Guarding Hope

Cummings rubbed his freshly shaven face, then quickly moved his hand up to his cowboy hat, removing it and fiddling with the brim. In a steady, rough tone, he barked out, “She’s missing, damn it, and the San Antonio PD refuses to do their damn job. They wouldn’t even take down a report. How in the hell is that even right?”

“Again, how old is she?” Dax reiterated with very little patience remaining for the man in front of him. He knew when a person was evading his questioning, and Cummings was sure as hell dodging the question.

“Twenty,” Cummings finally admitted, ducking his head to avoid Dax’s gaze.

With an exaggerated sigh, Dax dropped his pen on the desktop, leaned back in his leather chair, and said, “Okay…and what makes you think she hasn’t intentionally gone missing? She has the right, ya know.”

“No the fuck she doesn’t,” Cummings informed the Ranger with a vehemence that put the well-trained official on alert.

Their attitudes transformed with those words. Dax leaned forward, leaning his elbows on his desk and crossing his fingers. The tick in his jaw would warn any normal man with sense that he’d been pushed too far, but Cummings was either too stupid or too arrogant, and Dax didn’t care for either.

“Mr. Cummings, I know that you’ve been used to skirting the law, but that doesn’t work with me. I can’t be bought, and I sure as fuck am not afraid to tell you no. Your daughter is a legal adult and therefore not under your thumb. From your tone, I know all I need to know. She more than likely left on her own accord, and I don’t blame her for it. Get your ass out of my office before I find a reason to look a little harder into your life.”

Cummings tilted his head, narrowing his brow, and with a hint of disbelief in his voice, he questioned, “Is that a threat?”

The air was so thick with anger and distaste that a knife couldn’t cut through it. With a smirk, Dax taunted, “Why? You worried?”

Cummings pushed his chair back and stood, attempting to create a towering persona. At only five ten, it wouldn’t work with the muscular six-one Chambers who wouldn’t cower to anyone. “Never, but I want my daughter found, and now I’ll have to hire someone to do that.”

“Do that, but I’ve got my eye on you,” Daxton exclaimed, standing as well.

The enraged father stormed out of the office and over to his expensive truck. The bastard had the money to hire someone, but apparently, she didn’t seem worth the dough.

“Fucking bastard,” both men uttered simultaneously.

While Baxter Cummings drove off, Daxton went back to his desk to make a call with a smile. He needed help from someone with time and outside the law enforcement world but who had the right connections, and there was only one guy for that job.

Gage felt his phone ring in his pocket as he pulled up to the gas station just a few miles from his home. He needed a fill-up, so he reckoned now was as good a time as any. The screen showed his buddy Dax calling, giving him a little cause for concern. He hoped to hell that nothing happened after Dax reported back to this office, but then again, why would he call Gage instead of someone closer to help?

“What’s up, Dax?” he answered, jumping out of his truck next to the pump closest to the store. In need of some beers, Gage figured he’d pay for his gas inside and pick up a six-pack. The heat was making him thirsty, or maybe it was the woman that he couldn’t get out of his head.

“I know you’re not in the same line of work, but I wonder if you have a private investigator on your contacts?”

Gage pulled the door open, making it chime and attracting attention from several people in the store, including some nods from the strangers in line. There happened to be a lot more people at the station than he’d ever witnessed.

“Why? What do you need?” He tipped his head, nodding to them as he headed to the back to the line of coolers, pulling the pack out of the refrigerator just as someone else came in, and he was hit with that feeling again. He nearly banged his head on the cooler door, turning around to see who it was.

“Baxter Cummings was the fucking problem that called me back from lunch. His daughter has gone missing,” Dax exclaimed on the other end.

She couldn’t be more obvious unless she brought out binoculars to look at Gage. Her chin dipped into her chest as she ducked her head, attempting and failing terribly to go unnoticed. Her outfit had changed just slightly, but she was still wearing the blue zippered hoodie.