Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Maybe this was another coincidence. Caleb had been posting old pictures on social media for four days now, longer than any other time, so I couldn’t help but be suspicious.
I drove past the massive traffic jam going out of the city. Heading in at this hour was painless. Everyone was getting off work and going home to suburbia. I was going in to meet up with Gael and Dean at Waffled. We were gonna eat, see a movie, pack a few bags of belongings at Gael’s place…
One drawer at a time, I was filling my home with their stuff. Clothes, toiletries, books, a 3-D printer, more books, even some furniture that belonged to Dean.
Yeah, focus on that. Focus on Dean and Gael, not Caleb.
But Gael had mentioned that this was Caleb’s MO. He popped in and out of Gael’s life every couple months, and it’d been that now. Almost two months had passed.
I scratched my chin and picked up my phone again, and I sent a voice-to-text to Reese.
“Hey, would you mind checking with your friend about Caleb’s online activity? Send.”
Another thing that bothered me was the kid’s use of his credit card. I couldn’t rely on that altogether because he didn’t use it every day. I had no access to his debit card—and obviously, I wouldn’t know when he used cash.
Either way, his credit card showed zero activity in the last five days.
Could be because he’d gotten paid recently, of course. He didn’t need to use his credit card yet. Or…?
Times like these, I missed being a detective. I’d be able to do more. For one, I’d be able to trace Caleb’s phone. Going private meant saying bye-bye to all permits and the proper authority to dig deeper. Instead, I had to rely on friends of friends who operated outside the law. I didn’t even know who their buddy was. But I trusted River and Reese, so…
I blew out a breath and crossed the river into DC, and I sent another voice-to-text, this time to Dean.
“Can you get to Gael faster? I have a bad feeling about Caleb. Love you. Send.”
If I was ruining date night, I was gonna punch myself.
Dean had warned me I could be overprotective at times. Then again, he’d followed that statement with, “Unfortunately, so can I, and I don’t see that stopping.”
Dean Aavik
Can you get to Gael faster I have a bad feeling about Caleb love you.
Voice-to-text was…not a favorite of mine.
I picked up the pace and called him.
He answered right away. “Look, I could be overanalyzing shit again, but it’s one too many coincidences for my comfort. Old photos posted as new, he’s not at work when he claimed he would be, and he hasn’t used his credit card in almost five days. I’m waiting to hear back from Reese too.”
I knew about the photos and the credit card, but Caleb’s absence from work was news to me. “I’ll be at Waffled in five minutes,” I told him.
“Are you walking or driving?”
“Walking.” The sun was shining, and temperatures were finally reaching seventy most days. I walked. “Did you check Gael’s surveillance?”
“Before I left the house,” he muttered. “We shouldn’t have fucking spent the night apart.”
No, that was making less and less sense, though not for Caleb reasons. Thankfully, it was only once or twice a week when Gael and I had to work early. Sometimes, we slept at my place then, but it was harder for Joshua to bring his own work. Unless he was fixating on a single client, he needed access to his home study.
“Goddammit! Now I get stuck in traffic?” Joshua growled.
Also a good reason to walk.
“I can almost see Waffled up ahead. I’ll be there in a minute or two,” I promised. “Let’s not freak out until we have to, okay?” How fitting that I heard sirens in the background.
He sighed heavily. “Fine—you’re right. Depending on when I get out of this fucking mess, I should be in Georgetown in ten, but…I don’t know, it looks like an accident up ahead, and an ambulance just drove past.”
No need to rush. My own worry was settling down before it could truly rise up, because now I definitely saw Waffled on its side street, so I would be there in a matter of seconds. I looked both ways and crossed the main street in between surges of traffic.
“I’m there now, darling. I can see him behind the counter. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“Okay, good. Thanks, baby. I love you.”
I smiled to myself. “I love you too.” I pocketed my phone and opened the door to Waffled, only to come face-to-face with the other man I’d fallen hopelessly in love with.
He lit up at the sight of me. “Hi! How was work today?”
“Hello, sweetheart. It was fine—nothing fun to report, actually.” I walked past the line and caught up to him by the register, and we met halfway for a quick kiss. “Joshua will be here soon. He’s stuck in traffic.”