Operation Reunion

by Justine Davis

  “Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Quinn suggested.

  “And pet Cutter,” Hayley added. “It’s remarkably soothing.”

  Kayla nearly smiled at that; people got so silly about their animals. But maybe if she did pet the dog, he’d be satisfied and get out of her way. She lifted a hand and ran it over the dog’s head, then, remembering what Quinn and Hayley had done, added a scratch below his right ear. The dark eyes never wavered, but he let out a sound that was amazingly like a happy sigh.

  It was soothing, she thought, startled. She felt calmer, steadier. And when Quinn again suggested she start at the beginning, to her surprise, she did.

  “Chad is my big brother. We moved here when I was fourteen. He was sixteen. Two years later, ten years ago, our parents were murdered in a home invasion robbery. The police suspected Chad. He ran. I haven’t seen him since.”

  “Well,” Quinn said to Hayley without any of the horrified reaction Kayla was used to whenever she told the tale, “that could give Rafe a run for his money for succinctness.”

  “I’m sure she’s had to tell it a few times,” Hayley said.

  Although there was a world of sympathy in her voice, the auburn-haired woman didn’t gush. Nor did she recoil from the blunt, grim story. Kayla was a little amazed at how comforting that was. Like petting this darn dog, a motion she only now realized she’d continued the entire time she’d been speaking. And it really did soothe her at a time when she needed it.

  “That,” Quinn said, gesturing at the note that began it all, “is from him?”

  She nodded. “I get one every few months. He never says where he is, or has been, just that he’s sorry he had to leave, he didn’t do it and he loves me.”

  “Where do they come from?” he asked.

  “Oregon. Northern California. Idaho. Montana once.”

  “So he stays in the northwest, generally.”

  She nodded.

  “And what do you do when you get one?” Hayley asked.

  Kayla shrugged. “The only thing I can do. I go there, wherever he sent it from.”

  “Have you ever found anything?”

  She sighed. “Nothing useful. I don’t have a current photo, obviously. I tried an agency that aged up an old one for me, but it didn’t help. A few times in the beginning someone thought they remembered seeing him, but most times it’s like he was never there.”

  “He’s gotten better at it,” Quinn said, sounding thoughtful.

  They both seemed so open, so willing to listen, unlike the police, or even Dane, who had grown so weary of it all.

  “I set up a page on a couple of social media sites,” she said, “but it’s the same problem. And I got more junk than genuinely helpful stuff. Even got some real creeps, pretending to want to help.”

  She shivered at the memory; if Dane hadn’t insisted on going with her every time who knows what would have happened. Twice, guys who looked nothing like their own profile photos, had shown up obviously with something other than help in mind. They’d taken one look at Dane and departed hastily.

  “It’s definitely a cold case after all this time,” Quinn said.

  “That’s what the police say, too. So why would you

  help me?”

  “I know something about worrying about a brother,” Hayley said. “I have one I haven’t heard from in months. Walker’s not on the run, or in trouble that I know of, but I don’t know where he is or how he is.”

  So the empathy in the woman’s voice had been real, Kayla thought. It helped her decide.

  “I believe Chad. He didn’t do it. I don’t care what the police think they know—I know he didn’t. He couldn’t.”

  “If it’s true, then we’ll prove that,” Hayley said. “You’re not alone any longer, Kayla. You have—”

  She broke off as Cutter’s head came up suddenly. His eyes had been closed as Kayla petted him—in fact, he’d seemed to be snoozing as she stroked her fingers over his soft fur—but something had clearly brought him to alert. She’d heard nothing, but her ears weren’t as keen as a dog’s. As Kayla glanced around, she saw nothing different than it had been moments ago. There had been a few people coming and going while they’d been here, and the dog hadn’t reacted at all.

  She would have written it off to unfamiliar dog behavior if not for two things; Hayley never finished her sentence, and Quinn immediately stood up. And suddenly he was no longer the friendly man with the nice smile, but someone altogether different, alert, ready and capable. He glanced around much as she had, but then he looked at the dog, watching, waiting, as if for some signal.

  Cutter’s head moved sharply in what looked, impossibly, like a nod.

  “What have you got, boy?” Quinn’s voice was low, and Kayla heard something in it that hadn’t been there before, some edge that made her think Quinn could be a very dangerous man. The dog made an answering sound she couldn’t quite describe. Hayley stayed silent, her gaze flicking from man to dog and back, waiting.

  The only thing Kayla was sure of was that this, or something like it, had happened often enough that none of the three found it unusual.

  She shifted to look around again, wondering what had set the dog off. He seemed to have settled on a direction now, looking out toward the street. And then, unexpectedly, his tail began to wag just slightly. She looked that way and saw nothing amiss—an older couple walking arm in arm, a kid on a skateboard, a man crossing the street from the post office parking lot, a car—

  Her gaze shot back to the man. A man heading quickly toward them. The way he moved, with that easy grace and long stride, the way he held his head, the gleam of the morning sun on dark hair....

  Dane.

  Her pulse kicked up, as it always did at the sight of him. But how had the dog known, of all the people around this morning, that this was the one? And what was he doing here anyway?

  Hope leaped in her, but she quashed it; Dane hadn’t been angry when they’d parted, or she would have nurtured that hope that he would, as he always had before, get over it. He’d been quietly weary in a way that told her as nothing else could that he was done.

  “It’s not that I don’t admire your loyalty,” he’d said. “I do. I just could have used a little more of it myself.”

  She shivered at the memory of the words and of her own freezing reaction when she’d realized, for the first time, he’d used the past tense.

  “You know him?” Quinn’s voice broke through the awful memory, and that edge in it shook her back to the present.

  “Yes,” she whispered. She couldn’t think of another thing to say that would explain who this man was to her. There were no words that were adequate. But as she looked at Quinn, then Hayley, she realized she didn’t have to.

  They knew.

  Chapter 3

  “Who the hell are you?”

  Dane stared at the man standing between him and Kayla. The guy looked tough, solid and ready for anything. Just about matched his own mood, Dane thought. Which made no sense; who Kayla hung out with wasn’t his business anymore. Not that that had stopped him from bolting over here when he’d spotted her with two strangers.

  “He’s my fiancé.” Dane’s gaze snapped to the woman who had been sitting beside Kayla. It was further evidence of his mood that he hadn’t really focused on her before; she was lovely, and if her words hadn’t completely disarmed him, her smile might have. “I’m Hayley Cole, and this is Quinn Foxworth. Behave, both of you.”

  Dane wasn’t sure if she meant him and Quinn or Quinn and the dog. The dog who was looking at him in the oddest way. Not in the love-filled, melt-your-heart kind of way Lilah always had, but with an intensity that spoke of a clever brain behind those amber-flecked dark eyes.

  “And you, I gather, are Dane.”

  The man’s voice was steady, with no particular inflection, but Dane couldn’t help thinking this was a man who would react quickly and effectively if necessary.

  It hit him somewhat belatedly t
hat this stranger had known who he was. And the only way that could be was that Kayla had told him.

  His gaze shifted quickly to the woman who had been part of his life for so long. Had she really told these strangers about him? Maybe even how he’d walked out on her, telling her wrenching story, making anybody who hadn’t lived it with her over the past ten years wonder what kind of heartless bastard left a woman whose life had been torn apart like that?

  A sense of betrayal filled him, and he took a step back. But it turned out to be only a half-step; somehow the dog had gotten in his way and he had to stop.

  “I thought you were through with me,” Kayla said. Her voice was quiet, unemotional. And that sparked a new feeling in him, one that was almost anger. She didn’t even think they were worth fighting for?

  That he didn’t want to fight with her, that he never had, was something he cast aside just now. He focused on the fact that she sounded so calm. As if she’d processed that it really was over. And instead of crying over it, or getting angry at him, she was...accepting?

  “So that’s it?” he said sharply, ignoring the three unknown onlookers. “You just quit on us?”

  “You’re the one who left.” She gestured with the note. “And he’s still out there, Dane.”

  “Yeah. And I’m here. I’ve done nothing but support you and love you and help you for ten years, while that spoiled, manipulative brother of yours plays with you, taunts you, but is too big of a coward to come back and deal with the mess he left you with.”

  “Dane! He’s not—”

  He held up his hands; he really had had enough.

  “He always skated by on his looks. He used you, took for granted that you’d always worship your big brother.” Dane grimaced. “And I guess he was right about that.”

  His anger faded as once more the reality hit him in the face. This time she was silent when he took a breath. And he realized he had no right to stay upset at her for talking about them—and him—to strangers when he’d just dumped a pile of dirty laundry in front of them. To their credit, they’d said nothing, but they hadn’t left them alone either.

  “I tried, Kayla. I really tried.” He heard his own voice, realized he sounded as tired as he felt after that last burst of pained rage and resentment. “But I can’t play second fiddle to your fixation any longer. I won’t. The woman I...loved is buried beneath this obsession and I can’t find her anymore. You’re on your own.”

  “That’s just it,” Kayla said, showing a spark of spirit now. “I’m not on my own anymore.”

  She waved toward the couple standing a couple of feet away in a gesture that seemed to include the dog.

  “They’re going to help find Chad.”

  Suspicion bit as hard and deep as that dog probably could if motivated. Ignoring the jab of pain at the reminder that, although she’d given up on them, she obviously wasn’t about to give up on her obsession, Dane spun on his heel to stare at the trio. On the surface they looked harmless enough—handsome guy, beautiful woman, nice-looking dog. Quite the picture they presented.

  He didn’t believe it for a minute. And he hadn’t forgotten his first impression of the man as someone not to take lightly.

  “Are they?” he said, focusing on the man introduced as Quinn. “And just how much do they want you to pay for this ‘help’?”

  One corner of Quinn’s mouth quirked, and Dane saw something flicker in the man’s eyes, something that looked strangely like approval.

  “Nothing,” Kayla said.

  Dane turned his head to look at her. “Haven’t you learned? Didn’t that phony P.I. and that guy who took you for five grand in California teach you anything?”

  Kayla flushed. He hated doing it, but somebody had to protect her from herself, and right now he was the only one around.

  The dog moved and, oddly, came to sit between him and Kayla. The animal looked from him to her and back, with an expression that looked for all the world like impatience. Dane shook his head; he loved dogs, but he didn’t usually impart human qualities to them.

  “Quinn?”

  It was the other woman who’d spoken, drawing his gaze. She looked the picture of innocence, which made him even more suspicious.

  “Yes,” the man said. “I think so.”

  Another stab of pain shot through him. He and Kayla had been like that once, able to communicate without words. But lately he’d quit trying, or even asking what she was thinking, because his gut knew one more admission that she was worrying about her brother would send him over the edge.

  And it had.

  “Walk with me,” Quinn said. Dane eyed him warily. “You have questions,” the man said in answer to his look. “I’ll give you all the answers you want.”

  “And I’m supposed to just believe you?”

  “No,” Quinn said. “I expect you to do your homework and then decide if you believe us.”

  That surprised him enough to make him follow the man’s lead. And if he wanted to be out of earshot of Kayla, it could mean he wanted to hear the other side of the story.

  “That note she got today...” Quinn began as they neared a stand of cedar trees along one edge of the park.

  “Don’t bother. I know exactly what it said. ‘I didn’t do it. I love you. I’m sorry. Forget about me.’ Even as he keeps sending them so there’s no hope she ever could.”

  Quinn stopped walking and turned to look at him.

  “I know that sounds harsh,” Dane said, “given what she’s been through.”

  “Crimes like that have a far-reaching ripple effect,” Quinn said. “They touch many more lives than just the immediate family.”

  The rather detached yet undeniably true observation made Dane take a second look at the man. He was as tall as he himself, and while Dane biked and ran to keep in shape, he doubted he was as strong as this guy looked. He’d been thinking of adding some weights to his regimen, and just looking at the arms on this guy was enough to convince him.

  “Look, I know she loved Chad, but he was...”

  “Spoiled and manipulative?”

  Dane’s mouth tightened. “Yes. Chad never once had to suffer the consequences of his actions in his entire life.”

  “His parents protected him?”

  Dane nodded. “He was the firstborn, and he was spoiled rotten. Until Kayla came along. He was jealous at first, but she adored him so much he finally decided he liked it. She would do anything for him, and he wasn’t above using that.”

  “You didn’t know them back then.”

  He didn’t sound particularly accusatory, but Dane was raw enough that he answered a bit sharply.

  “Their father told me the first part. The last part I saw for myself. Chad used Kayla from the day he realized she was smarter than he was. I don’t know how many school papers he conned her into writing for him, even though she was two years younger. Or how many times he convinced her to lie for him, cover for him, with their parents. A couple of times she even took the blame for something he did when he was skating too close to the edge with their father.”

  “How long did that go on?”

  “Until I was able to convince her she wasn’t doing him any favors.”

  Again Quinn studied him for a moment. “You’ve always had her best interests at heart.”

  It didn’t seem to be a question, but it reminded Dane he should be worrying about those best interests now. “Who are you? And what’s all this crap about helping Kayla find Chad?”

  “It’s what we do.”

  “Find missing persons? You some kind of private investigator? Because she’s been there, and she got taken. I proved that and convinced her to give up on them,” he ended with a pointed glare at Quinn.

  He didn’t mention the large insurance policy their parents had had, with Kayla and Chad as sole beneficiaries. It wasn’t a huge fortune, but it was enough to tempt unscrupulous types. Hayley Cole seemed innocent enough, but there was an edge about this man that made him wonder. He just hope
d Kayla hadn’t been foolish enough to say anything about the money. He didn’t think she would; she might be foolishly obsessed, but she was far from a fool, and she’d learned her lesson after that P.I. ripped her off.

  Of course, he also didn’t know how much of that money was left after ten years of pouring it into her endless search.

  “No, we’re not private investigators,” Quinn said. “We don’t work for just anybody. Only people we believe in.”

  “And you do it for free? Right.” He’d slipped from skepticism into outright sarcasm, but Dane didn’t care. He might be through with Kayla, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care at all; he couldn’t turn it off like a faucet.

  “That’s why we’re very particular about what we take on.” The man’s mouth quirked wryly. “Unless it’s somebody Cutter brings to us.”

  Dane blinked. “The dog?”

  Quinn sighed. “It’s a long story. But the bottom line is, he’s better than a lie detector.”

  The whimsy of that, coming from a man like Quinn Foxworth, almost made Dane smile. But his own reaction made him even more wary; he knew predators often used animals to lull their targets into trusting them. They didn’t seem the type, but did the type ever really seem like the type? He shook his head before his thoughts got even more muddled.

  “I think your canine lie detector misfired on this one,” he said.

  “Kayla mentioned you and Chad didn’t get along. Were there other reasons?”

  Dane’s jaw tightened. “Nothing that has anything to do with this. Why should I believe anything you say?”

  Quinn looked at him thoughtfully. He pulled out a business card and handed it to him. “I’m not going to give you answers you’ll question. Find your own answers. Do that homework.”

  “You can count on it,” Dane said, letting more than a hint of warning into his voice. “And you stay away from Kayla until I do.”

  Chapter 4

  Dane leaned back in his chair, staring at the computer monitor, tapping his pen on the note pad at his side. The top page was full of scribbled notes; his search had been easier than he’d expected. And quicker. It had only taken him a couple of hours to become convinced.