23. Jaxson
CHAPTER 23
Jaxson
F or what is probably the tenth time in the last five minutes, I look down at my phone. Margot still hasn’t texted me back. Which, given the workload she told me about earlier today, I’m not overly surprised about. She wanted to spend the morning going over the B&B’s financials, trying to come up with a plan for after Lance’s buddy Everett gives her a quote.
I’ve already decided that I’m going to help. Even if she won’t accept money, I plan to lend a hand on labor so she can at least save something.
“You look like a man with a lot on his mind.” Lanetti sets a mug of coffee in front of me, then takes a seat on her couch and smiles.
“Somewhat.”
“More about your date tonight?” she asks. Her tone isn’t joyful, though, and based on the look she gave me when I was talking to Michael on the phone earlier, I decided to keep Margot out of our conversations.
It’s clear Lanetti has feelings for me, and I’m not entirely sure how to explain to her that I’m not interested in her that way. At least not without hurting her feelings.
“Somewhat,” I reply.
“No need to be nervous, any woman would be lucky to have dinner with you.”
“Thanks.” I try not to look too uncomfortable as I check my phone yet again. Why hasn’t she texted back?
“Do you like to fish?” Lanetti asks.
“Sometimes,” I reply. “Though admittedly it’s more about the quiet than the actual fishing.”
She laughs. “Well, my mom kept my dad’s old fishing boat. It’s not impressive, but maybe we can go sometime.”
“Maybe.” I turn my attention to the notes I’ve scrawled on a yellow legal pad. It’s a base timeline, as well as things we found at the crime scenes.
“What do those mean?” she asks, gesturing to the playing cards I’ve doodled along the edges.
“Back when I worked homicide in LA, we had a case where a man was abducting women, then leaving a playing card at each of the scenes.”
“That is awful.”
“It was.”
“And it’s somehow tied to this? Or are you just trying to show off your amazing drawing skills?” Her smile widens .
“We found one where you were first abducted, and one at an attempted break-in at one of our client’s houses.”
Her smile fades. “That’s a scary thought. You think it’s the same person?”
“No, I put him behind bars.”
“Of course you did,” she replies. Her tone isn’t mocking or playful, but serious. She leans forward and places her hand over mine. “You’re an excellent detective, Jaxson. I know you’ll figure it out and keep me safe in the meantime.”
Slowly, I remove my hand. Maybe it is time to fumble my way through that conversation.
“Listen, Lanetti—” My phone rings, the shrill tone cutting me off. “Payne.”
“Get to the hospital,” Michael snaps.
Every muscle in my body goes rigid, and my stomach is little more than a pit. “What happened?”
“Chad’s been shot, Margot is missing. There was a card left at the B&B. A three of hearts.”
My own heart breaks.
“Bianca is coming to watch Lanetti,” he adds. “Get here now.” Michael ends the call.
There are absolutely no words to explain the bone-deep fear that settles over me. The way my ears drown out all sound as I picture Margot’s beautiful face in the dim light of her parents’ porch.
As I recall the way she’d smiled up at me.
Someone knocks on the door, and I jump .
“What is it?” Lanetti asks, not moving. “Is everything okay?”
“No.” I stand and cross over to the front door, then check the peephole before pulling it open. Bianca is on the other side, wearing dark jeans, motorcycle boots, and a leather jacket, her dark hair in a braid.
“You good?” she asks.
“No. But I will be.”
“What’s going on?”
I turn to Lanetti. “Margot is missing. This is Bianca Theodore. She’s going to stay here with you.”
“What? No. I need you, Jaxson.”
“Margot is missing,” I repeat, the words not feeling real even as they leave my lips. “I have to go.”
“She may be missing, but I’m not. What if he comes for me?”
“Then I’ve got you, girl,” Bianca replies. “I’m an excellent shot, and I know what I’m doing.” She walks in and takes off her jacket.
“Okay, well—have some coffee, Jaxson didn’t touch it.” Lanetti crosses over to me and wraps her arms around me. “Be safe, Jaxson Payne. I still want to go fishing.”
I make it to the hospital in record time.
By the time I’ve gotten into the waiting room, Pastor Redding, Michael, Lance, Silas, and Elijah are all waiting for me .
“Where’s Matty?” He’s my first concern. Was he there when Chad was shot? Was he taken, too?”
“With my parents,” Michael replies. “He’s been there all day. They have him at the house, and Sheriff Vick sent a deputy over.”
There’s at least a sliver of good news then. “How long has she been gone?”
“Security footage shows her leaving twenty minutes ago with someone dressed all in black. They were wearing a mask, so we couldn’t get a good look at their face.”
“Why wasn’t someone watching the monitors? Why didn’t anyone intervene?” I demand.
“Whoa.” Lance holds up his hands. “There was no alarm that went off, and the fire damaged the exterior and lobby cameras.”
“I can’t—she can’t be missing.” I try to suck in a breath, try to do anything to rationalize. “Why was Chad there? Did he have something to do with this? Partnership gone wrong?”
Michael shakes his head. “As much as I wish I could pin this on him, he was there to apologize.” He reaches into his pocket and withdraws an envelope. “Found this. It’s an apology note and a check for three thousand dollars.”
I stare at it. “It could be a lie. He could be trying to throw us off.”
Elijah crosses his arms. “I don’t think so, brother.”
“Do we have anything? Any lead to follow?”
“Not so far. We have to wait for contact?— ”
“This is Margot!” I yell. “There’s no waiting! We have to move!”
Michael crosses over and plants both hands on my shoulders. “Breathe,” he says. “I want to find my sister, too, but if we act rashly, we’re bound to make mistakes.”
I know he’s right.
I’m trying to remain calm.
But Margot is everything to me. What if I lose her?
My cell rings, so I reach into my pocket and withdraw it, halfway expecting to see an unknown number. Instead, my former partner’s name flashes on the screen. “She’s missing,” I say into the phone.
“Who’s missing?”
“Margot. He took her.”
“Oh no.” Alaric is quiet a moment. “I got nothing from the sister. I really don’t think it’s him, man.”
“It has to be. Somehow.” I try to take a breath, but I can’t focus on anything but how terrified Margot must be. Is she hurt? Is she even alive?
“Look, I’m booking a flight. I’ll be there in a few hours.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t. But you’re like a brother to me, Jaxson, and I know you have your new family out there with those security guys, but my feelings for you will never change. I’ll let you know what time my plane lands, and I’ll meet you at your office.”
Normally I’d insist he not come out. But he’s the only other person who worked that case with me. The only one who knows Morah like I do. “Thanks, man.”
“Anytime. You’d do the same.”
“You know I would.” I end the call, then turn to Lance. “My former partner is flying out. He knows Morah, too, and he’s going to help.”
“Good.” Lance runs a hand through his hair. The head of Knight Security was a Captain in the Army, a Ranger, and is one of the few people I trust with my life. “I want to say a prayer, then we need to get to work. Elijah, you’re on security. Pull the footage from every camera you can.”
“Warrant?”
“Just do it,” Lance replies.
Elijah nods. “You got it, boss.”
He turns to Silas. “You get with your cousins. See if one of them can fly out and help us locate her.”
“On it.” Since he never prays with us as a group, Silas turns his back and walks away, already prepping to make the call. I’m honestly a bit relieved that he’s going to do so. Silas’s cousins opened a Tracer business and can track anything with a pulse. They find people that have been missing for decades. Sometimes dead…sometimes alive.
Please be alive, Margot.
“Michael, you and Jaxson head over to the B&B and see if anything was missed. Scrape the place.”
“You got it,” we both respond at the same time.
Lance nods, then bows his head, we all do the same. “Lord, we ask that You watch over Margot. That You keep her shielded, and that You guide us to her so that we may bring her home. Heavenly Father, we pray that You will help us remain strong and that You will be with Matty during this stressful time. Please watch over Chad and guide Doc as he does what he can to save him. In Your holy name, Amen.”
Twelve hours.
It’s been half a day since Margot was taken, and we still aren’t any closer to finding her. I sit on a church pew, staring at the cross that hangs behind the altar, my heart heavy, my fear crushing me. The sun has started to come up, basking the world in rays of gold, but I can’t stomach the beauty of it when I know that Margot is suffering.
I put my trust in God a long time ago. I know that no matter what I face in this life, He has promised a Kingdom where there will be no more suffering. No more pain, or tears, or loss. And I am trying so hard to cling to that when everything around me is falling apart.
“I thought I might find you here.” My former partner and his wife arrived in town late last night, and he’s been working tirelessly alongside us, searching for anything we might have missed. “Even after all these years, I still can’t fathom how I survived not believing God was there.”
He’d been a nonbeliever until his now wife introduced him to Christ and he found his faith in the midst of the fear he’d lost her. Even though he didn’t fully understand, Alaric leaned on God in those moments because he felt the Holy Spirit guiding him.
“Once you truly open your heart, you realize just how much you need Him.”
“Amen to that, brother.” He’s silent a moment. “Do you remember when Wrenley was missing?”
“That’s not something you easily forget,” I reply.
“Fair enough.” He chuckles. “We found her, though, didn’t we?”
“We did.”
“Because God guided us to her.”
“I don’t feel pulled in any direction right now,” I reply. “I just feel lost.”
Alaric nods in understanding. “God is still there, brother. Even if you can’t feel Him.”
“I love her.”
“I knew that before I even got on that plane.”
“Fair enough,” I repeat his earlier words. Alaric knows me better than I know myself. We might as well be brothers for all the time we spent together when we were partners. “I don’t know how I’ll survive without her.”
“You won’t have to find out, because we’re going to bring her home.”
“You sound so sure.”
“Because I feel it. Margot is going to be fine, Jaxson. That call will come in, and we’ll find her.”
“And if we don’t?” I ask, voicing the deepest fear I’m carrying right now. What if we never find her? Or what if we’re too late? How will I tell Matty that I lost his mother? That she’s gone?
“We will,” he replies. “And if not? If the worst happens? Then God will carry us through what comes next.”