Chapter Twenty-Five
Jordan
My fist goes through the Sheetrock, and I welcome the burn on my knuckles. I pull back and do it again, the pain in my hand nothing compared to the pain in my chest.
“You going to let him keep doing that?” Ryan says behind me.
“It’s either that or someone’s face. Just let him get it out,” Paige sighs, and I go back to beating up the wall.
It’s been almost twenty-four hours. Miles wanted to call in the cops and report her missing, but Ryan and Paige talked him out of it. They explained that this is something we want to take care of in-house, and that means we can handle it how we want to when we find her. And find the bastard that took her.
I’ve been up all night, and I think most everyone else has been, too. Miles finally left with Mallory at some point in the night, and the rest of the team has been sleeping in shifts. I’ve done all I can do, and so far, nothing has popped up. I’ve caught a trace of someone trying to break into our system to wipe the servers, but both times they’ve slipped past me. That was the first time I punched the wall. After that, I just needed to do it every few minutes to give myself some kind of release. I’ve almost destroyed one whole side of the department, but nobody tries to stop me.
My scans finished an hour ago, and I couldn’t cross-reference any location where they might be holding Jay with our files here. I was able to find all the dirty shit Miles was looking for, so at least my time wasn’t totally wasted. There were all kinds of illegal deals slipped into this contract that was set to make Stein a ton of money. I don’t know what kind of shit he got himself wrapped up in, but now that the deal hasn’t gone through, he owes a lot of people.
My stomach churns, and I turn around, putting my back to the decimated wall. I slide down it until my ass hits the carpet, and then I put my head in my hands.
All I keep thinking about is Jay alone somewhere. Scared. Hurt. Dead? A bubble of panic rises in my throat, and I have to hold it down. I can’t think like that. It’s not hopeless. Not yet.
I take a breath and start with what we know. The Lannister deal was set up so that an international company could funnel illegal ammunition through Osbourne Corporation undetected. Stein took a huge payment up front and blew through the money without having the deal secured. Jay got suspicious, and when she started poking around, Stein skipped out of work to avoid getting caught. Then he tried to slide the deal to Miles on the side so that it would get signed without a fuss. If Jay hadn’t caught it, no one would have known. Stein wrote the deal himself, and he didn’t have anyone else checking his work. No one other than my little bird.
I rub my eyes, exhaustion hitting me. I want to close my eyes, but I know if I do I’ll be missing out on time I could be using to figure this out. What more can I do? There’s got to be something.
When Jay caught the discrepancies, she kept hounding Stein. When he dodged her, I went after him and got it. When I showed up at his home, he was reluctant to give me all the paperwork, and I know it’s because it wasn’t wiped of all the illegal information. He must have handed it over thinking I was just a hired hand, and then Jay would turn it over to Miles. Miles even said he called to let him know it was all set and just to sign them. What Stein didn’t count on was Jay. She’s like a dog with a bone, and she won’t let it go until she’s good and ready. The part that scares me the most is that if Stein is looking for revenge, Jay is the one he would go after. If he’s got her, then all I can do is pray we get to her before he reacts.
Summer had to be collateral damage. She was the bait to get Jay to come home, and she couldn’t be left behind. If she’s able to identify the person who took her, then she may not make it out alive. And the same goes for my Jay.
For a moment, a flash of her face drifts through my mind. Her smile as she’s laid out on my bed, her hair a mess of waves around her. Her chocolate eyes looking straight to my soul. The ache in my chest burns like there’s a knife inside, twisting in my heart. I don’t know how much longer this can go on. She has to stay alive. She has to. There’s no other choice.
I try to think of all the times I held her in my arms. I lean my head back and close my eyes, remembering the feel of her fingertips against my chest. I think about the curve of her hip as she lies on her side and tells me about all the places in the world she wants to see. I think about the sounds of her breathing as I wrap my body around hers and keep her safe. The memory of her legs wrapped around my waist as I sink deep into her body and make sweet love to her.
* * *
I’m jolted awake when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I look around, disoriented, and blink a few times. I must have fallen asleep. I reach down and grab my phone, almost dropping it as I slide the bar across the screen to answer it.
“Jay! Is it you, Jay?” My heart pounds in my throat, and I hear a throat clear.
“Jordan, it’s Pop.”
I sink against the wall as hope leaves me cold and alone. “Hey, Pop.”
I called him late last night and told him Jay went missing. He took it almost as hard as I did, and we stayed on the phone for a while and he listened to me cry. As soon as I hear his voice now, I feel like doing that all over again.
“Listen, Jordan, I’ve been racking my brain all night.”
“Me too, Pop. Thanks—”
“No. I’m trying to tell you I remember something.” His voice is stern, and I sit up a little.
“What?” I can’t understand what he means, but it could be lack of sleep.
“Last night I remembered something about my accident. It wasn’t an accident. Someone was there.”
My blood runs cold. “Pop, what are you saying?”
“There were two people. They came around the back of the house. Someone said the name Spencer. I didn’t get a good look at either of them because it all happened so fast. I don’t remember much else, but someone said the name Spencer, I’m sure of it.”
“Do you think this has something to do with Jay?” I ask, and I see Paige looking over at me as I talk.
“I think it might. I don’t know, Jordan, but I feel like it has to. Nothing was stolen from my house, they didn’t break in. It was like they wanted to create confusion.”
I’m nodding as he speaks. It has to be related. Why would someone harm my dad? It wouldn’t be hard for the person who did this to find out Jay and I were together. She doesn’t have much of a family to reach out to. So going after her parents wouldn’t have gotten the kind of attention going after mine would. I rub my face, feeling like the fresh information has reenergized me.
“Okay, Pop. Thanks for telling me. If you think of anything else let me know. But this is enough for me to do some digging right now.”
“I love you, son. Go find our girl.”
“I love you, too, Pop. And I promise, I will.”
I hang up the phone and grip it tightly in my hand. I’ve never lied to my dad before, and I’m not about to start now. I will bring Jay home.
Paige and Miles walk up to me.
I get up off the floor and look to the both of them. “The name Spencer mean anything to you?”