The Good One (The Ones)

Chapter twenty-one

Donovan

God,thisisall such a fucking mess. I don’t know where we go from here. I know Lindsey is missing, and that she was doing a story on my brother. My fucking brother. I don’t even want to think what would have happened to my campaign had that gotten out. Now we have a missing girl. I don’t know if the two are related, but I feel in my gut they are, and I can tell my brother feels responsible. I don’t think he knows why or even recognizes the feeling. He’s never had to take responsibility for anything. Big brother has always been to the rescue. My family doesn’t have any enemies that we know of, but I suppose anything’s possible. The only connection Lindsey has to my brother as far as I can tell is they were in the same place several times and she was taking pictures of my brother. There has to be something in those photos.

Aiden returns with the pictures that were sent to me as I’m sharing my fears about Kasey’s and my relationship with Jackson. They are both adamant that she had nothing to do with the story. I mean, if I can believe her, which I am desperate to do, then her sister didn’t even know about our relationship. According to Kasey, aside from Abigail, she only told her mom the other day, and no one has heard from Lindsey since before then. How long has this girl been gone?

“Did you hear from your friend looking into camera footage?” I ask Aiden.

“I did. The only camera that I saw doesn’t cover the front door of the building, unfortunately, so that was a dead end. I have him going to the street itself to see if he spots any other cameras in the area. I doubt it, though. It’s a quiet neighborhood, so most people probably feel safe and don’t think about things like cameras.”

Goddammit.

“Okay, what do we have to go on then?” Jackson asks. Glad to see he’s joining the party.

“Well, I was thinking about the pictures that Donovan was sent—”

Just then Kasey comes down the stairs, eyes rimmed red. Fuck, it breaks my heart to see her like that. Aiden’s right, there’s no way she’s that good of an actress. She couldn’t have known anything. My girl wears her heart on her sleeve.

“I think I should go back to my apartment,” she tells the room, not quite looking at me.

Aiden and Jackson both turn to me for direction, neither looking enthused about the idea. I’m certainly not.

“Baby, I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. We don’t know if it’s safe. We don’t know who or why someone took your sister and if they were targeting you too.” I’m not on board with the idea at all.

“If Lindsey is out there and hurt or scared, she’ll go to my apartment. I’m sure of it. She doesn’t know where you live or that I would even be here since she doesn’t know anything about us,” Kasey tells me. She’s not really looking at me, though, which gives me a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“I really don’t like this idea, Kasey,” I respond to her. Yes, it makes sense that Lindsey would reach out to her sister, but something is off.

“Donovan, I really don’t care what you think right now. I want to go home and I want to go home now.”

Whoa. Where is this coming from? I know she’s upset about her sister, but she can’t be thinking clearly.

“Why won’t you let me leave, Donovan? Huh? You already told me I can’t call the police and I haven’t, against my better judgment. Why can’t I go home? What are you afraid of?”

“I’m afraid that some psycho has your sister! I’m afraid that if you leave, you could be next.” I’m confused and angry. This is so far from where we were yesterday. Yesterday she trusted me.

“Yeah, well, how do I know you didn’t have something to do with it? You already said how badly this could damage your career. For all I know, you could have done something to my sister and now that I know about the story, maybe you want to do something to me too!” She’s becoming hysterical as she makes her way to the door.

Is she serious? How could she think I would ever hurt her? I love—Wait, I’m not going there. How dare she think so little of me when I’ve done nothing but try to be as open and honest with her as I can? It makes me wonder if she’s hiding something and wants to leave to cover her own tracks. I only thought it for a moment, but now I’m not so sure I shouldn’t consider it further.

“Well, how the hell do I know you didn’t know about the story yourself? Was this all a game to you? Did you fuck me to get a story out of me or to keep me preoccupied while your sister chased after my brother?”

She rears back like I just slapped her, tears running down her face. My brother stands from the couch and Aiden is just looking at the scene unfolding in front of him like it’s a fucking tennis match.

“Brother, you’re going too far.” The voice of reason is my brother’s. That’s a first. Am I, though? She’s trying pretty damn hard to get out of this apartment for no real reason.

“Kasey, if you want to leave, no one is going to stop you. I’ll take you now if it would make you feel better.” Again, my brother, Mr. Sensibility himself apparently.

“I’ll take her. If she can’t see that she’s making a horrible mistake with whatever she has going on in her head, then I’ll take the responsibility. I’m used to it, anyway.” I realize my doubt is coming out as anger, but I can’t stop myself. Kasey has said nothing, but the way she’s folded in on herself with tears streaming down her face tells me I took it too far. Fuck. I’m just making more of a mess.

“Kasey,” I start. “Please—”

“Just take me home, Donovan. I don’t want to say anything else that I’m going to regret and I don’t think you do either, although I’m beginning to think I don’t know you well enough to make that call.” She turns on her heels and walks out the door to the elevator.

“You better make this right, brother. You’re pushing away the best thing that ever happened to you.”

No shit.