“Barely,” I confessed with a smile. “But I won’t be able to fall asleep properly until we find Jasmine.”
“Yeah, same here.” He kept one hand on the steering wheel while he scrubbed his free hand down his face. “Been a long day, though. My bed is gonna feel awfully sweet tonight.”
I wasn’t sure if he was trying to make up for being so short with me earlier or if he was simply tired of driving for so long in silence.
Possibly a little of both.
Either way, I was glad. After so many years of being so angry with both of them, I’d fallen back into our old happy rhythm a little too easily. And as we’d discussed what had happened way back at school, I wasn’t ready for any new drama.
I hoped that they both felt the same way, even though I had no idea how to fit them together with the life I had back in L.A. like they seemed to want. Or, more accurately, to find a way to live my life in Georgia again.
That was what they wanted and expected, although neither of them had said it outright.
Not yet, anyway.
They were set up with careers and a home on that ranch.
From the back seat, Nolan’s voice stirred me from my thoughts. “Ain’t that the place up on the right, Coop?”
“Yep,” Cooper answered. “That’s the place. I can’t see shit from here, though. Can y’all tell if there are any lights on inside? Are there even any windows?”
I looked as well, but couldn’t make out too many details in the darkness. There was a light above what seemed to be the front door, but the rest of the building and most of the parking lot were in darkness.
“It looks abandoned,” I said, giving Cooper a questioning look. “Are y’all sure this is the right place? Do those guys even still work here?”
“Hard to say from back here,” Nolan replied. “I’ve only ever been here once, and I wasn’t paying attention to much of anything those guys told us that day.”
“Same here,” Cooper smirked. “We were bored as hell that day, but we came along because they were so proud to launch their company or whatever.” He shrugged. “It sounded cool and all, just not my thing.”
“Not my thing, either,” Nolan mumbled as we pulled into the gravel parking lot outside what appeared to be a single-story, low-slung warehouse with brown metal siding. “For what it’s worth, it looked this deserted in the daytime when we came, so I guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Oh, I was judging. If they didn’t want this place to be judged, they shouldn’t have made it look so damn scary.
“This is seriously a production studio?” I cocked my head to the side. “I’m not sure what I had in mind, exactly, but this didn’t really match up with my mental image of a legit studio. Are y’all sure they don’t shoot porn here?”
Muriel yawned. “I don’t care what they call it or what they supposedly do in there as long as they can tell us something about Jasmine.” She nodded toward the building. “If they asked her to make sexy costumes, then she’s her own boss. She can do what she wants, but if they’re trying to get her to do a porno, I’m going to kick their asses.”
Nolan grimaced. “Fuck that. We’ll all take turns kicking their asses.”
We parked next to the only other vehicle in the parking lot—an old van that was almost as creepy looking as the deserted warehouse.
I nudged Muriel as the four of us got out of the truck and walked toward the door. “Can you imagine walking up to a place like this in L.A.?”
“Oh, hell no,” she laughed quietly. “No, ma’am. No way. Only if you were trying to get sold on the black market or chopped into tiny pieces. Or both.”
“You girls make California sound so nice,” Cooper smirked. “Tell me again what it has that Georgia doesn’t?”
“Jobs,” I answered dryly. “Design jobs. Modeling jobs. Movie jobs.”
“You can find jobs like that here,” Cooper said, then gave Nolan a healthy dose of side-eye when his buddy snorted loudly. “Okay, maybe not quite as many jobs here in Covington. But they are starting to call this area the Hollywood of the South, so that has to mean something.”
“We already live in the real Hollywood, sweetie,” Muriel said, taking the words right out of my mouth. “But it is true that there are more opportunities around here now than ever before. I hope that’s what brought Jas way out here to this place.”
I nodded. “Let’s find out.” I tried the door handle, but it was locked. I pounded on the door instead. “If nobody answers in five minutes, we’re either breaking a window or breaking down the door.” I looked over at Nolan and Cooper. “And by we, I mean the two of you.”