CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE RONAN
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
RONAN
THEN
TEN YEARS AGO
Ihave a lead.
Well, maybe “lead” is a strong word, but it’s more than I’ve had in months.
Months of searching behind Dad’s back, desperately trying to find any trace of Chloe, but every dead end is more disheartening than the last.
The distance from my family makes it easier to disobey the order my father gave to let him take care of it.
There are so many things that just simply do not add up, and even though I’ve never thought my father and brother could lie to me, I’m getting more and more suspicious of the days between leaving Chloe with a kiss and returning to her being gone and her parents dead.
The Weavers have been part of the family since before I was born. Neil was my father’s most trusted underboss and confidant. Dad hasn’t made a single decision without consulting him in decades, so for him to suddenly betray the family doesn’t seem right.
And what’s even stranger is that every time I bring it up, even if it’s just to ask a simple question, Dad flies off the fucking handle.
The man that has the most even temperament of anyone I’ve ever met, who refuses to show any emotion to anyone about anything, loses his absolute mind when their names are mentioned, and that’s suspicious as hell in my book.
Moreover, Damon won’t tell me shit either. He’s just as closed up as our father, and the distance between us grows every day.
I fist my hand to stop it from shaking as I dial the number with my other one. There’s a good chance this is going to yield the same results as every other lead I’ve had, but it’s worth it if I find her.
Despite the research I’ve done into this place, they don’t have any internet presence, and as far as I can tell, they only work on referrals. I’m not even sure how they make their money because the few people I spoke to just to get this number said they didn’t charge for their services.
But if it was them that helped Chloe escape Florida, they’re my only chance of finding her.
“Thank you for calling Hawk Security Services, could I please have your referral code or case number?”
I open my mouth to respond but quickly snap it shut again, because I don’t have either of those things. The only thing I was able to convince someone to give me was the phone number, and even that was a challenge.
“Hello?”
“Hi, sorry,” I say, my chest tightening. What if they won’t tell me anything? I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t. It was my family she fled from, but I just need to know she and the baby are okay. Once I know they’re safe, I’ll be able to sleep again.
Or at least that’s what I tell myself.
“I don’t have a case number or referral code, but I’m really hoping you can help me. I think my pregnant girlfriend recently used your services, and I just need to know she’s okay. I don’t need her location or any information, I just need to know she’s okay.”
Silence greets me at the other end of the line. I drop my head into my free hand and focus on breathing. If this is a dead end, I’ll just keep looking. There are only so many places she could be in the world, and I refuse to give up until I’m sure she’s not dead in a ditch somewhere.
“Please hold for a moment.”
I don’t get a chance to thank her before elevator music starts playing.
Don’t get your hopes up, I think to myself. But it’s fucking hard not to when all I’ve been met with is dead end after dead end. This is the furthest I’ve gotten, and if this turns out to be a bust as well, I’m not sure what I’m going to do.
Song after song plays, and I start to think she’s not coming back. Maybe this is what they do when people call without the information they requested.
It’s probably a good way to deter people from calling more than once.
The music stops and I sit up straight, my heart racing with a mixture of hope and fear.
“Ronan?” A man’s voice comes down the line.
How the fuck does he know my name?
“Uh, yeah?”
“Chloe is safe.”
The call ends before I have a chance to ask any questions or find out how they knew it was me calling considering I used a burner. I could call back, but if they were willing to give me any other information, they wouldn’t have hung up on me.
She’s safe.
I remind myself that that’s all that matters and drop the phone beside me with a sigh.
I should let this go. I should let her go. But how am I supposed to allow the love of my life to slip away?