Chapter Twenty – Kian
Kian
“Kian! Kian!”
I’d seen Betty Lou as soon as I walked out of the Timeless Cup Coffee shop. The only problem was, she had seen me as well.
“Kian!”
I rolled my eyes and tried to decide if I should speed up and ignore her, or just get it over with. When I saw Jayme walking toward me, though, my decision was made. I’d spent enough time around my ex from high school when I first met Cadie. Turning, I smiled at the older woman. She might be the town gossip, but at least she wasn’t Jayme, and that was all I cared about.
“Betty Lou, how are you doing?” I asked as I walked toward her. She leaned against the brick building of the coffee shop and dragged in a few breaths.
“I thought I was going to have to run to catch up to you.”
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you,” I said with a fake smile.
Jayme walked by and stopped. “What a pleasant surprise to see you, Kian.”
I raised a brow. “Really? I’ve been back home for a while now and you saw me at the bakery my first day home. ”
Her cheeks turned red, and I had a strong sensation it was out of anger and not embarrassment. “Right, well, it’s good seeing you…again.”
Her eyes darted over to Betty Lou, who was still trying to catch her breath. “So are you going to the Moose Jam Festival—”
“With Cadie!” Betty Lou quickly added, causing Jayme to shoot her a dirty look. “Really, Betty Lou?”
I narrowed my eyes at both women. “Yes, I’ll be there.”
“With Cadie?” both women asked at the same time.
Was it possible that Jayme was striving to become the next town gossip and take Betty Lou down from her throne? I decided to have a bit of fun. After all, wasn’t being a writer all about procrastination anyway? Got words to write? Go get a coffee in town. Need to hit a goal count, stand and talk to the town gossips for a spell.
“Cadie?” I asked.
Jayme looked at Betty Lou who looked at me.
Letting out a sigh, Jayme focused on me once again. “Yes, Cadie.”
“Am I going to the festival with Cadie? Like, as in, a date?”
Betty Lou smiled. “Well, you are dating her, aren’t you?”
“I was going to ask that!” Jayme stated, her hands instantly going to her hips.
With a triumphant smile, Betty Lou replied, “You should ask faster, then.”
It was my turn to raise my brows. When both women focused their attention back on me, I had to bite back a laugh.
“So?” Jayme prompted.
“I’m sorry, what did you ask? ”
She sighed. “Are you taking Cadie with you to the festival?”
“Cadie?” I asked again.
“For the love of all things,” Betty Lou said as she moved and pushed Jayme back some when she bumped into her shoulder. “Let me show you how it’s done.”
“Kian, are you taking your girlfriend, Cadie, who works at the bakery since it appears your mind is not working this morning, to the Moose Jam Festival. Inquiring minds want to know and I,” she glanced over her shoulder to Jayme, “have inquiring minds who are asking.”
I raised a brow. “Inquiring minds, huh?”
“Stop answering with a question!” Jayme cried out. It caused multiple people to turn and look at us.
“Yes, ladies, I am going to the Moose Jam festival, and yes, Cadie, my girlfriend, is going with me.”
Betty Lou smiled as Jayme crossed her arms over her chest. “She doesn’t seem like your type.”
I bit back a laugh. “And you would know my type how?”
“We dated, if you have forgotten.”
Betty Lou piped in. “No one has forgotten, dear, you remind everyone all the time.”
That time I did laugh. I hadn’t really realized how much I had missed this crazy town. “We dated when we were in high school. That was a long time ago. I’m pretty sure we’ve both changed quite a bit since then.”
“You’d be surprised,” Betty Lou stated, somewhat under her breath.
“Betty Lou, do you mind?” Jayme nearly shouted.
“I don’t, not at all. ”
Facing Betty Lou, Jayme pointed to her. “You think you’re the only one who can spread a story? Well, let me tell you, I can do just as good…if not better…than you.”
Betty Lou put her hand to her chest. “Are you calling me a gossip?”
My mouth fell open. Had she really just asked that?
I felt someone tug on my hand and looked to see that it was Harper Browning, one of the daughters of the town’s mayor.
I was quickly pulled into Crazy Daisies Flower Shop, owned by none other than Harper herself.
“Thanks,” I said as I glanced over my shoulder to see the two women still arguing.
Harper laughed. “I saw you trapped and figured you needed a rescue, stat.”
I chuckled and faced my savior once again. Harper was a cute girl; well, she wasn’t a girl any longer. She was around my age; actually, a couple years younger. We had gone to high school at the same time, but she was a few grades behind me. Her dark brown hair was almost black, and now cut to her shoulders. She used to always wear it long and pulled back into a ponytail from what I could remember. She’d also lost a good amount of weight, nearly fifty pounds from what Macy had told me a few years back, and had started dating Sean Gallagher, if I was remembering right. Opal told me once that everyone was waiting for Sean to put a ring on her finger. At any rate, she had grown into a lovely young woman, and I was happy to see her following her dreams of taking over her mother’s store.
“You would be right. Do you know they are fighting about calling each other gossips? ”
Looking past me to the two women, who only now realized I was gone, she smiled. “Jayme is trying to de-throne Betty Lou, who is not ready to give up the title of town gossip yet.”
With a shake of my head, I pulled my gaze off the women and looked at Harper. “That’s messed up.”
She laughed. “It is.”
I glanced around the flower shop. The walls of the shop were the exposed brick of the building. The furniture was all white vintage pieces. A large wooden table sat in the middle of the shop and held flowers, along with other items that were sold in the store. Frames, books, flowerpots, even jewelry. Along one wall was a large church pew that had been painted white and made to look old. It held flowers, of course, along with a few blankets. Scattered throughout the store were vintage suitcases that held, you guessed it, flowers. It was mostly a flower shop, but there were other items for sale as well, giving it a cozy feel instead of just having flowers for purchase.
“Wow, Harp, I haven’t been in here in a number of years, you’ve really changed it up. I like what you’ve done.”
She looked around the flower shop and smiled. Her mother had given it over to Harper when she decided to retire. She wasn’t really retired though. She helped run the visitor center in town to welcome the tourists.
“Thank you. It’s been a work in progress. I love going hunting for old vintage furniture and redoing it for the shop. That’s my latest piece,” she said, pointing to a piece of furniture. “I found it at an estate sale a few months ago. It’s a dresser, but it’s long and the drawers are different sizes, which makes it unique. ”
We both looked at the piece. “I don’t think that’s a dresser, Harp. It looks like it might have been in an old apothecary shop.”
She gasped. “Do you think?”
I nodded and took a drink of my coffee. “I do.”
“That makes it even more fun!” she said as she walked over and adjusted some flowery notepads that were on display.
“So, are you still dating Sean?”
She spun around and nearly knocked me over with the death glare she was sending me. “Hell no!”
I held up my hands in defense. Well, the best I could since I was still holding hot coffee. “Sorry! When did that end?”
Rolling her eyes, Harper replied, “A month ago.”
“You guys dated for a long time, if I remember.”
“Over four years,” she replied.
I let out a whistle. “That’s definitely a long time.”
“Yeah, it was a long, wasted four years. Sean had his own dreams, and they didn’t include me.”
“I’m sorry, Harp.”
She shrugged. “Don’t be. It honestly wasn’t a surprise. We had grown apart the last year.”
“Is his brother Declan still in the Marines?” I asked as I walked over and looked at some kind of purple rose. Can’t say I had ever seen purple roses before.
“He is. I don’t even know when the last time he was home. It’s been at least since I started dating Sean.”
I looked up. “Are you serious?”
She nodded. “Yep.”
“Wow. That’s a long time. I’m really happy for you, Harp. You’ve done a great job with the flower shop. ”
She beamed. “Thank you. And welcome home. I hear you made a career change.”
“That I did.”
My phone started to ring, and I pulled it out to see it was Opal. “Excuse me, Harper, while I take this call.” She just waved her hand at me, like go ahead. “Hey, Aunt Opal, I was just heading to the bakery.”
“Kian, is Cadie with you?”
“No, she should be there, at the bakery. She told me she was going in later this morning.”
“She was supposed to be here at ten, but I haven’t heard from her, and I’m getting worried,” Opal said.
I nearly dropped the coffee I was holding as I rushed out of the flower shop. “Have you called her cell?”
“Yes, it goes directly to voicemail.”
“Did you call Mark?”
“What? Why in the world would I call Mark?” Opal asked, confused.
Dropping the coffee into a trash can, I started to run down Main Street, a million scenarios running through my mind. “I’ll call you right back.”
Hitting End, I pulled up my brother’s number and hit it.
“Hello?”
“Do your guys have eyes on Cadie?”
I heard a door shut. “What do you mean? The guys should, why?”
“I know you told me you had to leave for DC, are you still there, Mark?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck, when are you coming back?”
“I have a job, Kian. This may sound hard to believe, but it isn’t watching Cadie all the time. That’s why the FBI agents are posted next door. She has a tracker on her car as well. I’m texting the team to see if she has left the house.”
“She was supposed to be at work over an hour ago. I know you said to stay at the main house, but she’s been staying with me at the guest house, and I left before she did. I was up at the house helping Sally with something.”
“Fuck,” Mark mumbled. “They said the tracker shows she is still at the house.”
My heart started to pound in my chest as I ran faster. I had parked my car near the bakery and walked up to get some coffee. I got into my car and started toward my parents’ house.
“I’m on my way there now.”
“My team is on the move. Stay on the phone and I’ll let you know what they find.”
I pressed on the gas and nearly missed hitting someone when I ran a red light. “Fuck!”
“They’re almost there, Kian. Hang tight,” Mark said as I pressed harder on the gas.
“Opal called me, she’s worried.”
“Don’t worry about Opal right now. Hold on.”
I could hear mumbling, but couldn’t make out what Mark was saying. I wanted to slam my phone against the steering wheel and demand Mark tell me what was wrong.
“Mark? What’s going on?” I nearly shouted into my phone. “Mark!”
“She’s not at the house. And you’re sure she’s not at the bakery?”
It felt like my vision blurred and for a moment, so much so that I thought I might run off the road. “Opal said she wasn’t.”
“I’m on my way back. It will take an hour and a half.”
I shook my head and my vision cleared. “What do I do?”
I had never in my life felt so helpless. A part of me knew I shouldn’t have let my guard down. I should have stayed with Cadie and not let her out of my sight.
“Just get to the house.”
“Is her car there? Didn’t you also have a tracker in her purse? How in the hell did they not see her leaving?”
I knew I was tossing questions left and right out to my brother who wasn’t even in town and hadn’t been able to talk to the guys since he was on the phone with me.
“Kian, I don’t have those answers. Just get to the house, I’ll be there as quick as I can.”
The line went dead. A sudden rush of cold swept over my body and it took everything I had to get back to the house in one piece.
I drove up and saw Sally standing outside the guest house talking to Mick, one of the FBI agents assigned to watch Cadie. They both turned and looked at me as I came to a screeching halt.
“Where is she?” I asked as I got out of the car.
Sally’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know. They came barging into the house and searched everywhere, but no one would tell me what was going on. I followed them down here and just learned that Cadie is missing.”
Turning to Mick, I asked, “What do we know?”
He ran his hand along the back of his neck. “Her car is here. Her purse is here as well. That’s why we thought she was still here. No one came in through the front. ”
“The back of the house?” I asked.
He looked down at the ground then up at me. “Lionel was posted there, said he didn’t see or hear anything.”
“So you mean to tell me that a bunch of unexperienced mob guys were able to sneak in here under the FBI’s nose and take Cadie?”
“It was only one mob guy.”
Turning, I looked at Lionel who was walking down the drive from the main house.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“I found footprints. One set coming in, two leaving.”
It felt like someone dropped a brick into my stomach. “He has her then?”
His gaze went to Mick, then back to me. “It appears so. I’ve already called in a helicopter and I’ve got one of the guys on the team looking at traffic cameras to see if we can find the car he’s driving.”
I started to pace. “I can’t believe this. Mark said they might be able to find her, but I thought for sure she was safe here. How in the hell did they find her so quickly after the FBI?” I stopped and looked at Lionel. “No, that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is how do we find her?”
A car pulled up and a younger woman, maybe in her mid- to late-twenties, jumped out. “We know where she is.”