sigh was sad. “If that man was right and that photo was taken when he said it was, she couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen.”
Matt’s stomach soured at the thought. Bikers and teenage girls were a dangerous combination. And always to the detriment of the girls. Shaking his head, he tried to picture Scarlet in that situation, that kind of life. It was difficult to fathom. The woman he knew was too kindhearted for that lifestyle. Then again, she’d told him nothing about her past.
Matt took Martha’s fidgeting hand in his and squeezed. “Thank you, Martha.” He glanced at Gavin. “I need to check on Scar.”
“Hang on,” Martha said, looking around. She let go of his hand and slid into the booth next to Gavin, forcing the man to scoot farther in. Lowering her voice, she said, “We have security cameras. I don’t think they’re anything fancy because you know Ray doesn’t like to spend money on that kind of thing, but if you need to take a look at them to do all that... stuff your group does, just let me know. I don’t know how to work any of it, but Paula can show you.”
“Thank you. I’ll take a look.” Gavin nodded to Matt. “Go. I’ll call Quinn and?—”
Matt didn’t wait to hear the rest of what Gavin said. He assumed his friend would take care of shit because that’s what the man did. His priority was Scarlet. Making sure she was okay.
Knocking twice on the closed office door, he opened it and stepped inside.
Scarlet, who’d been seated at the desk, shot to her feet. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know, Scar,” he said, shutting the door behind him.
“Why did Martha want me to stay back here? Did something happen out there?” Her brown eyes were terrified, and she was trembling.
He crossed the room in three strides and pulled her into his arms. She melted against him. The feel of her quaking limbs hurt his heart.
“What’s going on, Matt? Please tell me.”
Guiding Scarlet to the office’s small couch, he sat and pulled her to sit beside him, wrapping an arm over her slim shoulders. “Someone was looking for you.”
She went utterly still, and the blood drained from her face. Her sudden gray pallor told Matt what he’d already known: something was terribly wrong.
He ran a hand up and down her spine. “A guy was showing an old photo around, asking if anyone recognized the girl in it. Paula told Martha it resembled you, and Martha was certain it was you when she saw it.”
Scarlet gasped and moved to stand, but he placed both hands on her shoulders, stopping her. He pulled her against his chest, holding her in place. “Sweetheart, they both told him the girl in the photo didn’t look familiar. They said they didn’t recognize her at all. Breathe, Scar.” He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “You gotta breathe, sweetheart.”
She sucked in a breath and pulled slightly away to look at him. The fear and uncertainty in her dark-brown gaze shredded him. Before his very eyes, her trembling intensified. He vowed to put a stop to whoever it was that made her this scared. No matter what it took.
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” she whispered.
He ran a hand along her back again. “We’ll figure it out. I promise.”
She covered her face and shook her head. “No, you don’t understand...”
Dread curled in his belly. “Then tell me, sweetheart. I can help you. Gavin and our entire crew at Hudson Security have your back. But what is it that I don’t understand?”
Dropping her hands, she locked her gaze on her lap.
Matt tilted her chin up with his finger and waited until she looked at him. “Scarlet, what don’t I understand?”
She went silent for so long, he wasn’t sure she’d even heard him.
Shaking her head, her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away. “How could they have found me?”