Chapter 2
Jenna
“We can’t confirm or deny the location of a Marine who is AWOL.”
“Stop with the official bullshit.” I stare into the eyes of Cade’s Commanding Officer, Ben Knight, his icy, nearly translucent blue eyes making my stomach churn. “I really need to know my brother is okay.”
He leans forward, his voice lowering. “I met you here as a fucking favor, because Cade is part of my unit. If I knew anything, don’t you think I would be doing something with it, instead of meeting some estranged family member for coffee?”
“I’m not estranged,” I snap back at him. “Your mission failures are what drove him to this in the first place.”
“Yeah, this conversation is over,” Officer Knight shakes his head, sweeping up his coffee in a rush as he shoves himself back from the table. “Maybe you should’ve told your brother the brig would’ve been the better choice.”
“You fucked him up,” I counter, my voice shaking as the six-foot-something Marine goes to walk away. “You really fucked him up.”
Ben freezes, turning back to me. He meets my gaze with a coldness nearly too intense to hold. “Have a good day, Miss Kellan. Best of luck to you.”
Fuck you.
My chest tightens as the last ounce of hope drains from me. I just flew here all the way from Texas, all for a freaking five-minute conversation.
I pull my phone from my pocket, my mother’s text mocking me.
Mom: Any luck?
I want to scream at the screen.
No. Nothing. Not a fucking thing.
I snap my eyes to the window. Knight is already stomping to his truck, slamming the door as if he’s locking me out of every hope I had.
Don’t let him walk away like that.
I’m on my feet before I even think it through, bolting out of the coffee shop, my Vans pounding the pavement in the warm SoCal breeze. “Wait!” I shout breathlessly, as I slam my hand against the hood of his black truck.
He hits the brakes so hard the tires squeal, and then slings his door open. “What the fuck are you doing? Do you just want to get run over?”
“You told me you’d talk to me if I showed up here,” I exasperate, as my heart beats so hard I start to feel lightheaded.
“Well, here I am, I flew over a thousand miles to get here. I have run through all my savings on private investigators, my mom is worried sick, and if I can’t find him, it’s going to break her in two. ”
Ben stares at me, his expression completely devoid of any emotion. “You’re barking up the wrong tree.” He hesitates and then finally lets out a sigh, running a hand over his face. “You’re not gonna find him here.”
“But… This…” My voice trails off, desperate to understand. “This is where he’s stationed. This is where he should be.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” he scoffs. “But he isn’t here. So, do yourself a favor, and fly back to Texas, where you belong. You’re way outside of your capabilities.”
I shake my head. “I will find him.”
He takes an intimidating step toward me, his size nearly swallowing my five-foot-two self. “And then what will you do, hmm? Take him home to Mommy? Because you and I both know what kind of man your brother is.”
I swallow the fear constricting my throat. “And what is that?”
He glares at me, his jaw twitching. “The kind that belongs lost.”
“No, you all have made him into a monster,” I argue, suppressing the emotion threatening to silence my voice. “He’s not some fucking villain. He’s just…misunderstood.”
Ben’s eyebrows raise. “Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night? Because let’s not forget that your brother was facing multiple capital murder charges. And I know his history, Miss Kellan. I didn’t make him the way he is.”
“You—”
“Go home,” he cuts me off, his tone unnerving. “Before you end up lost, too.”
My eyes widen, and I take a step back. He lets out a dry chuckle, and then climbs right back into his truck. He slams the door, and then backs out, taking off controlled and slow.
The complete opposite of how he acts.
My shoulders slump as I return to the coffee shop, heading back to my seat, where my laptop sits, unopened. I plop back down, forcing myself to take a sip of coffee.
Where are you, Cade? Why did you run?
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to steady myself. My phone buzzes in my lap, but I ignore it. There’s no information to pass along at this point, and honestly, maybe Ben is right.
Maybe I should just let him go.
I let out a sigh as I flip the laptop open and pull up my email. I scroll through my messages, most of them bugging me about late payments and missed work deadlines. However, one catches my eye.
Subject: Is this Cade?
I double click the email from one of the three PIs I hired—and consequently no longer can afford to keep working.
My brow furrows as it pulls up, and I grimace.
The image is pixelated, and I squint at it as I blow it up.
It’s just a blonde headed guy in a baseball hat, standing beside a man in a black cowboy hat.
My phone buzzes again in my pocket, and I pull it out, seeing the PI’s name on the screen. I take the call and put it to my ear.
“This is Jen.”
“Hey, it’s Parker,” he answers. “I know we’re not working together anymore since that last missed payment, but that surveillance picture pinged.”
I frown, staring at the image. “I can’t tell if it’s him.”
“Something in the software says that it is.”
I zoom in on the face of the guy with the baseball hat. It’s nothing but a messy blur. “This guy could be anyone.”
“Yeah…” Parker’s voice trails off for a few beats. “But here’s the thing about that. When I went digging into the area, it seems like a place a lot of…unsavory characters end up—most with military backgrounds. I hit a brick wall as soon as I found that.”
My heart flipflops in my chest. “Which means someone purposefully is keeping you out.”
“Or I’m shitty at my job,” he chuckles on the other end of the phone. “That’s a possibility, too. Though my ego would like to say otherwise.”
I don’t laugh at his stupid joke. I’m too busy scrolling outward and taking in the sight of the man beside my presumed brother. “Do you have an ID on the other guy? The one in the cowboy hat?”
“Uh…” I hear clicking on the other end of the line. “No. He doesn’t seem to register in any databases, and honestly, I need another payment if I’m going to start digging further.”
There it is. More money.
“I already explained that I’m out of funds. There’s no more savings for me to dip into. I’ve ran them all dry.”
“Then it looks like it’s time for you to call it. Maybe it’s better to let it go and let the Marshals and NCIS sort it out. I don’t know if you should be getting tangled with your brother. I saw part of his file…”
“It was a training accident,” I shake my head, feeling the lie spill from my lips with an ease that makes my stomach nauseous. “He didn’t kill those guys. He’d never do that.”
“Um, okay.” Parker smartly lets it die. “Well then, best of luck to you, Jenna. I hope that you can figure it out.”
I open my mouth to thank him, but the line goes dead before I get my chance. I pull the phone away from my ear, and then set it on the table, screen facing up. I turn my attention back to the picture, zooming all the way out.
Colorado. I read the location. Why would Cade go to Colorado? And why would he be on a college campus?
I pull up a new browser tab and search the small community college. It’s nothing special. The area is rural and isn’t in the part of the state that draws tourists and transplants.
“Which would make it a great place to hide,” I mumble under my breath. Mix that with the little bit of information that Parker pulled about the military, shady characters…
He could have connections. It could make sense.
And honestly, it’s the only thing I have to go off.
I scroll a ways down on the college page, and then pause, an ad for an interim professor for the literature class catching my eye. My heart is in my throat as I click for more details.
I have no degree. I have no real experience. But if there’s one thing, I’m really good at…
It’s pretending to be someone I’m not.
And if that’s what it takes to fund the next part of my search, then so be it.
Colorado, here I come.