Chapter 11
JAMISON
Melanie stalks off through the lobby of my complex. “Jonah comes across so kind and sweet until he sees me with someone who I might have shared a past with.”
“He sounds a lot like Hunter in that regard.”
“I guess, but I don’t understand it. What difference does it make?”
“It doesn’t, but he obviously doesn’t like the thought of you being with anyone other than him.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’m close to thirty years old, and it’s not like I’m a virgin. And on that topic, I’m sure he’s been with a lot more people than I have.”
“It’s possible, but who knows?” My gunshot wound shocks me like a live wire. I wince in pain. “Do you mind if we sit? With all the stress, my injury is giving me a lot of problems.”
“I wasn’t thinking about that. I’m sorry. Where do you want to go?”
I point to the waiting area. “If we could just decompress here, that would be great. Besides, I don’t want to be too far away in case something happens with Dori.”
“Of course.” Mel strides over to the seats and sits. “I thought you took something for your pain earlier? ”
I ease down next to her. “No. I want to be completely alert in case Dori is found, so I decided not to.”
“That makes sense, but you may want to reconsider.”
“If it gets worse, I’ll think about it. Until then, I’d like to have a clear head.”
Mel studies me as I stew in a mix of blended emotions. None of them are good.
“Dori’s going to be found.” Mel tucks her hair behind her ear. “Jami, you look like you're in agony. Why don’t you take one painkiller?”
I do a mental scan. My shoulders and chest are tight, making my torso throb. I haven’t had this much discomfort in a long time, but I think it’s the stress causing most of it.
I rest back in my chair and purposely try to loosen my muscles. “My head needs to remain focused, so I’m not taking anything.”
She gestures to my chest. “How are you doing overall?”
“I’m still having a lot of residual issues. Mainly shooting pains, prickling type sensations, and my arm goes to sleep if it’s in a weird position.”
“Dori didn’t tell me that. She said you’ve been doing well.”
“Dori doesn’t know.”
“Why? You know how she feels about keeping things from her.”
My insides harden. “I wasn’t hiding it from her, but the last thing I want to talk about when I’m on the phone with her is my injury. I’d rather hear about her and how she’s doing.”
“That won’t matter to her. She’ll be upset you didn’t tell her.”
I shake my head because all this talk could be irrelevant if we don’t find her soon. “Tell me how I can help you with Jonah so we can get back upstairs.”
She sighs, and annoyance fills her words. “You can’t. I just need him to take it down a notch or ten. He can’t behave that way and think it’s okay. ”
“I’m starting to think Hunter and Jonah are the way they are with women because of their sick mother. They never had a role model to teach them how to act in a relationship.”
Melanie folds her arms over her chest, glaring at me. “Don’t tell me you’re giving him a pass?”
“I’m not. It was just a thought.” I bend over my legs and rest my elbows on my thighs, gazing at her. “Are you really considering a long-distance relationship?”
Her cheeks redden. “I was, but I’m not now. If he’s this way today, just think how awful he’ll be when I’m across the country.”
“I bet it would be similar to today.”
The last year with Dori and Hunter rolls around in my head. Will Hunter really let Dori go without a fight? My stomach tightens.
Mel’s leg bounces up and down. “Come on, Dori. Activate your damn bracelet.”
My guts twist, causing a wave of nausea to pulse through me. “Because she hasn’t, I’m worried she doesn’t have it or is in no shape to send her location.”
“I know, but we can’t think that way.” Mel locks her stare with mine. “Do you think you and Aiden will ever be friends again?”
“I don’t know. Right now, I’m livid with him, and it’s clear he feels the same about me.”
“I can’t believe he let his dad run his life like that.”
“He’s always had a strange relationship with his dad.” I shake my head in disgust.
“But why side with him when he knows how corrupt he is?”
“He says his dad’s been abusing him. If that’s true, there might be some deep-level trauma Aiden’s dealing with.”
“Even if that’s true, the Aiden Dori loves and talks about with such high regard wouldn’t help his dad. But what do I know about the threats Aiden was getting? ”
“That’s a great point, Mel. He said his dad was threatening to hurt Dori. Maybe he’s telling the truth.” I push back and consider that. A thought comes to mind. “Have you noticed how Dori distances herself from her parents?”
“Yeah, I have, but what’s that got to do with this?”
“Dori moved so she wouldn’t have to interact with them. She avoids their calls and won’t visit them. She knows how toxic they are because Aiden has tried to protect her and has told her to steer clear of them. He’s more of a dad to Dori than her actual father.”
“If he’s done that with Dori, why would he be involved with his dad?”
“Aiden’s always been her shield when it comes to them. Maybe it’s his sick way of protecting her.” I sit with that realization for a moment. “I never knew Aiden was keeping so much from me.”
“Can you imagine the burden he’s been carrying all these years?” Mel studies me for a moment. “I feel a tiny bit sorry for him.”
I roll my eyes. “Why? Because of what he did, Dori’s in the hands of the people he’s been protecting.”
“But he wouldn’t have done that if he knew Dori would be in this kind of danger. Even you have to admit that.”
“I don’t have to do anything until Dori is safe.” My heart rate stammers.
“But if he was being abused?—”
“He’s twenty-nine years old. My bet is he hasn’t been touched in years, so that fact is irrelevant.”
“But if he thought Dori was in danger, then it kind of makes sense.”
I shift to get comfortable. “I guess, but right now I’m not sure I believe him.”
“Why?”
“Because I never saw anything that pointed to it happening. ”
“If it’s true, I wonder why you didn’t?” Mel taps her index finger against her lips as she seems to think about something.
I’m done talking about Aiden’s motives. No matter what they are, Dori’s still in the hands of terrible people. My guts turn into a pretzel just picturing her. She must be terrified.
Mel stands. “I can’t sit here, and I’m not ready to go back upstairs. Let’s go into the restaurant and grab a drink or a snack.”
“Lead the way.” I get to my feet and follow her.
We get seated at a table near the entrance. I scan the area as we review the menu. I don’t know why I bother because my anxiety has my stomach knotted, and nothing will digest well.
I toss the menu down. “Why don’t you order something to go? We can get back upstairs faster if you do.”
“I’m not ready to go back there yet. We won’t stay long, but I need some space for Jonah to calm down.”
“Fine.” I mindlessly move the utensils around as she continues to figure out what she wants to order.
I sit back, thinking about how this screw-up happened.
Why didn’t I just make Dori move with me?
As I stew in that thought, Melanie orders a sandwich. At least it’s something easy to take with us if we need to leave quickly.
She runs a concerned glance over me. “Jami, you need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry right now.”
“What good are you going to be if you don’t feed yourself?”
“Mel, please drop it. My insides are wrecked from the stress.”
“Okay, but don’t complain when you get hangry.”
I nod, my nerves electrocuting me every few seconds. I bounce my knee under the table. Every passing second we don’t hear from Dori is like a firing squad taking aim at my life. One by one, they’re executing me. I’m a torn and bloody mess, waiting to die.
I lean forward and massage my temples. “None of this needed to happen.”
“You couldn’t have stopped it, Jami.” Mel taps the table to get my attention. “Let’s focus on getting her back.”
“And how do you propose I do that?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me what you and Hunter were talking about before Jonah freaked out?”
“He told me he’s not going to tell Dori about being reinstated.”
Mel’s eyes round. “Woah. What did you say to that?”
“There wasn’t much time to react. Jonah had launched in on his verbal assault.”
She growls and shifts forward, resting her arms on the table. “What will you tell Dori if we get her back?”
“We’re going to find her.” I rub my aching chest. “I feel like she has a right to know and make up her own mind about going back to work there.”
“Whew. For a minute there, I thought you were willing to keep that from her.”
My shoulders go slack. “She should’ve known from the start.”
“You can say that again.” Melanie crosses her legs and gets situated in her chair. “How are you going to explain this to Dori?”
“I’m just going to come out with it.” I take in a gust of air and then slowly release it. “She’s going to be upset no matter how I break it to her, and she has every right. I just figured Hunter was going to tell her before she left for Miami.”
Mel’s brows knit together. “Why did you think that when he told you not to tell her?”
I puff out a hiss. “It was in his favor to tell Dori, so I figured he’d jump at the chance when it was safe for her to know. ”
“Do you think he’s honestly ready to give her up?”
“Not in the slightest. Especially with her missing.” I pull out my phone and check my messages. “Why haven’t we heard anything?”
“You’ve got me. But every time you look at that thing, my heart jumps out of my chest.”
I toss my phone on the table. “You and me both.”
“Do you think there’s anything else we should do?”
“I’m sure there are a million things we should be doing, but my brain can’t seem to connect the dots.”
Mel's voice rises, full of excitement. “Why don’t we contact the media? We should have signs and posts online, circulating information about her being abducted.”
I consider it as I run a hand over my chin. “You know, Mel, that’s not a bad idea.”
“We could set up a phone line in case anyone saw anything.”
“I think we should’ve done this hours ago.” A lightness blooms in me. “Can you get your sandwich to go, and we can see if Aiden knows how to do something like that?”
“Sure, and I can reach out to my media contacts to see if they could share anything about her whereabouts on their sites. I’m positive they’d be willing to get the message out.”
“Why didn’t I think of this earlier?” I push out of my chair. “I’m going to get the server to wrap up your lunch and pay. Meet me by the elevators.”
“Sounds good.” She gets to her feet, pulling her phone out of her jeans pocket.
She types something as she leaves the restaurant. I find our waitress and get Melanie’s meal.
If we can get more people involved in searching for Dori, the better chance we have of finding her. I want to hit myself for not thinking about doing something like this earlier.
I join Melanie by the elevators, handing her a to-go box. “ We should ask Aiden if there’s any reason we shouldn’t do this.”
She takes the food out of my hands as the doors open. We step in.
She makes room for me. “I can’t think of a reason we wouldn’t do this, but you’re right. There could be a drawback to doing something that brings attention to the situation.”
We ascend to Hunter’s floor and go to his place. I pace back and forth as we wait for him to let us in.
He opens the door, showing us in. “Any word?”
“No, but Melanie has a great idea.” I wait for Melanie to go in first. “Where’s Aiden?”
“He’s in the kitchen with Jonah.” Hunter glances at Mel. “He’ll be better behaved.”
Mel nods and turns the corner from the foyer, heading in the direction of the kitchen. “That’s good to hear.”
Hunter faces me as we stride behind Mel. “What’s this about?”
“Melanie had an idea of getting the media involved. She thinks she can get some of her contacts to spread the story around online. If anyone has any information, they could help tremendously.” I fix my gaze on Aiden as soon as he comes into view.
He narrows his eyes on us. “What was that?”
Melanie answers. “I think we should contact the news stations and get the word out about Dori’s disappearance?—”
“No. That’s not a good idea. If Hunter’s mom thinks we’re getting close, she could hand Dori over.” Aiden folds his arms over his chest. His wary gaze slides between Hunter and Jonah.
Hunter addresses Jonah. “What’s your thought about what our mother would do?”
Jonah shakes his head. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
I slide onto a stool and lock eyes with Aiden. “What’s the reason the FBI wouldn’t already have something like that in place?”
Aiden shifts his weight from side to side. “My guess is they don’t want Hunter’s mom to know we’ve alerted anyone about Dori’s abduction.”
“Now that I think about it, my mother warned me not to get the FBI involved, so I’m inclined to agree with Aiden.” Hunter leans against the back counter, resting his palms on the top behind him. “While you were gone, she called Aiden.”
“And?” Right as I say it, my phone beeps with an incoming message.
I pull it out of my pocket and read the text. My pulse spikes.