chapter 43
Jaxon
MY PHONE KEEPS RINGING, but it’s an unsaved number, so I ignore it. All I want is to get home to Scarlett because she must be hungry. I had to work late tonight, and I saw her text as I was just getting in the car, so I stopped at the Chinese takeout and got something for the both of us. When my phone rings once more, I sigh and pick it up.
“Jaxon Bentley,” I say into the line.
The next words spoken send chills up my spine. “Jaxon, please tell me that Scarlett is with you.”
“No, she’s not,” I say quickly, fear and worry consuming me. “I’m on my way home from work now. Who is this? Where is she?”
“It’s Valentina,” she says, sounding worried. “Scarlett was meant to meet me for coffee about an hour ago, and she never showed up. I have a feeling something’s not right. Can you check if she’s at your house, then call me back?”
It’s not like Scarlett to not show up anywhere. She’s always punctual, and this definitely doesn’t sound like her. “I’m almost home, I’ll call you back.”
I speed the rest of the way home, park, and rush to the front door. Her car is here, so when I spot it, I hope she’s only on the couch, waiting for me with a smile. When I enter the house though, she’s nowhere to be seen. I start calling her name, and search every room. When I come up empty, I call her phone.
It’s off.
I call Valentina back. “She’s not here,” I say in a panic. “Fuck, where could she be, Valentina? I need to find her, now. It’s not like her to go somewhere without letting someone know. Her car is here, so unless she went for a walk somewhere . . . But at this time of night? Fuck, I don’t know.”
“Fuck,” Valentina whispers. “I’m coming there with the men right now. We need to find her and make sure she’s okay. Stay there, Jaxon. I’ll be there in ten.”
She hangs up and I walk out the front of the house, looking down the street, wondering if she’d go for a spontaneous walk and maybe lost her phone. If she did though, she would’ve been home in under an hour, no one walks longer than that. And if she lost her phone or dropped it and it broke, she’d come straight home. So this makes no sense. I hear the rumbles of the bikes before I see them. Two bikes. I tell you what, these men work fast, and the gratitude I feel for them showing up to help search for my woman will never be unappreciated. I see Demon get off his bike first, Valentina on the back, and he comes rushing over to me.
“Any sign of her, brother?” he asks me.
“No,” I say, shaking my head.
“Tell me everything,” he demands, in full cop mode.
“She messaged me asking me to bring dinner. Valentina said she planned to meet up with her for coffee but never showed, and she’s nowhere to be found. Her car is here, Demon, so I don’t know where she could have gone.”
“Fuck,” he grits out. The other man climbs off his bike and comes to stand next to Demon. I recognize him as the president of the WDMC, a man known as Arrow. Why is he here? Either way, I’m grateful for the help.
Valentina comes up to stand next to me. “What do we do?” she asks us. “Something’s not right, I can feel it.”
Demon looks to me. “Do you have cameras in your house?”
He knows I do. “Yeah, but the only view we get is the backyard, the sides of the house, and the front door.”
“Let’s see what we can do with that,” Arrow says, looking at me. “Can you let us in? We’ll try to get any clues to see what happened to her.”
I nod.
He looks to Demon, and says, “I’ll do a ride around the block. Valentina can you go talk to the neighbors and see if they saw anything? They might be friendlier if a woman shows up instead of Demon or me.” He pauses, but then adds, “And, Valentina, you come right back here, you hear me? Anything happens to you, and Irish will fight out of prison with his bare hands and kill the lot of us.”
“I will,” she says, saluting him.
He nods and leaves, without another word. Valentina disappears next door.
“Come on, let’s see what we can find on the cameras,” Demon says, storming toward the house. I open my laptop and show him the footage. It shows her leaving but as soon as she walks out onto the lawn where her car is, we lose sight of her.
Fuck.
“Demon, fuck!”
“I told you to update your security,” he tells me, making me want to punch him. He did tell me that, but now is not the time to rub it in my face.
“Don’t,” I growl at him, letting him know not to push me any further. “Don’t even fucking go there.”
Valentina returns about ten minutes later, worry written all over her face.
“She told me she needed to talk about something,” she says to me. “Something was weighing on her mind. Why wouldn’t she have made it to the café?”
She wanted to talk to Valentina about something? Was there something wrong? It’s odd that she didn’t mention meeting up with Valentina in the first place, because she always sends me a message telling me what her plans are. None of it makes sense. None of it. Fuck, if something has happened to her, I’m not going to fucking survive it.
“There’s a message on your voice mail,” Demon notices. “What if it’s from her?”
I walk over to the machine and press PLAY. When I hear my mom’s voice, I shake my head at him, but then when I hear the content of the message, I cringe.
“Fuck.”
I can’t believe my mom said all that, and that Scarlett would have heard it. No wonder she wanted to vent to Valentina.
“And that’s why she would have wanted to see you,” I tell her, cursing under my breath. “Fuck, she must have been upset.”
“Well, unless she went to murder your mom, it still doesn’t explain where she vanished to,” Demon says, moving to search the house.
“We have nothing to go on,” I tell him, hoping one of them have some kind of epic plan, because I don’t know what to do. I can’t think straight. I’m not at my usual level headedness. “Should I call the police?”
“Not just yet,” Arrow advises me as he walks back into the house. “This isn’t our first rodeo, Jaxon. If we can’t find her, I doubt the lazy-ass cops can.”
I look to where Demon is, walking around and looking for any sign of a struggle, or a clue that can help, like any good cop would. Not all cops are lazy.
We walk out the front.
“Do you know a woman of this description?” Valentina asks me. She hands me a piece of paper with dot points she’s jotted down. “Your neighbor across the road saw a woman with this description surveying your house.”
I read them, they aren’t much to go by: shoulder-length brown hair, tight clothing, short.
I read them all three times, and then it hits me who it could be.
“There’s only one woman who I could think would have any vendetta against me and Scarlett, and she fits this description,” I tell them.
“Give us her name, now,” Arrow demands, looking to Demon, probably ready to bark out orders, which I appreciate.
“Sharon Beetle.”
“The TV presenter?” Valentina asks, brow furrowing. “What does she have against Scarlett? How does she even know who she is?”
I give them a quick rundown on my connection to Sharon, and tell them how I think she’s psychotic. I also let them know that it very well might not be her, but that’s all we can go on right now, because I can’t think of anyone else who would be searching around my house like that.
Demon nods, because he saw her the night he punched me in the face. “Makes sense.”
“We’re going to the TV bitch and see if she has Scarlett or not,” Arrow orders.
“I’m staying here in case she comes back,” Valentina announces, and Arrow nods.
“I’ll call one of the men and tell them to come here and look after you. Only open the door if it’s one of them. We don’t know what we’re dealing with here yet,” Arrow warns.
Arrow makes a phone call, then turns to us. “We have two addresses for her. We’re going to have to split up.”
“I’ll go with Jaxon,” Demon says quickly. “You okay on your own, man?”
Arrow flashes him a look that clearly says, What the fuck do you think?, then hands us one of the addresses.
“Good luck, Jaxon,” Valentina says, running her hand through her hair.
“Thanks, Valentina,” I tell her.
I’m going to need it.