Finally

Chapter 2

2

Caitlyn Powers glared at Officer Pattinson and tried not to let out her claws. The man was as useless as t**s on a bull, as her mother used to say. Not that Caitlyn ever wanted to be compared to the heartless b***h her mother was.

“So, you’re not doing anything to find Jeanine? At all?” Caitlyn asked, proud of herself for how calm her voice sounded.

The cop shrugged. “There’s nothing for us to do. It looks like she left town.”

“But forgot to take all her stuff?” Sarcasm dripped from Caitlyn’s words and poured all over the desk.

The cop leaned back and leveled her with a glare of his own. “Ms. Waterford’s apartment is a crime scene. No one is supposed to enter. Are you admitting to breaking and entering, Ms. Powers?”

“If it’s a crime scene, then why aren’t you looking for her? It’s either a crime scene or she left. It can’t be both!”

“There is no sign Ms. Waterford did not leave. But, like I told you three days ago, we turned the case over to the FBI. They’re the ones in charge of missing persons cases.”

“You also said they would be keeping you updated on their progress. Is there any progress?”

“No. Because she’s not missing.”

“Then where the f**k is she?”

The cop rose at her screeched words. He leaned over the desk so quickly, Caitlyn had to back up or let him head-butt her. “You will not speak to me that way, Ms. Powers. If you don’t leave, I’ll have you arrested. And then where will your little investigation go?”

Caitlyn drew in a shaky breath and tried to calm herself down. She’d never been very good at holding back her anger. It got her into trouble more than once when she was a kid, but as an adult, it just landed her on the unemployment list. Getting arrested would give her a permanent spot there, and she couldn’t risk that.

Her hands shook with the need to punch the smug son-of-a-b***h, but Caitlyn did exactly what he wanted her to do and left the station without another word.

The bright sunshine forced her sunglasses over her eyes before the first tear fell. It wasn’t the first time she’d been on the wrong side of a plea from the police department. But when the cops were spineless assholes she went to high school with, guys who were too scared to talk to her when she was on top of the world and relished in the fact that her current place was squarely on the bottom, she knew she’d get no help at all.

“Did you hear Liam Johnson is back in town?” a woman walking by asked her friend.

“Oh, Patty’ll be so happy about that. Is he coming to the party tonight?”

“I would assume that’s why he’s here. Bob saw him…”

Their voices trailed off as they continued down the sidewalk past the police station and Caitlyn’s attempt to eavesdrop.

Liam Johnson.

Caitlyn remembered Liam. He graduated with her, too, but he was smart and kind and too good for her. She also heard he joined the military and was a part of some elite team that helped find people. Not many people made it out of their small town, and the ones who did were talked about in adoring whispers. Like Liam.

For the first time in more than a week, Caitlyn had hope that her friend might be found. Jeanine would come home, and Caitlyn would help her move on from whatever hell she’d been through. Maybe they could finally leave the s**t town they lived in and start a new life. Somewhere far away from East Charlottesville.

And the memories the town held.

The last place English expected his dad to go for the anniversary party was to West Textiles. He expected dinner at a restaurant, maybe even somewhere outside of town, but not a catered event at his dad’s place of employment.

“Mr. West offered,” English’s mom said. “He’s so kind. He treats his employees like family. He says since he doesn’t have one of his own, he wants all the people who work at West Textiles to know he’s there for them if they need anything.”

“That’s…nice of him,” English said as they got out of the car. He was more than a little curious about the place, and this way, he didn’t have to break in.

The party was set up in a large, open room that looked like a banquet hall. Definitely strange for a factory. But clearly not underutilized judging by the seamless way things ran. The catering company and bar staff had everything set up and ready to go before the first guests arrived.

Everyone sang the praises of their host for throwing the party. English even heard some of them talking about Mr. West footing the bill for most of it, although English wasn’t sure his father’s pride would have allowed that.

English worked his way through the crowd, thankful he’d changed enough that few people recognized him. He could be invisible and try to pick up any information out there about Jeanine Waterford. Not that there was much.

He leaned against the bar and watched the guests. The bartender slid his beer across the temporary structure and nodded to English like he was anyone else.

Invisible was his forte.

If anyone knew anything about the missing woman, English would bet on it being the staff. He’d learned long ago that if you wanted to find out something, you always blended into the background because people would say things around you if they didn’t realize you were listening. Servers were always invisible, and always knowledgeable. He just needed to find one who might be willing to share something with him.

Bingo.

A pretty, young server on the edge of the room was watching him. She was not even close to his type, but that wasn’t the point of the mission. The point was to find out whatever he could about Jeanine Waterford.

English made his way toward her, glancing her direction enough to let her know she was the reason he was walking over there. She smiled and ducked her head, like she was embarrassed by the attention. A ploy. She was young and cute with strawberry blonde hair pulled up in an intentionally messy bun. Her eyes were wide and bright, giving her a cartoon look that was definitely perfected with makeup. Her lips were a glossy pink, tempting if he liked that kind of thing. But he didn’t.

English preferred a woman who wasn’t trying so hard. One who had curves and a biting wit. One who would roll her eyes at the man stalking her from across the room.

He reached the woman’s side and took his time looking her up and down before he simply said, “Hi.”

She giggled and batted her eyelashes at him, playing up the sweet and innocent thing so well he wondered how old she really was. “Hey.”

“You come here often?” The pick up line was cheesy and bad enough that English wanted to roll his eyes at it, but it was effective.

The server giggled again and shook her head. She bit her lower lip, and English let his gaze drift there. He had to play the game with her.

“I’m new. I’ve only been working for Mr. West for a few weeks. I’m Cami.”

“Hi, Cami. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too.”

“Do you live in town?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I grew up here. My daddy works here. My mama’s gone, though.”

A local. Definitely someone who would have information. “Sorry about that. What is there to do around here? Aside from this party?”

She laughed. “Not much, really. Most of my friends go out to the river and drink. There’s one bar, but that’s mostly old people.”

“Wouldn’t want that.”

She giggled again. “No. My boyfriend and me prefer the river. It’s more…private out there.”

Boyfriend. Dammit. She was a flirt, but she was making it clear she wasn’t available. So much for that lead. “Makes sense. Maybe I’ll see you out there later.”

“Sounds good. I should get back to work.” She bounced away like she hadn’t just blown his chances at finding out something useful. Of course, she didn’t know that was the only reason he was talking to her.

English stayed where he was against the wall. He watched the rest of the party until he spotted his cousin approaching. English couldn’t stop the smile on his face.

“Well, s**t, look what the cat dragged in,” Adam said in greeting. He clapped English’s hand and pulled him in for a hug. They were close to the same height and had both put on a few dozen pounds of muscle since high school. Adam and English were close growing up, best friends and cousins, but it had been years since they’d seen each other.

“I didn’t know you were coming to this thing.”

Adam snorted. “Couldn’t miss it if I wanted to. Mom and Dad insisted I make an appearance.”

“Lucky you.”

“I didn’t know you would be here. How are you? How’s life?”

English shrugged. Adam was the only other family member who had an interest in getting out of their hometown. He was a year younger than English, so when Adam left, it wasn’t as hard. English broke the mold. Or at least cracked it.

“Life’s good. Our team is doing well. I enjoy the work.”

“And are you here for work or just a visit?” Adam asked carefully.

English sipped his beer and looked at his cousin from the corner of his eye. He hadn’t kept in touch with Adam and had no idea what he did for a living. He was taller by an inch or two and wider by the same. His matching blond hair was cut short, and his blue-green eyes said he saw things no one else did. If English had to guess, Adam was not a civilian.

“What makes you ask?”

Adam turned with his back to the rest of the crowd. The move was casual enough that anyone who saw him would think he was facing English to say something private. Instead, he flashed a badge. An FBI badge.

“What the hell?” English blurted, the words spewing out before he could stop them.

“It’s not my case, but I saw it come through the system. I also saw it was shared with a private contractor organization.”

“As far as anyone else knows, I’m here to surprise my parents.”

“You can’t stand being here.”

English shook his head and took another sip. He limited himself to only one drink for the night, but he wanted it to last the whole night. “I’m willing to bet you aren’t much happier about this than I am.”

Adam shook his head. “Nah, but it’s par for the course for me. I go where I’m needed.”

“But this is pleasure.”

Adam shrugged. “As much as it can be. I’m assuming you have all the files, but if you need anything, let me know.”

“Do you know her?”

Adam shook his head. “Never heard of her. Mom and Dad are pretty tight-lipped about her. Tommy and Rick said they heard she skipped town.”

“It sounds to me like there’s more to all of this. Dad told me she was messing up marriages.”

Adam’s brows shot up with the new information. “Think they knew her?”

“I hope not. Aren’t we here for their anniversary?”

Adam chuckled. “How long are you in town?”

“A week. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on what I find.”

“We’re attracting attention, but we need to talk. Breakfast tomorrow?”

“I’ll be there. Seven?”

“Let’s make it eight. There’s a cute little server who’s been eyeing me all night.”

English snorted as his cousin pushed off the wall and stalked through the crowd. He walked right up to Cami and said something to her before she blushed and nodded eagerly.

Guess that boyfriend wasn’t so real after all.

Damn. English really needed to learn how to read women.

Caitlyn looked out at the crowd and grimaced. She hated working odd jobs like she was, but that was what happened when all the money she earned modeling as a kid went into a trust that her mother controlled and ran off with.

Not that Caitlyn was still bitter or anything.

Jeanine told Caitlyn over and over again that she needed to get a lawyer and find her mother, but Caitlyn had zero skills. And zero money. Which brought her right back to the event she was working. Because her goals had shifted.

Caitlyn grabbed a tray and made her way around the room. She stayed to the outside so her wide hips didn’t knock over a table, or a client. Her boss had threatened not to let her work again after the last time that happened, but she talked him into letting her work when she found out they needed extra people. And now that she might be able to get some help finding Jeanine, she was even happier she did.

Liam Johnson. She remembered the nerdy guy who sat near the window in her math class. Freshman year, at least. Then he passed her and moved up and up until he was taking college courses before they graduated high school. He was easily the salutatorian of their class, probably should have been valedictorian, but he was the kind of guy who never made anyone else feel stupid in his shadow.

And the kind of guy Caitlyn found herself in need of help from.

She recognized his parents, but being the guests of honor, they were simple to spot. Caitlyn circled the room and couldn’t find Liam.

Small town rumors weren’t always right, but Caitlyn prayed this one was. He was the prodigal son. Returning home from the war, coming back to celebrate with his parents.

She spotted a man near the bar earlier that vaguely reminded her of Liam, but he was too tall and too built to be the nerdy guy from high school. Caitlyn kept looking, wondering if her quest was a waste of time, when the screech of the microphone drew her attention to the stage.

“Good evening, everyone,” Mr. Johnson’s voice boomed through the speakers. “Ooh, sorry about that. Patty and I just wanted to thank everyone for being here tonight. This is a special night for us, and we are so grateful you’re all here to celebrate. We also wanted to say thank you to our son, who made the trip home. Liam, wave.”

Caitlyn followed Mr. Johnson’s gaze to where Liam was standing against the wall. He pushed away and lifted his glass toward the crowd.

“Damn,” Caitlyn breathed. The man from the bar was Liam Johnson. The military did wonders for him. He was always adorable, but those muscles and the roughness around the edges made him every woman’s fantasy.

“You’re right, honey,” an older lady nearby said. “If I were thirty years younger, I’d be fighting you for him.” She winked and kept walking.

Caitlyn smiled back and let the woman believe what she wanted to believe. Caitlyn definitely appreciated the sexy version of Liam, but she wasn’t interested in him for his brawn. She needed his brain.

His father said a few more words, profusely thanking Daniel West for hosting them, and announced dinner would be out soon. That was Caitlyn’s cue to get back to the kitchen. She was on the far side of the dining hall, which meant she was going to be one of the last ones to get there. And would miss her chance to serve Liam and ask him for help.

Servers were already walking out of the kitchen when she got there. She spotted one of the new ones, a young one who still had the youthful glow Caitlyn watched fade from her mirror a long time ago.

“Hey, are you going to the head table?” she asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“I wanted to let you know this guy on the far side of the dining room asked me about you. He wanted to know if he could have your number.” The lie was easy enough to tell.

She blushed and grinned, then looked at her tray.

“Oh, I can take that one, and you can go get another one. He’s in that back corner. You won’t be able to miss him.”

“Thanks, Caitlyn,” she said, handing over the tray and bouncing back into the kitchen for another one.

Caitlyn made a beeline for the head table. She wasn’t going to risk anyone else getting there first. She was almost there when another server stopped next to the table. Caitlyn was supposed to start at a new table with each tray, but she didn’t care. She could lose the job that night and it wouldn’t matter.

As long as she talked to Liam.

“Liam,” she breathed when she reached his chair. She ignored the glare from the other server and set up a stand so she could put her tray down. “It’s been forever. How are you?”

He looked up at her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m good. Thanks. How are you?”

“You don’t remember me, do you? I know I look a lot different than I did in school. I’m—”

The other server cleared her throat loudly. She was out of time.

He nodded slowly, his gaze searching her. “You look…”

Caitlyn tugged her button-down shirt down and smoothed a hand over her round, not pregnant, belly. Caitlyn’s cheeks burned under his gaze. She was a size four when she graduated high school. As a size twenty-four, she was happier, but staring at Liam made her more than a little self-conscious.

“Um, anyway, so I was wondering if you wanted to meet up after this. We could grab a drink and catch up. Here’s my number. I look forward to hearing from you.”

Caitlyn hurried away from his table without looking back. She knew she was going to be in trouble, but she had to try to talk to him.

No one else in town believed Caitlyn. They all thought she was crazy. But she knew something happened to Jeanine. She knew her friend wouldn’t disappear without telling her where she was. She knew she was in trouble. Or worse.

And Caitlyn knew the only person who could find her friend, dead or alive, was Liam Johnson.

She just hoped he called.