WE WERE BACK at my house, sipping on wine and munching on cheese and crackers, while using my laptop and Carmen’s tablet to try and find a lead.
We were failing miserably, but at least there were cupcakes and wine.
“This is hopeless,” I whined, hating the sound of my own voice, but frustrated as hell. “Missing them tonight really messed us up. I have no idea how to find Cade now, and the wedding is in five days. Ugh, and you know it’s not just about the wedding, who cares about the wedding. I just want Cade safe and back home.”
“I know you do, honey,” Carmen said sympathetically. “Do you want me to bring Bran in, see if he can think of something we haven’t?”
“Sure, I’ll take all the help I can get,” I replied dramatically.
“Okay, I’ll call him,” she said, standing up and walking into the kitchen.
I shut my laptop with a grunt and heard a knock on the door.
“What, is Bran psychic?” I muttered, looking back into the kitchen.
But it wasn’t Bran at the door, it was Bea.
Shit, do I close my laptop? Do we have notes on the table?
I tried to get a mental picture of what my living room currently looked like but came up blank.
“Hey, Bea, how are you?” I asked, leaning in to give her a quick hug.
“All right. I realized I hadn’t given you an update yet and that you were probably climbing the walls by now,” she said, walking in past me.
I shut the door and prayed there was no evidence of my investigation as I followed her into my living room.
“Carmen’s here?” she asked, looking at the two wine glasses, cheese board, and our discarded electronics.
Carmen was still in the kitchen. I could hear the strain of her voice, but luckily couldn’t make out the words.
Hopefully, Bea didn’t have supersonic hearing.
“Yeah, we were just hanging out. And, don’t beat yourself up, I was busy most of the day with the Wilkes.”
“Oh, right, the future in-laws are here. I can’t wait to meet them,” Bea said with a grin.
My friends had all loved hearing about our escapades with Cade’s parents in Hawaii. How his mom always seemed to know when we were about to have sex, the time we accidentally skinny dipped together, and when Elin found Cade’s mom’s vibrator.
Good times.
“I’m sure you’ll all love each other,” I said wryly, then asked, “Want a glass?” Pointing at the wine.
“Sure,” she said, as Carmen came back into the room talking.
“He’s on his way and happy to help,” Carmen said, then stopped in her tracks when she saw Bea.
“Who’s on the way?” Bea asked curiously.
“Bran,” I replied, then tried to keep the conversation going by sing-saying, “Her boyfriend.”
“Oh, stop, he’s not my boyfriend,” Carmen argued, playing along.
“Oh, I didn’t know you’d given him a second chance, that’s great, Carmen. I’m happy it worked out this time,” Bea said.
I hurried to grab her a glass and came back as Carmen said, “It’s still pretty new. I don’t want to jinx anything.”
“I can’t wait to finally see you guys together, you know, since you made it official. Did you say he’s coming over now?” I asked.
Carmen nodded.
“Can you ask him to pick up some McDonalds? I’m suddenly jonesin’ for a quarter pounder with cheese, no onions.”
“Oh, yeah sure, I’m hungry, too. You want anything, Bea?”
“I’m good,” she said, then looked pointedly at the cheese board.
“What? I stress eat, you know that.”
“I’ll just go call him again,” Carmen said. “Be right back.”
I hoped she told him to keep his reason for coming quiet in front of Bea, but now that I’d said it, I really did want a cheeseburger.
“So, like I said, I wanted to catch you up on what we’ve done so far.”
I sat down on the couch, picked up my wine and got comfortable.
“Okay, shoot,” I said.
“We searched the area, talked to the owner of the gas station, as well as some of the residents who live in the surrounding area. One of the homeowners confirmed that there’s been a new MC around town, and they’ve been fishing around, trying to see what they can get away with around here. The Club’s name is Diablos Rebeldes, and the guy’s name was Cueball. Obviously, he’s an older bald white man,” she said, and I mentally cataloged the new information.
“Anything about Cade?” I asked, hoping she knew more than I did.
“Not definitively, I’m sorry. From what I can tell, he was either investigating this new MC and they found out, or he’s working with them and they turned on him. I’m really not sure yet. When we went back tonight, the car and Cade’s bike were gone, so I asked around, and the closest resident said a tow truck took them away. I’m guessing Bubba called them, since it was on his property.”
“Did they see what company he used?” I asked.
“Um, Black Creek Towing, I believe, why?”
“I thought maybe I’d go see if Cade’s bike is salvageable. He’ll want it, when he comes back.”
Bea put her hand on my knee and said, “Lila, I know I don’t have a lot of information for you, and right now things look bleak, but don’t give up hope, okay? I won’t stop until we find him.”