Make Up Call (Summer Rush #3)

by Cheryl Douglas

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  About the Author

  Other Books by Cheryl Douglas

  Make-up Call

  Book Three in the Summer Rush Series

  Cheryl Douglas

  Copyright © by Cheryl Douglas

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, including photocopying, graphic, electronic, mechanical, taping, recording, sharing, or by any information retrieval system without the express written permission of the author and / or publisher. Exceptions include brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Persons, places and other entities represented in this book are deemed to be fictitious. They are not intended to represent actual places or entities currently or previously in existence or any person living or dead. This work is the product of the author’s imagination.

  Any and all inquiries to the author of this book should be directed to: info@cheryldouglasbooks.com

  Make-up Call © 2016 Cheryl Douglas

  Chapter One

  “Our daughter is missing.”

  Chase Miller held the phone away from his ear, certain he hadn’t heard his ex-wife say what he thought she’d said. “What the hell are you talking about, Jayda?”

  He sank down on the bench in the locker room. If he had heard her right, he was going to collapse. Thank God he’d arrived early for some extra batting practice before the big game tonight. It meant he’d have a few more minutes alone before his teammates started trickling in.

  “She’s missing, Chase! Oh my God, what are we going to do?”

  His ex-wife hated him, so Chase knew he was the last person she wanted to call. If she was reaching out to him for help, she’d already exhausted every other option. “Just take a deep breath and tell me what happened.”

  “I was on my way to pick her up at the bus stop, just like always, when I got a flat tire.” She took a deep breath, obviously trying to get the words out. “Naturally, I had to throw the spare on…”

  “Go on,” Chase said, clenching his teeth as he imagined his sweet baby girl standing all alone at the bus stop, wondering what had happened to her mom.

  “When I got there, the bus was gone!” Now she was sobbing, something Chase hadn’t heard her do in years.

  “Did you call the school? The bus driver? The cops?” Chase jumped up and started pacing, running a hand through his dark hair as he tried to remember how the hell to breathe. They were from a small mid-western town where people still looked out for each other, and Chase couldn’t believe some stranger had just walked off with a six-year-old girl without someone trying to stop him… or her.

  “Of course I did!” she said, sounding indignant. “What do you think I am? An idiot?”

  Knowing better than to take the bait, he asked, “And? What did they say?”

  “Jessie’s got his guys on it,” Jayda said. “But he suggested I call you.”

  Jessie Marks had been Chase’s best friend growing up, and he’d gone on to become the sheriff in Aurora about five years ago… right around the time Chase lost the two people who mattered most to him: his wife and daughter.

  “You mean you wouldn’t have called me unless he told you to? What the hell, Jay? I’m her father!” He’d had a love/hate relationship with the mother of his child ever since he made the agonizing decision to move across the country to pursue what he believed was his only shot at a World Series ring.

  “I was hoping we’d find her without having to drag you into it. I figured your next call would be to your lawyer. You’d use this to try to prove that I’m an unfit mother so you could have Cadence all to yourself.”

  That barb had all the sharpness of the real thing since he had to admit she had just cause for believing he’d stoop to that level. When they split, he’d been hurt and mad and hired a high-priced attorney to make Jayda’s life a living hell until she buckled under the pressure and agreed to their terms. He wasn’t proud of it—in fact, he was ashamed of his actions back then—but there was no way she would ever forgive him, so he tried not to dwell on it.

  “I’m not going to argue with you,” Chase said, feeling the life drain from him as he tried not to imagine the kind of person who would abduct an innocent child from a bus stop. “My only concern right now is finding our daughter.”

  “Are you saying I don’t care about finding her?” Jayda shouted. “Believe me, I wouldn’t have called you at all if our daughter’s safety wasn’t the most important thing in the world to me.” She took a long, slow breath. “Look, you have the kind of money and connections I obviously don’t have. I was hoping maybe you could cash in on that famous name of yours and use it to help find her before something awful happens.”

  Chase’s gut churned as he imagined all of the horrible possibilities. “I’ll do whatever I can. You know that.”

  “Good. Then you’ll call a press conference? We need to get the word out as quickly as possible. The person who took her could be headed anywhere. The more eyes we have looking for her, the better our chances of finding her. That’s what Jessie said. That’s why he told me to call you. He knew you’d be able to draw attention to it faster than anyone else.”

  “Wait a minute,” Chase said, dropping his head as his hand rubbed his forehead. “What about an Amber Alert? That’ll get the word out just as fast, won’t it?”

  “You know the world we live in,” Jayda said, sounding disgusted. “People are obsessed with athletes and celebrities. If they find out your child is missing, that’ll get a whole lot more attention than it would if I went on the air and pleaded with them to bring her back. Who am I, right? Just some grease monkey trying to teach my daughter the value of hard work and treating people right.”

  Jayda never missed the chance to remind Chase that he’d put his career above his family when he decided to accept the professional contract that would ultimately tear them apart. Jayda still claimed she had to stay in Aurora and run the shop for her dad, who’d developed Parkinson’s years before.

  “I know you want to make this about me, what a dirtbag I am and how I did you wrong, but can we just focus on finding our daughter right now? You can give me a tongue-lashing later.” A flash of Jayda lashing him with her tongue raced through his mind, and Chase hated himself even more for thinking of that at a time like this.

  “Fine. When are you coming home?”

  “Home?” He looked around the empty locker room in the city he’d called home for the past five years. This was his home now. Aurora wasn’t. It hadn’t been in a long, long time.

  “You are coming home, aren’t you?” she asked, sounding outraged. “At a time like this, is there anywhere else you’d rather be?”

  His mind raced as he considered what to do. Of course he wanted to help search for his daughter. He had to find her. But would his teammates, coaches, and managers understand? Would the team brass understand? As their starting shortstop, he was supposed to help them win their first World Series in twenty-two years. Tonight was the final game in the series. If they won this, they’d go on to fight for the biggest prize in professional baseball. Without him, he
wasn’t even sure they stood a chance, so how could he, in good conscience, try to convince them they didn’t need him?

  “Chase?”

  “I want to be there. I just—”

  “I don’t believe this! You’re honestly going to tell me that some stupid baseball game is more important than finding your daughter? She could be God knows where, with God knows who…” Her voice broke before she screamed, “Doing God knows what to her, you selfish bastard!”

  Chase released a shuddering breath as his whole body was racked with silent sobs. He never cried. Except for that one time when Cadence was one, and he’d had to kiss her chubby cheek before closing the door to her nursery, leaving her and the life he loved behind so he could one day make her proud of her daddy. “You know I’d hop on a plane right now if I could, but I have commitments, Jay. People are counting on me—”

  “Right! I should have known we couldn’t count on you. We never could.”

  ***

  Jayda tried hard not to cry as she waited for the bus driver to call her back. She’d known Sam a long time. He would never have driven off and left Cadence standing there by herself. There had to be some other explanation.

  “Any word yet?” her father asked, shuffling out to the main lobby of their shop.

  “No, I’m just waiting for Sam to call me back.” Jayda bit her lip, promising herself she wouldn’t fall apart in front of her father. He’d raised her to be as tough as her two brothers, and he’d lose respect for her if she started acting like a girl now. Even though she wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry like a baby. She wrapped her hands around her cold coffee mug. “It doesn’t make sense, Dad. Sam wouldn’t just leave her there alone. He’d have waited for me.”

  “You’re right.” Her father nodded. “Sam’s a good man. Reliable. And he loves those kids. He’d never want to see any harm come to them.”

  “Jessie told me to call Chase.”

  Her father rolled his eyes as he set his walker aside and sank into the old tweed swivel chair that had been sitting behind the scarred Formica counter for as long as Jayda could remember. “And? What did Boy Wonder have to say for himself?”

  Jayda couldn’t bring herself to admit the horrible truth—he’d been more concerned about his game tonight than his daughter’s whereabouts.

  Her father and brothers had warned her to stay the hell away from the town’s bad boy, Chase Miller. But when she was seventeen, she got tired of living by their rules and started testing the boundaries by hooking up with the one guy she couldn’t stop thinking about.

  Jessie threw the front door open, saving her from a response.

  Jayda rushed forward and threw her arms around him. “Please tell me that you found her.”

  “We’re working on it.” Holding Jayda’s head, he kissed her forehead before looking into her eyes. “You know I won’t rest until we find her, don’t you?”

  “I know.” Cadence was Jessie’s goddaughter, and since Chase left, he’d been there for both of them. The only thing that gave Jayda hope was knowing they could count on Jessie to come through for them, just like he always did. “I know you won’t let us down.”

  “I just came from seeing Sam. He said he was going to call you, but I asked him to let me talk to you first.” Jessie sighed as he led her to one of several guest chairs lining the lobby of their shop.

  “What did he say? Why would he leave her—”

  “He didn’t.” Jessie glanced at Bill, who was staring at him expectantly, before he said, “He didn’t leave her there alone. Someone came to pick her up, someone she knew.”

  “But who? I didn’t ask anyone to—”

  “Your brother.”

  “Danny? But he—”

  “Not Danny.” Jessie closed his eyes briefly. “Dillon.”

  “No.” She shook her head frantically, trying to make sense of what her friend was telling her. “That’s not possible. He’s still in rehab.”

  Her father cleared his throat. “He got out a couple of days ago. I meant to tell you.”

  “He got out?” Jayda asked, knowing it was more likely he’d walked out. Dillon had been in and out of rehab, trying to fight his cocaine addiction, but he’d never managed to make it to the thirty-day mark. “But he had another twelve days, at least.”

  “That’s not important now,” Jessie said, trying to draw her attention back to him. “The point is he has Cadence, and we have to figure out how to get her back.”

  “But why would he take her?” Her kid brother may be a screw-up, but he loved his niece. He would never harm her. “It doesn’t make sense.”

  “We’re still trying to work out the why,” Jessie said hesitantly. “But I have a theory.”

  “Go on,” she said, her stomach churning. From the look on his face, she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear Jessie’s theory.

  “I’m pretty sure his motive is money,” Jessie said, holding Jayda’s cold hands in his much warmer ones. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “But how would he get money—”

  “I hate to even think this,” Jessie said, looking pained. “I grew up with that guy, but we all know he’s not the same person we all knew and loved. He’s sick and—”

  “Just say what you gotta say about my son,” Bill growled, wrapping his trembling hand around his walker. “So I can call you a damn liar and kick your ass outta my shop.”

  Jayda shot her father a warning look. “Dad, please.” Bill Moreau was fiercely protective of all three of his children, even if they made colossal mistakes and hurt everyone who loved them. Like Dillon. “Jessie is only trying to help us. If he has a theory, I want to hear it.”

  “I don’t care what you say,” Bill said, shaking a finger at Jessie. “Dillon would never hurt a hair on that girl’s head. He loves Cadence. We all do.”

  “I know.” Jessie sounded miserable that he had to be the bearer of bad news. “But I’ve dealt with a lot of drug addicts in my career, and they’ll do crazy things to feed their addiction, things you could never imagine them doing.”

  “I still don’t understand how he thinks he’ll get money…” Jayda’s eyes met Jessie’s as she shook her head. “No. You don’t think he’d hold her hostage, do you? Believing Chase will pay—”

  “That’s one possibility,” Jessie acknowledged. “But there’s also the possibility that someone wants Chase out of the game.”

  If they did, they’d be sorely disappointed. Nothing could drag him away from that God-forsaken stadium, not even his daughter’s disappearance. Jayda released Jessie’s hands and sat back, crossing her arms. “That’s never going to happen.”

  “Then you talked to Chase?”

  “Yeah, I talked to him.”

  “And? What did he say? When is he coming home?”

  Jayda was ashamed to admit, especially in front of her father, that Chase still wasn’t willing to put his daughter first. “I don’t think he is.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jessie said, swiping a hand over his face. “I thought for sure when he found out about Cadence that he’d be on the first flight.”

  “Well, you thought wrong,” Jayda said, trying to stifle the raw emotion that bubbled up every time she thought about her conversation with her ex.

  Bill slapped his palm against the desk. “I don’t get why the hell we’re sittin’ around here yammering about that loser. You think you know where my granddaughter is, go get her!”

  “I said I think we know who she’s with,” Jessie corrected. “Not where she is. We’re still working on that. It seems Dillon didn’t have a cell phone, so it’s not like we can track him.”

  “No, he left that with me when he went into rehab,” Bill said, swiping a hand over his thick white hair. “He didn’t trust himself with it. He thought maybe he’d call one of his dealers to meet him somewhere.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” Jayda muttered, thinking of all the rehab stints she’d busted her ass to pay for, o
nly to be let down again and again. “But there has to be some way we can figure out where he took her.” Without a car, job, or apartment, his options had to be limited.

  “As I was saying…” Jessie fell silent when the radio clipped to his belt came alive with an accident report. “Someone may have been willing to pay your brother a tidy sum of money to take Chase out of the game. Like all big games, there’s a hell of a lot of money riding on these things. Guys with a lot to lose, who really don’t like to lose.”

  “I can’t believe anyone would suggest abducting an innocent little girl just to keep her daddy out of some stupid baseball game,” Jayda said, rubbing her temple. “That doesn’t make any sense, Jess.”

  “You’d be surprised what people are willing to do when big bucks are up for grabs, honey. Chase is a big part of their offense. They can’t win ball games without runs, and no one has more home runs or RBIs in the postseason than your ex. His batting average right now is—”

  “Do you think I give a shit about his batting average?” Jayda asked through clenched teeth. “My daughter is missing! The only thing I care about is finding her. And so help me, if I find out my brother is responsible for her disappearance, I will personally make him wish—”

  “Enough of that,” her father said, raising his hand. “You don’t know anything yet. Give your brother the benefit of the doubt.”

  “That’s all you’ve been doing all of his life!” Jayda shouted, turning on her father. “That’s why he is the way he is. Because you’ve always been willing to excuse any goddamn thing he does, no matter how bad. No matter how many people he hurts. Well, not this time! I swear to God, if he so much as makes my baby girl cry, I’ll kill him with my bare hands!”

  Chapter Two

  Chase stood before his coaches, teammates, and manager in the locker room, trying to make them understand why he had to leave before the most important game of their lives. Chase had already explained to his manager, and after offering his sincere sympathies, he had suggested Chase fly out before the game, courtesy of the team’s private jet.