“OH MY GOD,” Amy May cried, her eyes filling with tears. “Do you think he’s okay?”
I knew her hormones were out of whack and she loved Cade, but, shit, Amy May was making me think of worst-case scenarios, and that’s not where I needed my head to be.
“Of course, he is. He’s Cade,” Carmen replied, and I shot her a grateful look.
Amy May nodded and wiped at her cheeks.
“What’s your plan?” she asked.
“Well, as far as Bea is concerned, my plan is to get ready for my wedding and let the PD handle things,” I told them, and they both tilted their heads to indicate they understood. “My actual plan is to try and figure out who exactly has him and where he is before anyone else realizes that he’s missing. Then, I’ll go get him and make sure he’s back in time to put a ring on it.”
“I’ll help,” Carmen said.
“Me, too,” Amy May added.
“Thanks, I was hoping you’d say that,” I told Carmen, then looked at Amy May and said, “No way, sister.”
Amy May pouted, but I shook my head.
“You need to take care of yourself and that baby, and you need to make sure my cake is fabulous,” I said jokingly, hoping to keep her from flying off the handle.
She huffed.
“Your cake will be fab regardless. I want to help find Cade.”
“Amy May, I can’t have you out in the middle of an MC turf war when you’re expecting. Jason would kill me if something happened to you, and I’d never forgive myself.”
“What about research? I could be your woman behind the computer, searching for clues, texting you addresses, that kind of thing.”
She held up her hands in prayer, until I rolled my eyes and said, “Fine. But, if you so much as smell danger, you remove yourself from the situation. Got it?”
“Yay,” Amy May said, clapping her hands, then crossed her heart. “Promise.”
“Great, let’s just do a quick dusting, change the bedding, and make sure everything is good for the Wilkes’ arrival tomorrow. I still need to stock up the fridge and pantry for them, but I figured I’d do that tomorrow with Cade’s mom, since there are probably certain things she wants to have on hand.”
“You’re not going to tell his parents?” Carmen asked softly.
I chewed my lower lip, felt my eye want to twitch, and shook my head.
“No, I don’t want to worry them. I don’t know how I’ll manage to act normal and keep it a secret, but I have to try.”
“Okay, let’s get busy so we can start the search,” Carmen said, clapping her hands together with glee.
If there was ever a woman who loved to clean, it was Carmen.
Two hours later, the house was ready, and thanks to Carmen, would pass inspection, if there was an inspection to be had.
“Thanks so much, you guys. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you could help me out. With the house, and with finding Cade. I’m having such a hard time concentrating on anything, and since I haven’t been able to find any leads yet, I’m really frustrated.”
“Anytime, Lila, you know that,” Amy May said, and I crossed to give her a hug.
“Thanks, mama. Now, go put your feet up and we’ll let you know as soon as we need your mad researching skills.”
We said goodbye to Amy May, then I had Carmen follow me to my house, so we could leave her car there and take the van out to begin our search. I hadn’t been lying, I really was at a loss as to where to start, which had panic starting to set in.
“How about we go back to the gas station . . . back to the scene of the crime, just like in the movies,” Carmen said, her voice conveying her excitement.
“We just have to make sure the cops aren’t there, Bea will kick my ass if she knows I’m out looking into this.”
“Covert operations . . . got it,” Carmen said, her eyes widening with delight.
She turned to look at me with a chagrined expression.
“You know I’m not happy Cade’s missing, right? I mean, it’s terrible, and I know everything is going to be okay and your wedding will go off as planned. I’m just happy to be working with you, out on an actual case, instead of sitting back in my office at the paper.”
“I know, Carmen, don’t worry about it. I’m happy you’re working with me too, and although I wish we were on a different case, I’m confident that we will find him and everything will be fine.”
“Me, too.”
“And, you’re right, let’s start at the beginning,” I said, and turned the van toward the outskirts of town where the gas station was located.
Luckily, when we arrived, there were no cop cars in sight.
We parked at the gas station and walked over to the crash site. The car was pretty toasted and Cade’s bike was trashed.
Boy, is Cade going to be pissed . . .
Carmen took pictures with her shiny new Nikon, while I did the same with my phone.
The license plates were fried, the inside of the car was charred, and there was nothing left that could give us a clue as to who the car belonged to.
“Shit,” I muttered as I walked in a big circle on the outside of the crash, looking for anything that may have been flung from the wreckage.
“Hey, Lila, that guy’s trying to get your attention,” Carmen said, and I looked up to see Junior standing at the back of the gas station, waving his hand for us to come over.
“That’s the guy with the video of the crash. Maybe he’s seen or heard something else,” I told her.
I took one last look at Cade’s bike, my chest contracting painfully, then went to see what Junior wanted.