This is Effortless (Checkmate Duet 4)

“I’m on my way,” I say before hanging up. I finish getting dressed, lock up the dogs, and get to the PD as fast as I can.

Walking directly into Logan’s office without knocking, he looks up at me as soon as he sees me rounding his desk.

“They don’t have an ID on him yet, but they’re doing everything they can to identify him as soon as possible. Since the bartender is only a partial co-conspirator to the whole thing, nailing this guy would make your case concrete.”

Truthfully, I don’t care much about the case right now. Whoever thought they could lay hands on Courtney and carry her out of our hotel room should be praying I don’t ever find out where they live.

“Let me see it,” I demand, nodding my head to his computer screen. He clicks a folder and pulls up the image.

“It’s grainy, but at least we can confirm it wasn’t the bartender, which means we’re looking for another guy, too.”

I narrow my eyes, squinting at the screen as I focus on the face that’s pressing closely to Courtney’s unconscious body. My hands form into fists and the longer I stare at him, recognition surfaces.

No fucking way.

I follow along the length of his jaw and see a heart-shaped mole on his chin. He’s smart to keep his head down, but I’d recognize that mole anywhere.

“Holy fuck, I know who it is.”

I immediately grab my phone and call Courtney.

“You do?” I hear Logan’s voice, but I can only focus on the ringing that’s repeating over and over. Answer the phone, Goddammit! It goes to voicemail, and I curse.

“What is it?” Logan speaks louder.

“That guy—” I point to his screen. “His name is Jayden. He works with Courtney and you met him at Kayla’s Christmas party. They drove up to San Francisco early today for a work conference. Alone.”

Logan tells me to take an unmarked police car up there because he knows me too well. He calls the SFPD and informs them there’s a new warrant out for Jayden Rooks who’s at the Four Seasons Hotel, but who knows if that’s where he’s even really taking her? The hotel has a huge conference room and it wouldn’t even be noticeable if they didn’t show up at their table.

I call Courtney’s phone several times before I even hit I-80. If they are in the conference, she probably has her phone on silent and who knows how long until she finally realizes she’s missed over a dozen calls from me. I text her just in case she checks her phone but can’t listen to my voicemails.

D: CALL ME AS SOON AS YOU CAN.

D: BABE, I NEED YOU TO CALL OR TEXT ME ASAP. IT’S IMPORTANT.

I’m losing my mind at the possibilities of what Jayden’s capable of and considering I didn’t see it coming, I can bet she won’t either. I told Logan to dig up what he can on him and call me the moment he finds anything. The drive is only an hour and a half and they left before eight this morning, which means she’s been alone with him for hours.

I call Travis next and by the tone of my voice he knows right away something is wrong.

“Are you sure it’s him?” he asks after I tell him about the camera footage.

“Positive,” I answer sternly. “What do you know about him?”

I can hear him ruffling papers around on his desk as if he’s shaken up just as I am. “Um…well, he’s a grad student at the university, originally from the South Lake Tahoe area, graduated college with honors, getting his degree in marketing and…”

“Wait,” I interrupt, letting his words sink in. “That must be how he knows Mia.”

“How? And why would he help her?” he asks.

“If he’s from the same area as her, it’s likely they went to the same private school.” It takes a moment to process, but I’m now surer than ever that she cooked up this plan with him months ago.

“Oh, fuck,” he whispers, just loud enough for me to hear. “I’ve never heard him mention Mia or anything about his life outside of work, actually.”

“Yeah, and I bet he didn’t apply for your internship by coincidence, either.” My jaw ticks as my fingers tighten on the steering wheel.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

This is worse than I imagined.

“He’s been working with Mia this whole time,” he states exactly what I’m thinking.

“And Lord only knows what Courtney’s told him over the last few months,” I say tightly. “That motherfucker.”

“I’ll call the hotel and see…”

“No,” I raise my voice. “I don’t want him having any clue we’re tailing him. He’ll run…or worse.”

“Right, okay. Let me know if I can do anything, all right? I feel so helpless right now.” His voice is thick with tension and I know he’s blaming himself.

“I’ll call you as soon as I know anything,” I tell him before we hang up.