Chapter 18
TRACE
My father had always said, “A man takes responsibility for the people he loves.”
So when I woke up before dawn with Wolfe’s long limbs wrapped warm and loose around me, and I remembered today was the day he’d committed to hiking with Jake, I took responsibility for not being an annoying barnacle begging the man I loved to ditch his plans for me.
Even though it was exactly what I wanted to do.
Instead, I kissed Wolfe’s forehead. I left him a note wishing him good luck with Jake and giving him my phone number again so he could text if he was back early and wanted to spend the afternoon together.
Then I forced myself to return to my own campsite, take a quick shower, and dress for the day.
At every step, my legs wanted to carry me back to the van with the colorful stickers on the back window and the beloved sweetheart of a man lying curled up inside it.
My fingers itched to touch him again. To stroke lazy hands through his hair and share an old joke or a new story. Yesterday had been amazing—a seductive taste of what the two of us could have if we were just willing to try.
And we’d both said we wanted to try.
But part of trying was easing Wolfe’s mind by showing I respected him as an adult capable of managing his own friendships. Especially when that friendship was with someone who clearly wanted more and Wolfe was going to have to let him down gently.
Having my jealous ass around would only make that awkward situation more awkward.
So instead I took my jealous ass out of the campground in search of breakfast in Montrose, since the only place to eat in Hush was presumably closed today to everyone and especially closed forever to me.
I’d catch up on some work, check in with Robyn at SERA, then head back to the campground to wait.
“Did you put a tracker on his van?” JJ asked, almost as soon as he answered my call.
“What? Of course not. Don’t be creepy.”
There was a pause over the line before JJ’s warm laughter rang out. “Tell me the truth, bud. Because I know you better than that.”
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the worn vinyl booth as the breakfast diner bustled around me. “I considered it,” I admitted. “But Wolfe’s an adult. There’s no reason to track him other than…”
“Wanting to know where the man you love is at all times?” he suggested, his wide smile clear as day in his voice.
I blew out a breath. “Yeah. That.”
“If you’re willing to admit it, things with you and my cousin must be looking up.”
JJ could fish all he wanted, but I wouldn’t confirm anything until Wolfe and I were ready to make things official.
“Knew it!” JJ crowed. “Guess this means you weren’t calling to see if I dug up more dirt on your competition, huh?”
“Jake’s not my competition! Wolfe and I are perfectly—” I broke off, swearing under my breath as JJ laughed victoriously.
“For your information,” I continued, “I called to see how you were doing. When we talked, it seemed like some shit was going on with Whitney. I wanted to make sure you knew I was here if you want to talk about it.”
There was another pause on the line, which didn’t surprise me.
JJ Marian was known for being easygoing and happy.
If the extended Marian family had a golden retriever personality in the bunch, it was him.
The guy never got upset, or angry, or moody.
He was friendly and pleasant. Steady and kind.
Not the kind of guy who’d feel comfortable spilling his dirty laundry in plain sight.
So it was surprising when JJ let out a breath and admitted, “We’re separating. But don’t tell anyone, especially my parents. They will salt the earth and destroy Whitney simply for not being the perfect partner to me.”
I snorted. “Was she ever the perfect partner for you?”
He sighed, and I realized it was even earlier in California than it was in Colorado. “Probably not. But I wanted it pretty badly. The whole white picket fence thing. Kids and a chaotic household.” He hesitated. “Which was bullshit. Is bullshit.”
JJ made it sound like Whitney had thought it was bullshit, and I hated that for him.
“Not bullshit,” I said. “Your parents have it. So do your grandparents and pretty much all your uncles.”
He groaned. “Don’t remind me. Do you have any idea what it’s like to have the first divorce in the world’s most perfect fucking family?”
“JJ, your family loves you. They only want you to be happy, no matter what government paperwork is involved in making that happen.”
“I know. I just… I’m not ready to tell them.”
“I won’t say a word. Do you need a place to stay? Wolfe would probably let you use his place for a while since he’s not there.”
“I’m, ah… staying at Aunt Tilly’s house in Nob Hill.”
I played the words back to be sure I’d heard right. His great-aunt was the world’s biggest shit-stirrer and not great at keeping secrets. “Tilly? And you don’t think she’s going to send a group text giving assassination orders on the Whitney target?”
Thankfully, his laughter came over the line again.
“Nah. Tilly’s a vault when it comes to important things.
She’s probably carrying CIA secrets and the door code to Fort Knox.
She sent Harold to Texas to visit his grandkids.
Every night, she forces me to share a bottle of wine and binge-watch some reality show called Below Deck.
I guess she heard about it from Cal Wilde when she was in Hobie for the holidays, and now she’s obsessed. ”
I loved knowing she was looking out for him. There wasn’t a more fierce defender and lover of the Marian family than Matilda Marian, its matriarch.
“Good. I’m glad you’re not alone and she’s forcing you into some downtime.”
JJ and I both had a tendency to overwork, and I wondered if that had been part of the problem with Whitney. Even if it had, he deserved to be with someone who shared his vision of the future.
“Not sure how long I’ll be able to indulge Tilly, though,” he said. “I landed a huge new client who’s trying hard to get me to be hands-on.”
This was surprising. JJ didn’t take bodyguard assignments anymore, now that he was in the process of taking over the company.
“You gonna do it?”
“It’s Juni Mezzo,” he said, like this answered the question.
I supposed it did. Juni Mezzo was almost Scarlett Johansson big. And she was married to Nick Caron, the lead actor of the Final Meridian action movies. The two of them were the current Hollywood “it” couple.
“Fuck, JJ. How can you turn that down?”
“I can’t. And they have little kids, which makes it even harder to say no to her request for my personal involvement.”
“Might be the change of scenery you need.”
“Also something I considered.”
“You gonna do it?” I asked again.
He let out a breath. “Yeah, probably. But they split their time between both coasts. It’ll be hard to run the company.”
“Talk to your dad. Maybe he can take some of the responsibility back temporarily.”
We talked through it a little longer until JJ was called away to take a meeting. Then I dove into my own work after scarfing down an egg sandwich and fruit salad, along with my second cup of coffee.
After a while, I paid and left, relocating to a small park with picnic tables. The weather was perfect—deep blue skies and a few fluffy white clouds. The kind of sunny day Colorado was known for.
I tried not to obsess about what was happening with Wolfe and Jake, but it wasn’t easy. When I thought about it, jealousy flared like molten lava in my stomach, bringing out parts of me I hadn’t realized I had.
In an effort to distract myself, I called Robyn at SERA to check in.
“Shit, Trace,” she said. “I was trying not to involve you, but since you called…”
She proceeded to tell me about a regulation change that required SERA to update several of our certification programs. It meant revamping the syllabus for several courses, but also meant our instructors would need to recertify their own credentials.
We spent the next few hours banging out details while I kept an eye on my phone in case Wolfe texted. But by the time 2:00 p.m. rolled around, I still hadn’t heard from him.
I left the park and found a place to grab a salad for lunch, wishing like hell I had his number. When I couldn’t stand it anymore, I drove back to the campground. His van was there, but when I knocked, it was empty.
There was no sign of him.
His friend Brennan waved me over to his site. “Will went out with Jake from the bar. I think they were going hiking.”
My stomach dropped. He’d actually gone on their hike? I’d sort of expected Wolfe to have a conversation with Jake and let him down easy, then spend the afternoon with me. Had I misread the situation?
Even so, “I thought he’d be back by now. Do you know when they left?”
His eyebrows dipped as he tried to remember. Val poked his head out of Brennan’s van. “Early. Like at eight? I was up making coffee.”
“Maybe it was a long hike?” Brennan suggested. “I think Jake mentioned something about an overlook?”
“Nah, a waterfall,” Val corrected. “I meant to ask Jake which one.”
It had been seven hours since they left. That was a hell of a hike.
“Okay,” I said, trying to be casual about it. “Maybe they stopped to grab a sandwich or something. If you see Will when he gets back, let him know I was looking for him?”
As if I wouldn’t be spending the rest of the afternoon with eagle eyes on the campground entrance until he returned.
“Totally,” Brennan said.
Val nodded.
I made my way back to my own site and set up my laptop at the picnic table to continue working until a sudden rainstorm forced me to move into my rental car. When four o’clock arrived and he still wasn’t back, I lost my cool and called his cousin Gabe.
“Hey, man, what’s up?”
It wasn’t until after his friendly greeting that I realized it was after hours in South Carolina, so I quickly apologized.
“Sorry to bother you. I was just curious if you happened to have the number for Wolfe’s new cell phone.”
Gabe paused. “He hasn’t given me a new number.”
I let out a laugh. “That’s not what I asked, asshole.”
“What’s going on? Aren’t you there with him? Ask him yourself.”
I glanced around at the rain that had only gotten heavier. “He’s hiking with a friend. Except he’s been gone a very long time, and I’m starting to worry. It started raining a while ago, which means they should have been back by now.”
“I don’t have his number, but I could probably figure it out if he’s used it to post to his social media accounts or something. It’ll take some time.”
“Yeah, could you? If he doesn’t come back soon, I’d like you to be able to ping it or check its location. Just to see if he’s okay.”
“Will do.”
“Thanks, Gabe.”
“Anything, brother. I’ll hit you back in a bit, okay?”
I tried to control my anxiety by reminding myself that the sun wouldn’t set for hours yet.
At this point, I would almost be happy to learn the two of them were safe and comfortable snuggling at Jake’s right now, as long as it meant Wolfe was okay.
But I knew Wolfe Marian.
I trusted the connection we’d forged yesterday. There was no way he’d suddenly shift his focus like that and leave me hanging without an explanation.
I knew he wouldn’t lead Jake on like that either.
Thinking of Jake made me remember JJ’s earlier teasing about finding dirt on my “competition.” I suddenly wondered if he’d been serious.
I shot off a text asking for info, and JJ typed back immediately.
JJ
Nah. No dirt. Pretty much what we thought before.
Financial picture’s bad. Mortgage on the bar is in arrears by several months. Jake’s been looking for a short sale to avoid foreclosure, but no dice yet.
Good guy going through hard times?
I clicked off my phone and frowned. JJ was probably right. None of that was a smoking gun.
But there was still the outstanding mystery of Wolfe’s missing journal, which had to have been taken by either Shay, Jake, or Brennan. If it held song lyrics like he’d said, then it would be worth a fuck ton of money in the wrong hands.
I tried to stay calm and wait for Gabe to get back to me, but the later it got, the more convinced I became that something wasn’t right. By the time five o’clock rolled around, I wanted to peel my own skin off.
I pulled on my rain jacket and walked over to Wolfe’s van to peer inside like a total stalker.
The driver’s seat was empty. The note wasn’t there, which meant Wolfe had seen it. When I peered in the other window, I saw what looked like a cell phone tucked into a side pocket next to the bed.
My heart gave a sudden lurch. He doesn’t have his phone?
He wouldn’t be able to call or text.
And any effort on Gabe’s part to locate the phone would be a waste of time.
I returned to my own site and quickly texted Gabe with an update.
Then I got into my car and drove to Jake’s Place.