Chapter 6
six
HARLOW
That was weird. Does Cal have more than one personality? I swear even the shade of his eyes changed.
Ok, maybe that’s being a little dramatic, but it was strange.
I’m about to start my car when my phone rings. Willa’s name comes up.
“Hey, Willa.”
“Hi Harlow! Jo is great! I was wondering if Cal would let you go long enough to meet us at Mav’s. I wanted to go over some things with Jo that will overlap with your responsibilities.” Willa’s voice is cheerful. Jo must have really put on the charm at her interview.
“I can do that. He actually gave me the rest of the day off, and I was about to leave. Which house is Maverick’s?” Their houses are all together in a row on the same street, but I don’t remember what the order is.
“Two down. Mine is the one to the right of Cal’s, Belle and Kai are to the left and Mav is right next to them.”
“Got it. See you in thirty seconds.”
Willa laughs as she ends the call.
Thirty-two seconds later, I’m parking my car next to Jo’s. Maverick’s house is in the same style as the rest of them, but he has a lot more plants than they all have combined.
“Hurry up, Harry! Willa is waiting for you to eat the brunch she ordered!” Jo yells from the door. I roll my eyes at the nickname. She only uses it when she’s in a good mood, so I ignore my retort and follow her into the house.
It’s decorated in dark greens and soft creams with touches of black and gold. It’s actually really warm for how large and open the design is. I’m impressed. I didn’t expect a single rock star to have a house that feels cozy. I catch Willa watching me and she smiles.
“Kai and Mav used to have black and white houses. They thought they were cool or something,” she tells me, laughing like a sister who thinks her brothers are idiots.
“They were cool!” Maverick yells, coming to stand next to Willa and offering me his hand. I shake it and smile at him. It’s nice to be starting a job surrounded by familiar faces. Even if we weren’t close in school, we weren’t enemies. “It’s good to see you again, Harlow. Under better circumstances this time.”
Willa raises an eyebrow and looks between us.
“The last time we saw each other was part of the search party for Ezra,” I explain, lowering my eyes. Even though part of the reason I accepted this job was to get close enough to them to get more information, I have no intention of hurting them. If I can help it, anyway.
“She helped with almost all of them. She was in the group with me and Kai,” Mav elaborates. The smile on his face is tight. We divided into three groups early on and just kept them the same to make it easy for everyone.
I watch as Willa reaches for Maverick’s hand and squeezes it. He looks at her, shaking his head as he does, as if he’s trying to shake something off. I guess losing a best friend would do that to someone.
“Anyway, I’m glad you could make it. Your dad should be here soon too.” Willa turns and heads for the dark green velvet couch that Jo is sitting on.
“My dad?” I ask Maverick. He shrugs.
“Willa is very efficient when she wants to be,” he says like that explains everything. I’m not used to being this confused, and it’s taking a lot of willpower not to express my annoyance. Instead, I head to the couch and take the seat on the other side of Jo.
“So, what’s going on?” I ask when no one offers any information.
“I got the job,” Jo says, not looking up from her phone or seeming overly excited about it.
“You were a lot more enthusiastic when Harlow got here,” Mav says, grinning at her.
“She’s my best friend,” Jo says, like that’s an explanation, and I guess for her, it is. To her, a job is a necessity, but friendship is a privilege.
“We’ll be friends in no time, you’ll see,” Mav says, grinning even wider. Jo just snorts in response. Willa looks completely confused, and I know I do too. What the hell is happening between these two? They’ve known each other for like an hour at most.
I open my mouth to ask, curiosity getting the best of me, but the doorbell rings, cutting off my questions. Willa blinks quickly but gets up to get the door. I catch her glancing back a few times, her brows drawn so closely together it looks like she only has one.
My dad saunters in a moment later. His red hair is turning white and the wrinkles at the edges of his eyes are the only things showing his age. His expression is serious until he spots me. The hardness in the professional gaze he has perfected over the years softens, and he quickly scoops me into a hug.
“I didn’t know you’d be here,” he says before kissing the top of my head. “What are you doing here, Jo?” he asks as he spots her.
“I just got a job as the band’s personal assistant,” she explains before standing and wrapping my dad in a hug. Once she lets go, Mav holds his arms open for her to hug him next. She scrunches her nose like he smells bad and takes her seat. Mav just laughs.
Willa’s eyes are as big as saucers as she watches him. Her mouth is hanging open. It takes her a moment to realize we’re all staring at her and waiting for her to tell us what this impromptu meeting is about. She quickly snaps her mouth shut and clears her throat.
“To get everyone up to speed, Jo is the band’s personal assistant, Harlow is Cora’s nanny, and Harrison is our private investigator.” We all nod. I told my dad about my new job last night since I can’t help him with his admin stuff as much now. “You’ve all signed an NDA and since this is a rare instance where there’s a father-daughter duo and a set of best friends, I thought it would be best to let you know that you can share any information between the three of you. It would be too hard to regulate otherwise.”
“What do you guys get up to that you’re so worried about?” Jo asks with a frown on her face.
“Honestly, not much,” Mav says with a shrug.
“It’s Cora. Cal is trying to keep the media from being aware of her for as long as he can. He wants her to have a normal childhood,” I explain.
“Cora is most of it, but there are a few other things. Things Harrison is aware of that I’m sure we’re not going to be able to keep a secret if you guys are here all the time,” Willa says, looking at Mav with something like sympathy in her eyes.
“As you girls know, I’m looking into Ezra’s disappearance. Some of the trails I’m following, well, they could be dangerous if anyone became aware.” My dad has his serious face back on, and I can tell he means it. Something he’s looking into is cause for concern.
“Uh, shouldn’t Kai be here if we’re talking about his brother’s case?” I ask. He’s been at all the other meetings my dad has had about Ezra. I know because I’m the one that scheduled them.
“Nope. Kai is aware. This isn’t new information,” Willa says with a shrug.
I look around the room. Jo is focused on my dad, waiting for whatever scrap of information he’ll give. But Mav’s playful spirit seems to have left the building and Willa is watching him closely. Interesting.
“Kai and Ezra’s dad worked as a naval intelligence officer. He fell off the grid soon after Ezra, but because he divorced his wife and liquidated his assets, everyone assumed he didn’t want to be found. That he may have not been dealing with Ezra’s disappearance well,” my dad says, leaning forward to look between me and Jo.
“And what? Left to become a mountain man?” I scoff. The side of my dad’s mouth twitches, and I know he wants to smile. He’s one of the few people that have found my snark entertaining.
“He could have if he wanted to. He also had the skills to become a completely different person, and we would’ve never been able to find him.”
Jo’s eyes widen, but I keep from reacting because I know this isn’t the information they all seem worried about. So I nod at my dad to continue and this time, he does smile. I’m his daughter through and through and he knows it. I got my curious mind from him, and he taught me how to read people.
“I believe that’s what he did. I think he found Ezra and made sure neither of them would ever be found,” my dad says, watching my reaction.
“And?” I ask, raising my brow. We played this game when I was a kid. My dad would start telling me about cases he made up, and I had to find the lie or get more information. I loved trying to guess who the bad guy was. It was like an interactive game of Clue.
My dad laughed, confusing everyone except Jo, who has seen us do this before. “There’s a big player. I don’t know who yet. All the records are sealed. If Ezra was just a missing person or a runaway, those records shouldn’t be sealed. He wasn’t underage, so it has to be something bigger. Even the judge who declared him dead has been scrubbed from the official records.”
“So be careful and pay attention to my surroundings because you don’t know who the villain is, and I’m in the middle of it just by working for the people closest to Ezra.”
“That’s my girl,” my dad says with a proud smile and then turns his attention to Jo. “I’m kicking over rocks and poking hornets’ nests. So I need you to pay attention. Report any and every single thing you see that could help me. Someone is paying too close attention to you at the gas station? Tell me. You feel like you’re being followed? Call immediately.”
Jo nods, an almost scary determination in her eyes.
“This might be overstepping, but I care about Jo like she’s another daughter. Harlow is moving into Callahan’s and will be safe behind guarded gates and high-tech security systems. But what about Jo? She’ll be more visible.”
Jo frowns. “I’m not going to be in danger, Harrison.”
“Maybe not, but whoever this is, they have power. A lot of power. I shouldn’t be having this much trouble getting to these records,” my dad says. I watch his hands and see a small twitch. My gaze moves to his face and see another twitch.
“What are you lying about?” I ask, not in the mood to try to get it out of him in private. It’ll be easier to get the truth with more eyes on him.
His eyes meet mine, and I hold his stare, letting him know I’m not letting this go. He sighs and rubs his hands over his face.
“Someone knows I’ve been looking. They’ve been trying to hack into my system and erase what I have.” I smirk. My dad is old school, anything that’s on his computer is also in paper form in triplicate.
“And?” I ask again, knowing this isn’t all.
He holds my stare again, probably regretting teaching me everything he knows. “There have been a few threatening notes in the mail.”
“Dad!” I explain at the same time Mav leaps from his seat.
“I can’t let you work on this case if it puts you in danger, Harrison,” Maverick says, his eyes holding a secret terror that breaks my heart.
My dad just holds up his hands and shakes his head. “I’m doing this. Even if you fire me. This is the case that made me decide to resign as sheriff. It’s the case that showed me how broken the system is. I need to solve this as much for myself as for you.” The look in my dad’s eyes as he says ‘you’ while looking at Mav is sad. Did this case hit Maverick hardest? I thought it would be Kai, but now I’m not so sure.
“I love Ezra. He’s the love of my life, and I want to know what happened to him more than I want to take my next breath, but I won’t let it cost you your life too,” Maverick says, the determination in his eyes can be felt throughout the room.
I look at Jo, who manages to keep the shock off her face; I don’t. I inhale sharply and try to stifle it with my hand. Unsuccessfully judging from the four sets of eyes now staring at me.
“Uh, that’s a secret,” Willa says, looking like she’s having trouble deciding what to do after the bomb my dad dropped.
“NDA. Right,” I mutter, embarrassed.
“I’m not embarrassed about my sexuality. I just promised Ezra we would tell everyone about us together, and that’s a promise I intend on keeping.”
“You’re photographed with a lot of women,” Jo says, looking pretty skeptical. She has a point. All the guys are seen with different women constantly. At least until recently, anyway.
Mav just shrugs. “I’m attracted to both men and women. Ezra was the first man I was ever with, and he’ll be the last. No matter how our story ends.”
Jo watches him for a moment before nodding. She’s just as good at reading people as I am. Whatever she saw in his expression has her backing down from commenting more.
Willa clears her throat. “Jo, if you want to stay in my guest room, you’re welcome to it. I could use some company.”
I watch Jo open her mouth, and I know she’s about to refuse. I whip my hand out and over her mouth. “She would love to, Willa. Thank you.” Jo glares at me, but nods before I remove my hand.
“What about you, Harrison? I have guest rooms you can use,” Mav offers.
“Thank you, but I’ll be fine,” my dad says. I don’t bother arguing with him. I’d have better luck convincing a tree it was a fish.
“You didn’t cover his mouth,” Jo mutters next to me. I ignore her.
“How do you know it’s not Kai and Ezra’s dad trying to stop you?” I ask. I know their dad called Kai and told him to stop looking. I was the one who transferred the notes on that meeting to my dad’s computer system.
My dad shakes his head. “If this was Gavin Irons, there would be no trace. Everything would just be gone. Whoever this is, they’re sloppier, likely less experienced.”
“Maybe you should be looking into anyone that hires interns or new graduates. You could probably narrow it down to government or maybe law enforcement. If they’re going this aggressively after Ezra, he must have done or seen something, at least in my opinion.”
“Maybe we should’ve hired you,” a deep voice says, startling me. I turn to see Kai and Cal standing at the end of the couch. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s ok. I get lost in my thoughts sometimes,” I tell Kai.
“I just get lost,” Cal says, laughing, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Where’s Cora?” I ask him.
“Belle is at my house with her,” he says, smiling like it’s normal for him to be so happy.
What the hell? Does he have a twin too? Not that he was grumpy this morning, but I swear he was a different person. No one else seems to notice, so I’m just going to assume it was all the panic of the morning and not some weird dual personality.
“How is she feeling?” I ask him.
“What’s wrong with my girl? Does she need me?” Willa asks, looking genuinely concerned.
“She’s still asleep,” Cal says, giving me a small smile before turning to Willa. “How come you never ask if I need you? I need a foot rub and homemade cookies and at least three consecutive hours of sleep.”
Willa scoffs and rolls her eyes. “What are you two doing here, anyway?”
“We can’t visit our favorite person?” Kai says with a smirk.
“Aww, I miss you too,” Mav says.
“He meant Harrison,” Cal says, laughing. He has dark circles under his eyes, and he needs to sleep badly, but I can see where he would want to get out of the house for a little.
“I was at Cal’s with Belle when I saw Harrison’s truck drive by. We would’ve been here sooner, but it took a lot of convincing to get Cal to leave Cora,” Kai explains. Cal just shrugs.
“She has an ear infection. I didn’t want her to wake up without me there,” he says, almost embarrassed. Which I find strange considering how openly panicked he was just an hour ago.
“My girl! Is she in pain? Why didn’t you call me? Does she need me?” Willa asks again, moving to the door like she’s going to go check no matter what the answers are.
“She’s fine, Willa. Harlow actually handled it better than I did. Got her to the doctor and picked her prescription up at the pharmacy all while I freaked out in the backseat,” Cal admits. Everyone laughs at him, but I just want to give him a hug.
“So what’s the meeting about?” Kai asks.
“Harrison is receiving pushback and threats,” Mav says with a look at my dad that says he’s not sorry for tattling.
Kai’s eyes widen, but my dad speaks before he can. “I know the risk, and you won’t stop me from taking it. With or without your money, I will be finding your brother. It’s up to you if you want to help me or not.”
Kai sighs, and I see his shoulders sag. It’s been six years since his brother went missing, and you can suddenly see the weight he carried because of it. “Understood.”
My dad stands. “Come on, girls, let’s get you all packed up and moved in. Today.” My brows shoot up, and I glance at Cal. I wasn’t supposed to move in yet.
“This is the safest place for you if your dad is being threatened. Plus, I could probably use your help with Cora overnight.” Cal says.
“You guys go handle that. Jo has a list of responsibilities, and she can go over anything that overlaps with yours with you,” Willa says, ushering us out the door.
“Holy shit, there’s another person here,” Cal says, causing everyone, except me, to laugh. I know he’s trying to lighten the mood, but I think I’m in information overload. He notices and bumps my shoulder with his. “You don’t have to move in today if you really don’t want to.” His voice is a whisper.
“No, I should. Plus, I want to help with Cora.”
He nods. “I’m home for the rest of the day. Shoot me a text when you’re on your way, and I’ll get everyone to help move your stuff in.”
“Thank you,” I say softly, not sure what to make of him right now.
He opens my car door for me and shuts it once I fasten my seatbelt. I spend the drive back to my dad’s, wondering how much of the world Callahan Griffin is balancing on his shoulders.
“I told you to let me know when you’d be back so I could help you,” Cal says, grabbing my suitcase right out of my hand. He tries to get the bag I have slung over my shoulder, but I move out of his reach.
“This is all I have. I moved everything into storage when I gave up my apartment.”
Cal nods and tries to grab my bag again, but I’m faster. He rolls his eyes and mutters something about being surrounded by stubborn women.
“Come on. I’ll show you to your room and get you set up with the security system.”
The room he leads me to is bigger than my old apartment. It’s beautiful. The walls are a soft mauve, and the floors are a light gray. There’s a king-sized bed covered with a white comforter and a bunch of cute throw pillows in shades of gray and pink. Off to the right of the bed is a small sitting area with an overstuffed gray couch and matching armchair. I look up and do a double take at the ceiling.
“Is there wallpaper on the ceiling?” I ask Cal. He looks up and shrugs.
“Yeah. That was Belle’s idea. If you don’t like it, I can always change it.”
“No. You’re not changing your house for staff,” I say, staring at the floral wallpaper. It’s white with flowers in a slightly darker shade than the walls. “I actually kind of love it.”
I look over at Cal to see a genuine smile on his face. He gestures for me to follow him. “This room has an en suite bathroom,” he says, showing me the bathroom that includes a large clawfoot tub. I’m definitely going to be using that a lot. He shows me the walk-in closet attached to the bathroom, which could fit a queen-sized bed. I don’t know how I’m going to move out when the time comes. I’m already spoiled.
Cal stands in the doorway, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, rocking on his heels as he looks at me. I really look at him for the first time in the whirlwind of a day I’ve had. He really is handsome. He has dark hair and dark eyes that could easily make him seem cold and intimidating, but they don’t. I thought he was handsome when I was in high school, but he’s on a whole different level now. The muscles clearly defined under his shirt and the way his jeans hang low on his hips has me almost drooling.
I shake my head to dispel my thoughts. I can’t have the hots for my boss. Not only do I need this job, but it would also jeopardize my future plans with Jo.
“Harlow?”
I swing my eyes up to Cal’s and see him looking at me with a smirk, his tongue slowly running over his bottom lip.
Shit. I’ve been caught ogling him.
Perfect.
Great first day, Harlow.
“I asked if you wanted to relax before dinner. I’m ordering pizza since we’ve all had an eventful day,” he repeats, the smirk still on his face, and I swear I see a twinkle in his eyes. At that moment, I remember this man is used to being checked out by women. Women much more attractive and successful than me. That thought is sobering, and the smile that almost crossed my face is lost.
“Yeah, that sounds good. Pizza is good.” I break the eye contact when I see Cal’s smile fall.
I make my way over to my suitcase. I need to keep my hands busy because the urge I have to apologize to him for literally no reason is making me angry.
“Right. I’ll let you know when the pizza is here,” he says, and the confusion in his voice has the words ‘I’m sorry’ so close to the surface that I have to cough to tamp them down.
“Sounds good,” I say instead.
The moment I hear the door click shut, I throw myself backwards onto the bed. Of course, it feels like a damn cloud. I let out a sigh and stare at the flowers adorning the ceiling. Cal has always had a personality that attracts people like flies to a flame. The type of personality I used to think was an act.
Or maybe it was safer for me to think it was an act than to acknowledge that he’s genuine. I’ve only spent one day with him and between the way he is with his daughter and how much he clearly cares for his friends . . . Well, it’s obvious that there’s more to Callahan Griffin than I assumed.
Maybe that’s why I keep having the urge to apologize to him. For assuming the worst when he hasn’t done anything to deserve that. Being a man-whore isn’t a crime.
I roll onto my stomach and groan into one of the fluffy pillows. It’s going to be a lot harder to dig for more information on Ezra if I care about Cal.
I think back to the night Ezra went missing. I was with a group of girls I knew from school but wasn’t really friends with, when Cal approached and immediately started flirting. My walls went up, and I went into defensive mode, using my sarcasm and sharp tongue to keep him out. I guess I could use the same strategy. I just need to be more subtle about it. I can’t outright attack the man I work for, but I can’t let him in either.
This is a job, and I need to remember that.