The Good One (The Ones)

Chapter twenty-two

Donovan

Myheartisshattering in my chest. Is that an actual thing that can happen? I’ve never felt so small as I did when Kasey got out of my car. She’s right. None of this is fair. I’m a fucking asshole to accuse her of sleeping with me for a story. To know that she heard me talking to my brother and Aiden kills me. I took her trust and crushed it in my hand. How could I even think that about her? She says we don’t know each other well, which is true, but I have to believe I know her better than that. I kept wavering between hurt, anger, and wanting to shove the words back in my mouth and taking her in my arms. I should have been more worried about finding her sister and less about my reputation. I was so upset with my brother over more photos it just flew out of my mouth. God, I’m a fucking dumbass.

I open the door to get out of my car and go to her. I need to make this right. We said horrendous things to each other, but this can’t be the end. I stop myself. That wouldn’t be the right move now. She needs time to cool off and I need to check in with Aiden and have him come here. At least I know she’ll be safe for the night with him watching her building. I close my door. Tomorrow will be better. I know she didn’t mean the things she said. She was reacting to my conversation. Tomorrow I’ll make her see the truth, but tonight I don’t think she’ll hear it. No, tonight I’ll have Aiden take care of her. Even though it kills me.

“Did Kasey get home okay?” he asks when I call him.

“Yeah. Look, Aiden, I know you’re working on finding Lindsey, but I need you to come here and watch Kasey’s building. She wouldn’t let me come in and I don’t feel right about having her here alone.”

“No problem. My buddy Liam is here looking through everything. He’s up to date on what the situation is. If there’s anyone I trust to be as thorough as me, it would be him.”

“Wow, mate, was that a compliment?” I hear in the background. Must be one of Aiden’s Royal Marine contacts, judging by the accent.

“Shut it, you. Sorry about that. I’ll leave now and be there in about ten minutes. Liam will go over everything with you.” He hangs up.

I now have ten minutes to spend talking myself out of knocking on Kasey’s door. I want to respect her wishes, but it’s hard when I know we can work this out if we just listen to each other. And after I grovel for forgiveness. Why do I let other people’s bullshit concerns into my head? I’m not a fucking moron (well, that one’s debatable at this moment) and I’m actually a pretty good judge of character. Fuck, I have a lot of apologizing to do if I ever expect to get in her good graces again. The hurt on her face and in her eyes nearly had me breaking, but I was listening to my anger and the voices in my head telling me this is what I get for trusting a reporter. How could I have been so goddamn stupid?

I see Aiden’s car pull in behind me. I get out and go to his window as he’s rolling it down.

“She’s been in there for about ten minutes. Her blinds are drawn so no one can see in, but it looks like she hasn’t turned many lights on. Don’t go in there tonight unless you see or hear anything suspicious. I think she needs to be left alone for a while. I’ll come back tomorrow and check on her. Let’s let her have tonight.” I instruct him.

“Whatever you think is best. A few of Liam’s associates are at your apartment, going through phone records and looking through all the pictures. There has to be some clue there. Some pictures that Lindsey took match the places of the pictures you were sent. I recognize the last set you got as being the same bar that Lindsey took pictures of Jackson in. There’s a connection there somehow. I’m going to have one of the guys go in tonight with Lindsey’s picture and ask around. I also have one of the guys at Lindsey’s place, seeing if anyone comes back.”

“Okay. I’ll go back to my apartment and wait to hear from you. I’ll take another look at the pictures. I think there’s a connection there too. Maybe something will jog Jackson’s memory. If he’s still sober.” I roll my eyes. My brother doesn’t handle stress well on a good day. Today is not a good day.

“When I left him, he was sober. Hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol as far as I can tell.”

That’s a surprise. I thought given the opportunity with me being gone, he would have been half a bottle deep by now.

“He feels awful about the havoc his activities have caused you and Kasey. Add in a missing sister that he thinks is somehow connected to him, and he’s suddenly in everyone’s way, trying to help. I’m not one to tell anyone what to do, but I think you should talk to him. He needs to hear that you don’t blame him.”

Well, that’s a first. I don’t think Aiden has ever tried to give me advice regarding my brother. The truth of the matter is my brother’s responsibility in the situation with Kasey only goes so far. I was the one who broke our hearts with my accusations and doubt.

“I’ll talk to him when I get home. Keep me updated.”

He nods and rolls his window up. I get back to my car and head home, interested in what I’ll find there.

I walk into my apartment that has turned into investigation central. There are computers set up all over my dining room table and cans of soda and energy drinks littering every available surface. A large blond man walks up to me.

“Hi, I’m Liam. I’m heading this operation while Aiden is babysitting your girl.” He reaches out his large hand and we shake.

“Donovan Hayes. Thank you for coming.”

“Let me introduce you to the group. Here’s Abel. He’s going on recon tonight at the bar that we have pictures of from both sets.”

Abel is a tall lanky guy with dark blond hair and a kind of face that blends into a crowd. He waves as he gathers pictures from the coffee table.

“Then we have Sawyer. He’s our resident hacker. He’s been looking into your girl’s sister’s cellphone data.”

I’m surprised we don’t need the actual phone to do that, but what do I know? This is what I pay Aiden for.

“Kingston was here earlier. He also specializes in recon. He’s at the apartment looking for anything that Aiden may have missed and doing a general scout of the area. He’ll also be talking to a couple of neighbors to see if they saw anything,” Liam explains.

“How about you, Liam? What do you do?”