CHAPTER 7
“Let’s get back to the subject at hand here, can we?” Luke scolded. “Enough about the woman in my apartment – Carter is still missing.”
“This program has been running for thirty-six hours and there’s still nothing,” Liam said. “I’m running DC, Nashville, and everything in between. Not a single hit on anything and I have it all running.”
“I have the team on the ground now. They’ve been to his office and condo – not a trace,” Dace said, scrolling through images already acquired by the team they’d sent in for intel. “Both places look clean – too clean. They’re still working.”
“Too clean, like a pro clean up?” Declan asked, not sure he really wanted to know the answer. A pro clean up, or professional cleanup was when someone went to a crime scene and cleaned up any evidence left behind.
“I don’t know, man. It’s pretty damn clean,” Dace added, shaking his head. “He knew there were hits on him from other cases, but he had people on those. If someone took him out, none of us saw it coming.”
“We don’t miss shit like that,” Wylie said with pride. “Especially that close to home. It just doesn’t happen. Carter is too fucking smart to be marked like that.”
“Hey!” came a voice from the door. City. “Oh, good, you’re back from the park, Luke.”
“The park?” he questioned.
“Yeah. We’re headed over to the Farmer’s Market,” Lydia added. “Daisy seemed interested in going, but mentioned taking Gibson to the park.”
City smiled at her fiancé and winked before turning to Luke. “Since you’re back, we were hoping you guys would go.”
“I didn’t take Gibson anywhere. She ran with me this morning, so she doesn’t need the park.” Luke was confused, and something told him he didn’t want to hear the rest. He was getting that knot in his stomach again. “She’s been here with me for hours.”
“Good. Bring her too then. All the more reason to go. Get Gibson out too!” Lydia added. “Join the weekly outing. Daisy could use it. There’re food trucks, beer, wine…and everything else Farmer’s Markets usually have.”
“Food, beer, and wine…” Declan laughed. “I know why you’re going.”
“No,” Luke said hastily. “She shouldn’t be out there.”
“You’re such a brute. Let her out for a while before she goes crazy.” Lydia was joking about the brute part, but not about the rest.
“That girl has the patience of a saint dealing with you.” City laughed.
“It isn’t safe for her out there right now.”
“That’s why you’re coming, big guy,” City interrupted with a sock to his shoulder. “You can keep her safe, and I’m pretty sure Liam will buy you a beer and some of that barbecue you guys get excited over.”
“When Carter has these guys locked up in a super max prison, we can go out more,” Luke explained. Truth be told, he wanted to go out as much as she did.
“You guys said this thing can take months, even years. That’s a long time to be locked up in Watermark,” City tried to negotiate. “She really wanted to try the gourmet taco truck that was on that cooking show. Taco truck only, then back home. Skip the park – Gibson will understand,” she teased, bending to scratch the dog’s ears.
“No. Daisy needs to stay put. Is she upstairs?”
“She must be. When she left, she mentioned talking you into going to the park, and I think she was hoping to do the Farmer’s Market. She really wanted to go. I’m surprised she isn’t down here,” City said.
“Why do you keep talking about the park? We didn’t go to the park or have plans to go to the park.” Luke stood. He didn’t like what he was hearing. Something was wrong. Very wrong. “She hasn’t been down here at all.”
“Why do you keep saying no and it’s not safe?” City asked, sharing his concern as the pieces started to fall into place. “You guys have been going to the park. What changed?”
“Carter is missing. Now, where’s Daisy?”
Luke hit a few buttons on Liam’s display until his apartment came up. He flipped through each room while dialing the phone in the apartment. The live feed told them all what they were afraid to confirm. She wasn’t up there.
Surprised, City’s hands covered her mouth to muffle the gasp Luke’s directness provoked. “Missing? For how long?”
Liam took over, trying to keep the group calm. He could see, with each passing minute, Luke was becoming more and more concerned. “We don’t know. He isn’t responding to us. We don’t even know if there is a problem, but it isn’t like him to drop off the grid without some kind of warning.”
Luke waved his hand in front of Liam, cutting off the chitchat and assumed explanations. “Back to the park thing. Did she say she was going? Did she leave your place just now?”
“No,” Lydia chimed in. “She left…maybe a half hour ago, tops. Said she was headed down here to look for you. She wanted to go to the park, and I think she wanted to talk you into the Farmer’s Market. That’s why we’re here. We thought we could all go together. Safety in numbers and all that.”
“Oh man.” Declan looked at Luke, as did all the brothers. “Thirty minutes ago? You think she heard?”
“Heard what?” City challenged, her hands firmly resting on her hips. “What did you do, Luke?”
“I didn’t do anything,” he fired back before turning his attention to Liam. “Get everything up on the wall. Rooftop, gym – everything. Track her while you’re at it.”
Liam’s stare was stuck on his brother, disappointment etched in his expression. If she heard what he’d said, he was afraid what those searches may reveal.
“What are you waiting for, Liam? Judge me later, all right? All of you! Now, find her.” Luke didn’t need the judgement of his brothers. He was already judging himself harder than anyone else could. This was exactly why he couldn’t have what he was beginning to want. He ruined everything and didn’t deserve it.
“Her device is placing her right here in Watermark,” Liam started. “But it won’t tell me exactly where other than the west side of the building.”
“Okay. Good.” Relief washed over Luke. “West side. That could be the gym or lobby.”
“Gym’s clear,” Liam said. “Lobby’s clear too. Rolling back security feeds now, but let me check points of entry.”
“Points of entry?” Wylie questioned. “Surely she wouldn’t have left. Not again.”
“If she heard this idiot, sure she would have.” Declan walked over to the weapons closet and punched in his code. “Something tells me we’re going on a search and potential rescue. Grab your gear, guys.”
“Oh my God, Luke!” City marched over to where he stood and started poking him in the chest with every word she spoke. “If she left and something happens to her, I will personally kick your…your ass.”
City wasn’t one to curse, so when she did, she meant business. Lydia was fueled by her actions and joined her. “And I will help her. Got it? If she’s not in this building, you better find her – fast.”
Lydia wasn’t done. She turned to her husband. “Declan O’Reilly, you better help him bring her back here. Then you’re going to help her bring her things to our place. She’s staying with us.”
“And us,” City tossed in there. “You don’t get to have her anymore. We all know you’ve been through some stuff, Luke, but eventually, you need to get your head out of your ass and move on.”
“We’ll be upstairs,” Lydia said, linking arms with City. “None of you come home without her.”
The men watched as the women left, then shifted focus to Luke. He stood speechless and expressionless. Nobody had to say another word because they knew whatever was going through his head was worse than anything they could say to him.
“I have her at the lobby door,” Liam said. “She left.”
Liam nodded toward the screen directly in front of him, and they all watched Luke as he watched Daisy look right into the camera before tossing her watch aside. She’d heard him.
Luke ran his hands through his hair. The anger coursing through him was less about her and more about himself. She left – she left him – and he didn’t blame her. Now, finding her would be like finding a needle in a haystack. They had an entire city to scour.
“Gear up.”
While the men geared up, Liam went to work, pulling up city security feeds based on the timeline they established from her Watermark departure. He had it narrowed down to a four-block radius in a part of town where the cameras weren’t updated and business owners relied on older analog technology. He couldn’t hack the area – not as quickly as he needed to.
The men put together a methodical tactical procedure that would peel back the layers of their search as quickly as possible. There was an immediate concern over the abundance of hotels in the area they would be searching. One: that was a lot of space to search and clear. Two: if someone found out about her, and they were here, what better place to do whatever they planned than a hotel?
With Carter off the grid, there was a good chance someone was onto them. Carter was highly trained and didn’t crack under pressure. Like the brothers, he would sacrifice himself before giving up to an enemy. Even if that were the case, and someone got to Carter without a trace, the brothers were in the dark when it came to how far their enemy’s reach went. It was anyone’s guess what they knew, with or without Carter giving up information.
So, they searched. Despite the abundance of hotels and those being a likely target for anything malicious, they cleared all of the small shops and boutiques first, knocking out about eighty percent of their search. If she wasn’t there, the hotels were next. They would tag team each building, knocking out one room at a time.
Luke was marking off the final few establishments, hoping she was either in the boutique he was about to clear or the cigar shop next door…as odd as it would have been to find her there. He pulled the door open to the boutique and paused. That sound – he knew it. Turning his attention to the melodic joy flowing from the hotel bar across the way, he followed it as it danced through the air, leaving him entranced.
Like a siren’s call, he trailed the beautiful sound and knew exactly who it was before he even saw the karaoke sign posted out front. Daisy.
After messaging his brothers, Luke passed through the bar full of heavy nightlife and found Daisy seducing the crowd with her tantalizing harmonies. He made his way to the front, standing just offstage, arms crossed, and red-faced angry.
When Daisy finally noticed him, her demeanor changed. It was bold, like she was daring him – to do what, he didn’t know. The sway of her hips became hypnotic, tempting, and inviting. Luke was angry she was showing every man in that place what he wanted only for himself.
He was lost in her, his pants suddenly tighter, a bead of sweat collecting at his brow. Suddenly, images of them together danced in his head, like they could have something if they wanted it bad enough. She erased all that held him back from pursuing anything with anyone and made it all seem possible and real.
When the song ended, he pulled himself from her poetic foreplay and reminded himself she was indeed a job – one that got away – and how much that pissed him off. He stepped in front of the stage and held out a hand to help her down, though she was reluctant to take it at first.
He pulled her close, causing a sharp gasp to escape her when her soft small body landed against his large strong body. With her hand on his chest for balance, she slowly dragged it down, feeling every ripple of rock hard muscle just beneath the thin sheath of cotton. His stare was lethal and made her shiver despite the sweat rolling down her back from the heat he created.
Breaking the stare and moment of anger – or maybe it was intimacy, neither really knew – he weaved in and out of the crowd, trying to get her out of there. With his mouth to her ear, his voice slightly above a whisper, he said, “Why the hell are you here?”
Without hesitation, she looked him in the eye, and said, “Just making your job easier.”
Hearing his words fall from her mouth, Luke stalled, stunned. He’d indeed hurt her feelings, which meant he was the source of her sudden departure and imminent danger. He wasn’t sure what struck him more, that she cared what he thought about her, or that his words didn’t just make her mad, but had hurt her emotionally. His words held power over her, and he hadn’t a clue why. Pissed, sure, but hurt feelings? Unless…
“Hey, Luke, haven’t seen you in a while. You gonna…” the bartender was cut off before he could finish revealing Luke’s guilty pleasure.
“On my way out, man. Good to see you,” Luke said, headed for the exit again.
The crowd booed him as he passed. It seemed they liked Daisy. Apparently, they wanted more of her. He couldn’t blame them – he did too. Shaking those thoughts from his head, he pushed on. He didn’t have time to reconcile the random thoughts of his subconscious.
When a few servers and barmaids went out of their way to be noticed by him with a hello or a where’ve you been, Daisy became curious. “Pretty popular around here.”
Luke grunted in response – he wasn’t having that conversation, in that bar, with her.
“I can walk out of here on my own, you know.”
“Don’t care.”
“Can I at least go to the bathroom before we leave? Jesus.”
“Fine,” he said, turning to her. “Five minutes, then I’m coming in.”
Daisy sauntered down the long hall leading to the restrooms. She stopped at the door marked women and shifted her attention back to Luke. Just as she’d suspected, given the heated stare she felt following her, Luke was leaning against the wall at the end of the hall, arms crossed, eyes on her. When their eyes met and stares locked, she shot him a narrow glare, to which he grinned and raised a brow before turning his attention to the crowd.
That’s when she made her next move and bolted for the back door. With a quick look over her shoulder to confirm the coast was still clear and Luke’s sights were elsewhere, she pushed through the door – right into the arms of danger.