by A. K. Evans
The truth of the matter is that our firm spends a lot of time investigating real-estate or insurance fraud. There’s also an overwhelmingly large amount of infidelity cases. Occasionally, we might have someone who is adopted looking for their biological parents, but rarely do we ever deal with a missing person’s case.
In most instances when someone goes missing, it becomes a very labor-intensive job that requires a lot of man hours. Most individuals rely on the police departments to find their loved one because the costs associated with hiring a private investigator quickly add up with the number of hours required to solve such a case.
So, at times like this, when the police department reaches out for help, we do our best to work with them. We’ve needed one or two favors from them over the years, and it’s been nice to have a relatively healthy, positive working relationship with them.
“Such concentration before your stakeout.”
I looked up from my desk to see Lorenzo standing in the doorway. I’d been working an insurance fraud case for the last couple of days.
I shook my head and answered, “No stakeout anymore. Just got off the phone with Baines. He’s got a missing person’s case he’s sending over.”
“High profile?”
“One of them is,” I replied.
“One?” he questioned.
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “I guess I should have said he’s sending over multiple missing person’s cases. They’ve got five disappearances in the last three weeks. The most recent is a wealthy family and they’re putting a lot of pressure on the police department.”
At that moment, my computer chimed indicating I’d received an email. I looked at the sender of the email and announced, “This is it.”
Lorenzo walked into my office and sat in the chair on the opposite side of my desk. I quickly opened the locked files using the password he’d given me over the phone and printed them.
Thirty minutes later, Lorenzo and I had scoured through the documents.
“I don’t like the way this one feels, Cruz,” he grumbled.
I was just as unsettled as he was. “You’re not alone. Five women in the last three weeks. All are young, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three. This is not going to be good.”
“I’m not liking that look this early in the morning.”
Lorenzo and I directed our attention to the door where Dom stood.
“What look?” Levi asked as he materialized beside Dom.
“A case from the WPD. Five young women have gone missing over the course of the last three weeks.”
“Fuck,” Levi muttered. He took a minute to think before he looked to Dom and jerked his head toward my office. “Get up to speed on this with them.”
With a downward jerk of his chin, Dom agreed.
Levi addressed the three of us. “Send all of your case files for everything but this one over to me. I’ll redistribute them to the rest of the guys. I want the three of you to focus solely on this one. Something tells me this isn’t going to end well.”
“You’ve got it, Levi,” Lorenzo shot back before my brother moved from the doorway and toward his own office.
For the next two hours, Dom, Lorenzo, and I combed over every detail for each of the cases. When the three of us had sufficiently taken in all of it, I announced, “We’ve got to get a plan together quickly. I get the feeling it isn’t going to be long before we’ve got more added to the mix.”
“This is bullshit,” Dom snapped. “A sex-trafficking ring right in our backyards.”
“You’ve got to stay focused, Dom,” Lorenzo reminded him. “It pisses me off, but we can’t let our emotions get the best of us. If you let that eat you up, you’ll get distracted and another girl gets taken.”
“Oh, I’m not distracted. I’m going to eat, sleep, and breathe this case until we find these motherfuckers.”
I dropped my head and let out a laugh. There wasn’t anything funny about this situation, but having someone like Dom working with us would only serve to motivate us more than we already were.
“We don’t know for certain that it’s a sex-trafficking ring either. It could be a serial killer or someone simply kidnapping,” Lorenzo added.
Dom gave Lorenzo a disbelieving look. “We’ve been doing this long enough. We don’t get a lot of missing person’s cases, but you know that everything in those files tells us exactly what this is.”
Lorenzo dropped his gaze because he knew Dom was right. Maybe it seemed a bit presumptuous of us to automatically assume it was a sex-trafficking ring, but as Dom said, the three of us had been doing this long enough to know the difference.
“Alright,” I started. “How about you guys get your other cases over to Levi? I’m going to make a quick run to Colvert’s to grab some coffee. When I get back, we’ll come up with our game plan.”
“Still holding out hope that you’ll see her there again?” Dom joked.
He was referring to Lexi.
I didn’t answer him, so he took the liberty to keep at me. “I already told you she’s never going back there. The girl spilled hot coffee everywhere and burned herself. She’s probably too embarrassed.”
“She has no reason to be embarrassed; I’m the one who caused her to spill the coffee. For the record, though, I’ve been getting coffee from Colvert’s for years. Don’t make this about her.”
Lorenzo started laughing before he chimed in, “You’ve been going there for years, but you always used to do it on your way in to the office. Now, you’re going later every morning. That’s all about her and you know it.”
I didn’t deny it. I did the only thing I could do.
I stood and informed them, “I’ll be back in fifteen.”
As I walked out of my office, leaving them behind, I heard Dom yell out, “It’ll be longer than that if she shows up today.”
Leaving the office and heading toward the café, I thought about what Dom and Lorenzo said. I knew there was a very real possibility that they were right. The truth was, I started going to get my coffee later and later because I was hoping to see her again.
After seeing her there with Elle at the beginning of the week, I took a chance the next day that she might stop in again. I was right, but that encounter was an utter disaster. It seemed that each time I was around her, luck was never on my side.
When I first met her months ago at the dance studio she had gotten a job at, she barely spoke two words to me before she ran out. In those few moments, though, there was no denying the fact that there was an attraction on both ends. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, Lexi was gone before I had an opportunity to do something about that attraction.
I saw her again a couple months ago when I was investigating a case for her brother, Luke. She happened to be at his house when I stopped by with some information on that case. That day, I learned a bit more about the kind of person she is. I’d just delivered life-changing news to Luke’s girlfriend and Lexi stayed strong and supportive throughout it. I knew I wanted to learn more about her and not let another opportunity pass me by, so when she got up to leave I excused myself as well. However, once again, I was unsuccessful in my efforts. Even though I knew we both felt that mutual attraction, Lexi turned me down when I asked her out. She said she wasn’t interested in a relationship and that she wanted to focus on her career.
My worst bout of luck with her happened only days ago when I bumped into her, sent coffee flying, and burned her. To know I was responsible for causing her pain like that gutted me. She tried to stay strong, but I knew the burns were bad. I could see her fighting against giving in to the pain she felt. Watching the tears leak from her eyes when it first happened was bad enough, but then it happened again when I tried to make it better. Putting aloe on her chest and seeing her cringe in pain overwhelmed me.
Even though I managed to talk Lexi into coming back to the office so I could have my mom check out her burns, I didn’t get her number. Of course, in my line of work it was something I could eas
ily get without her giving it to me, but I didn’t want to be that guy. I didn’t want to overstep boundaries and bulldoze my way into someone’s life, especially when that person had already turned me down once. I wasn’t against trying again to convince her to give me a shot, but I refused to be the guy who does what he wants without a care for anyone else’s feelings.
As I approached the café, it started to hit me just how much I hoped Lexi would be there. I hadn’t spoken to her since she came and had the burns checked out. More than anything else, I wanted to know that she was healing alright. She’d been on my mind for days and I was worried about her. Just before I walked in, I decided that if I didn’t see Lexi today I’d reach out to Elle instead just to ease my mind a bit.
On that thought, I opened the door and stepped inside. It took less than five seconds for me to spot her. The relief I felt in seeing her beautiful face was short-lived because I immediately noticed she was not alone. She was sitting across from a man in a suit.
A wave of jealousy coursed through me.
It would seem my luck was getting worse and worse.
I knew it was likely that she was in a meeting with a client, but it didn’t change the fact that I wanted to be the one sitting at that table with her. I chose not to go over to her on the off-chance that I’d interrupt such a meeting.
Caught up in my assessment of the situation, I almost didn’t notice when Lexi’s eyes caught mine and she offered me a smile and a wave of her hand. I gave her a nod before she turned her attention back to the man she was sitting with and I moved ahead to place my order.
While I waited for my coffee and the breakfast sandwich I decided on at the last minute, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked through emails. I did it mostly to distract myself because the truth was that I was itching to go over and talk to Lexi. It was then I realized I shouldn’t have ordered the sandwich. Coffee would have had me in and out. Now, I was stuck, tense and waiting.
The perusal of my emails was brought to a halt when I heard, “Um, Cruz?”
I looked up from my phone into those almond-shaped, chestnut-colored eyes. I felt my face instantly soften while my body relaxed at the sight of her standing in front of me.
“Hi, Lexi. I’ve been worried about you,” I shared, not caring if it was too forthcoming. It was the truth. “How are the burns?”
“They’re healing,” she began as she held up her arm and slid her sleeve back. There was a bit of redness there, but it was much better than it had been a few days ago. “The first couple of days were pretty painful. I’m doing much better today, though.”
“Your arm looks like it’s healing well. How are your chest and throat?” I wondered.
She was wearing a shirt with a high neckline, so I couldn’t see if it looked any less angry than it did on Tuesday. Lexi pressed her hand to the top of her chest and explained, “Not as great as my arm, but still better. The clothing irritates the burns, so I keep bandages on during the day. Your mom gave me some special bandages with medication in them that help heal the skin while keeping it hydrated. I think I’m going to make it through this without any scars, so I’m happy about that.”
“That’s good to hear. I’m glad you were here today. I’ve been coming in every day this week hoping I’d see you and could check in on you. If I had your number, I would have called.”
Her face grew concerned. “Oh, I’m sorry. This is my first day back here since then. Thanks for thinking of me.”
I glanced over at the table she had been sitting at when I arrived. The man she was with was gone.
“Work meeting?” I asked, jerking my head to the table while trying to keep my voice neutral. It was none of my business, but I had to know who that guy was.
“Yeah,” she confirmed. “Grant’s a referral from my brother, Logan. He’s got an important project he needs my help on.”
“That’s good. So, business is doing well then?”
I knew I was making small talk and I didn’t care. I wanted to know everything I could about her. The longer I asked questions and talked, the more time I’d have with her.
She answered with a nod of her head, but there was a questioning look in her eyes. It wasn’t something I’d ever seen before, so I asked, “Is something wrong?”
“It’s just…well,” she stammered. “I’ve been thinking and it seems pretty obvious that you like Colvert’s. I was wondering if maybe one morning you would like to meet me here for breakfast.”
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Perhaps my luck was turning around.
I wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity, so I quickly recovered and suggested, “Sure. How about tomorrow morning?”
She jerked back a step and repeated, “Tomorrow?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Sunday works, too.”
“Tomorrow works,” she concluded.
“Cruz!” I heard Bobby shout from behind the counter.
I turned toward him and saw him holding up my order. “Thanks, Bobby.”
“See you Monday,” he shot back.
“Tomorrow,” I corrected him.
He cocked an eyebrow.
I wrapped an arm behind Lexi and settled my hand on her opposite shoulder. “I’m bringing a date for breakfast.”
Bobby smirked and gave us a chin lift before he went back to business.
I looked down at Lexi and saw a bit of trepidation in her features. “Are you ok?”
She turned toward me while stepping out from my arm before she responded, “I don’t want to give you any mixed signals. I know you expressed interest in me a couple months ago. I’m not sure if that’s something you’re still seeking, but I want to be honest. I’d just like to get to know you better without the pressure.”
“I’d be lying if I said that getting to know you better is all I wanted. That said, I think it’s a great place to start and see if there could be something more. No matter what, I don’t want you to feel any pressure. We’ll take it a day at a time.”
She gasped.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, “Nothing, I just…it’s nothing. So, what time should we meet tomorrow?”
“I’m an early riser, so I’m good whenever you are.”
“Me too,” she noted with a smile on her face. “How about nine?”
“Works for me.”
With that, Lexi and I made our way outside.
“Are you parked in the lot?” I asked.
“Yeah, did you walk?”
“Yep.”
I walked her to her car. I couldn’t deny the fact that I had the news from the WPD in the back of my mind.
When we got to her car, she unlocked it and put her bags inside.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” I promised when she turned back to me.
She nodded and folded into the driver’s seat. Before I could close her door, she asked, “Did you want a ride to the office?”
I grinned at her and shook my head. “I’m good, but thanks. I could use the exercise.”
Her eyes traveled the length of my body, but she didn’t respond. I didn’t mind being under the scrutiny of her intense gaze; it only helped me to feel like there was a possibility of more with her at some point.
Just as I was about to close her door, she called out, “Wait!”
“What’s up?”
“I should give you my number in case anything comes up and you need to cancel.”
I pulled out my phone again, hit a few buttons to get to the screen to add a new contact, and handed it to her. She put her number in. I saved it and slid the phone back in my pocket before I informed her, “Happy to have your number now, but I think you should know I have no intentions of cancelling tomorrow.”
“You never know. Things come up,” she stated innocently.
“Well, that won’t be happening in this case,” I assured her. “I’ll text you when I get back to the office so you’ll have my number. Don’t use it to cancel on me.�
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She laughed.
It was the most beautiful thing I ever witnessed.
When she settled down, she looked up at me and promised, “I won’t. See you tomorrow, Cruz.”
“Looking forward to it, Lexi.”
It was five minutes till nine and I was supposed to meet Cruz in just a few minutes at Colvert’s Café. After I left from our impromptu meeting yesterday, I spent the better part of the day thinking. I’m lying. I spent the entire day thinking about Cruz.
I had actually spent several days prior to yesterday thinking about Cruz. Following girls’ night on Tuesday evening, when Nikki and Elle came over and allowed me to cry on their shoulders about everything I’d been through, it felt like I’d had a breakthrough. Finally speaking about it felt liberating.
I guess having been so quiet for so long about what I went through was stifling me in a way I never realized.
On Wednesday afternoon, I called Dr. Lane and scheduled an appointment with her for Thursday evening. I was grateful she had an opening and could fit me in quickly because the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had some insecurities. It was one thing for me to resolve to my friends that I was going to take the next steps in healing myself, but I didn’t want to risk having a setback.
I needed Dr. Lane to confirm that it was not wrong for me to move forward in this manner. I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say to me, but even still, I needed to be sure.
Sure enough, when I met with her on Thursday evening and explained that I had a newfound strength and determination to get back a part of my life that was taken, she supported me…in the way that therapists do. She never attempted to talk me out of it and truly made me believe that if I felt I was ready, then I needed to explore that. For more than three and a half years, she had been working with me to give me the tools I’d need when I was ready. Now that I was ready, I had to put those tools to use.
