Diane (The Town of Pearl 6)

“There’s a group of us that more often than not turn to one another because of our specialties. It’s not an official announcement yet, but it seems that she’s either been taken or is dead. They don’t know and the team has been working diligently to find out more information.”

“I’m sorry, Mark.”

Mark looked away a moment. “She’s been seeing a guy in the bureau, Carter, for the last few months. I’m sure he’s freaking out. But then my commander heard from hers, and he said that Brenda was about to take a two-week vacation.”

“Well what happened? Where was she last? Was she working a case?”

“That’s the odd thing. No one knows. It’s suspicious. Her commander just e-mailed me and wants to talk. He knows that we’ve kept in communication. They’ve gone over her phone records and saw that we talked last week.”

“Last week? Why are you talking to her? What about Diane? What about our plan?”

“Drake, calm down. There’s nothing going on between Brenda and myself. I told her about Diane. Nothing has changed.”

“Then why were you talking to her?”

“She was asking about that old case from Wyoming. She said that she was working a similar case, something to do with embezzling money, when she came across one of the suspects we never located from that bust. The guy had disappeared right before the raid happened. Brenda, the team, and I knew that they had to have been tipped off. It was never proven, and since the operation was shut down and over a dozen big shots went down for the crimes, the government closed the investigation.”

“Do you think that case, the guy that got away, may have something to do with Brenda’s disappearance?”

“I don’t know, but it’s definitely suspicious. But it doesn’t make sense. That case was two years ago. There have been so many others since then. Hell, this is why I want out of this.”

“Shit. What are you going to do?”

Mark looked at Drake.

“Whatever I can do. She was a good friend.”

“Mark, maybe it’s time to fully retire? You know, hang up that agent badge and tell the government that you’re done? Lucas and I don’t want to keep worrying about you out there in the midst of danger. It wouldn’t be right to ask Diane to do the same if she were to accept a relationship and us.”

“Drake, I’m a highly trained professional. I’ve gotten this far.”

“Mark, things are different. Lucas and I left the service and our military gig for the government. It’s time you let it go, too, and start focusing on the things we discussed. You were there at the fair. You saw those other men hitting on Diane. She’s our woman and we need to make a move sooner than later.”

Just then Mark’s cell phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID as Lucas walked into the kitchen.

“I need to take this call. I’ll be right back.” Mark walked out of the room.

* * * *

“What’s going on?” Lucas asked, and Drake explained. “Sounds serious. How close was he to Brenda?”

Drake raised his eyebrows at him and gave him a “what do you think” expression.

“Shit, really? Damn, and now she’s missing?”

“It sounds suspicious, so of course he’s upset. Mark said she’s been dating some guy from the bureau. But I guess he and Brenda have stayed in touch.”

Lucas stared at Drake, his expression now angry.

“Don’t even go there, Lucas. You know he has his eyes set on Diane. The three of us do, and this doesn’t change the plan.”

Lucas looked away from Drake and stared out toward the window. His brother was in deep thought. As usual, he was feeling as if he wasn’t good enough, was too fucked up from the war to handle a relationship, and not confident enough to express his feelings. He held a lot inside, but when it came to discussions about Diane, about keeping an eye on her, about how beautiful she was and how attracted they were to her, he opened up a little more. It wasn’t going to be easy to try and make Diane see that they wanted a relationship with her. But she was a lot like Lucas. She was quiet, soft spoken, a thinker, and she was compassionate. They all saw that side of her firsthand, numerous times in the community.

Plus, Diane rarely went out partying or to the dance hall. Matt discovering her on the side of the road with a flat tire after hanging out with friends forced them to take action, even if it were mild.

“I think maybe you two should go on with the plan of talking to her, without me.”

Drake was shocked by Lucas’s words.