Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Nolen
I was going to strangle whoever had the nerve to interrupt. I didn't give a shit which one of my friends it was. I would gladly kill any of them for taking me away from the best kiss of my life.
No, not just the best. Life altering.
"Hello," I snapped into the phone without even looking at who was on the caller ID.
"Well, hello to you, too," Hendrix quipped. "Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the couch this morning?" My asshole friend was too damn chipper, and it made me want to punch him in the face all the more.
"Is there something you need, or did you just call to harass me?"
Hendrix quickly sobered. "Chill, man. Is everything okay?"
I rubbed the spot between my brows and took a deep breath. It wasn't Hendrix's fault. The man was naturally annoying, and usually I found it funny. If it were any other time, I would be joking with him back.
"Sorry, you just kinda interrupted something. I didn't mean to take it out on you."
"Ohhhh," Hendrix drawled. "I just cockblocked you, didn't I? My bad."
I had to laugh. Hendrix was one hundred percent not sorry. In fact, had he known, he probably would've done it on purpose.
"I'll get you back, don't you worry."
Hendrix laughed. "I'm sure you will, but just remember, Maisie is crazy and will probably cut off your dick if you did."
I winced at the thought. There was no probably about it. Maisie was psycho enough that she wouldn't even think twice about making me a eunuch.
"Enough about my cock. What's the reason for this call?"
"Oh right." Hendrix got serious, which was never a good sign. "I got your text last night about Vanessa. I'm sorry that she had to go through that with her sister but good riddance as far as I'm concerned. No one needs that kind of person dragging down their life."
Last night after Vanessa fell asleep, I had texted my team to let them know what was going on and how I planned to handle the situation.
My first instinct was to kill Joel, to hell with the consequences, but Maverick quickly talked me down from that ledge.
Obviously it would look bad for the company if anyone ever found out.
Although I assured him no one would find the body, so it was still an option on the table.
"I'm more worried about Joel."
"Yes, I agree. I know I'm no computer expert like you, but I did some digging last night when I couldn't sleep."
"You mean you weren't jumping Maisie's bones?"
"No, this was after that, when she fell asleep, completed sated, and like the stalker I am, I watched her sleep."
I laughed at his comparison because it was completely accurate. Hendrix wasn't just head over heels in love with Maisie, he was obsessed with her.
"Does she realize you watch her sleep?"
"Of course she does, and she's fine with it."
I wasn't sure about that but to each their own.
"No comment on that. So what did you find?"
"Not as much as I would've liked. I dug into Hannah's life.
I can see why you didn't find much to begin with.
For a drug addict, she has sure stayed off the police's radar.
I thought for sure I would find some arrests but nope.
I did manage to sweet-talk the nice nurse at the rehabilitation center to give me the name of the individual who beat Hannah up, and boy did that prove to be worth it. "
I should've known I made the right decision handing this off to Hendrix. He had a way of getting people to talk that didn't require torture. I didn't know what his secret was, though, because the man wasn't what I would call a sweet person.
"What name did she give you?"
"Kyle Jones and he does have ties to a Joel Daniels."
Bingo. At least I hoped so.
"Send me a picture. I'll show Vanessa and see if it's the guy who's blackmailing her."
"Sent." I could hear the typing of keys on the computer right before a ding, which indicated I had an email come through.
"What else did you find?"
I held my breath as I waited for what Hendrix was going to say next. My gut was telling me I wasn't going to like it.
"Here's the interesting part. If this is our guy, then he also has ties to Los Cangris."
And there it was. The connection we needed.
"Son of a bitch. Those guys never go away, do they."
"Nope, and it makes sense as to why they wanted the identity of B. Feather. The person wrote about them when everything was going down."
My team had no idea that I knew Jo was behind the newspaper articles.
I conveniently left that part out when I told them what was going on.
Eventually it would come out, but that would be when Jo was ready, not before.
It was one thing to tell Vanessa, who I trusted, and another to inform my entire team.
Even though I trusted them, it wasn't my story to tell.
I sighed. "This is going to be a shitstorm."
Hendrix chuckled. "Most likely but what else is new? We've been dealing with shitstorms since we moved here. Maverick was an idiot if he thought this small town was going to be quiet.”
In Maverick's defense, it did appear the town was pretty quiet until we moved in. At least for the most part. That was until a known gang tried to push their way back in. Then things got interesting, and it would seem like they didn't stop.
"Let me show this picture to Vanessa, and I'll call you back. If it is, we'll get the team together and see what our next steps are."
"Sounds good. If you need anything from me, in the meantime, just send a text. I'm more than happy to continue cockblocking you."
"You're an asshole."
I hung up, as Hendrix laughed like a damn hyena, and went in search of Vanessa.
I found her in the kitchen right where I had left her. Standing in front of the fridge with a dazed look on her face.
"You okay?" I walked straight to her and placed my hand on her neck.
"What?" She looked up at me through her eyelashes, and I could see her lips were still puffy from when I had kissed her just minutes before.
"I said, are you okay?"
"Oh yeah." Vanessa shook her head like she was clearing it. "I was just thinking is all."
"About anything good? Our kiss perhaps?" I gave her a cocky grin.
The apple of her cheeks turned the cutest shade of pink. It contrasted her tan skin beautifully.
"You like making me blush, don't you." It wasn't a question. We both knew what I was doing.
"Maybe a little." I winked at her.
I chuckled under my breath when she cleared her throat. "So who was the call from?"
I sighed. I much preferred staying in our own little bubble, but that wasn't possible.
"Hendrix. He thinks he found Joel. I need you to take a look at this picture for me."
Vanessa went solid beneath my touch. I hated it. All I wanted was for this to be over so she could feel safe again.
Using the hand that wasn't anchoring her to me, I took my phone out of my pocket and pulled up the email Hendrix had sent me.
I hadn't bothered to look at the picture too closely before I turned it around to show her, otherwise I would've understood why her face went pale as a ghost.