by Hadley Quinn
Cole barely shrugged. “Who fucking cares? Everyone has secrets. Maybe she doesn’t like you enough to share it with you.”
Scarlett scoffed at him. “Maybe she’s hiding something that’s really dangerous but she doesn’t know it? Haven’t you ever been in that situation? When you know something is dangerous for someone but they don’t realize what they might be getting into? She’s twenty years old. I just feel like I want to protect her somehow.”
He seemed to silently contemplate that before asking, “And how’d you know she was here in Jersey?”
“She told me before she left. She said it was a long story, but that she was going to see the brother she thought was dead. I knew she was coming to Edison because she mentioned it.”
“Are you two close?”
Scarlett paused as she debated how much to tell him. “Yes, we’re good friends. She seemed like she needed a friend after she moved to Miami, and when she started working at the Inn, I figured it couldn’t hurt.”
“Working at the what?”
She studied him for a second. “Inn Deep? That’s the name of the business we worked at.”
Cole slightly nodded but the tiny smirk on his lips was obvious. “That’s right. I just got used to calling it ‘whoreville.’”
She glared at him. “That’s rude.”
“Well what else would it be called? It’s a brothel. Gentleman’s Club? That sounds a little too innocent.”
“You do know that there are some women there that do not have sex for money, right? Some of them are merely companions for lonely people.”
“Hey, I’m not judging,” he held up his hands. “I didn’t realize I had to be politically correct with the name of such business. Hooker or escort, whatever. Get back to Leah, okay? Have you talked to her?”
Scarlett sighed. “No,” she answered. “Like I said, I just have a weird feeling. She was coming back here but she didn’t look too sure of it. Since you gave me a weird vibe, I got worried. She insisted it was okay, you were an old friend of hers. I’ve never heard any mention of you, and when she got really secretive after I asked more about it, I got concerned. I don’t want to interfere in anything good she’s got going on here if that’s the case, but I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
“So why are you here,” he pointed to the truck. “Why are you following me?”
“You come to Miami looking for her? And then she decides to just up and leave the next day? I told you, I was worried. In my line of work, I’ve seen girls just disappear. I didn’t want that to happen to Leah. I don’t know anything about you and I don’t have an address for her. I thought maybe you two were…close. I thought I could get a better idea of her life if I observed it a bit—and the people in it—and it would give me peace of mind.”
He sat quietly for a long moment, seeming to think. She had no idea what was going through his head and it made her uneasy.
“What are you to Damien Glenn?” Cole finally eyed her carefully.
That didn’t exactly catch her off guard, but she took her time delivering an honest response. “Damien is my ex.”
“Your ex, huh,” he stated. “Husband?”
“No. Boyfriend.”
Cole slowly nodded. “So are you still one of his go-to whores?”
She frowned at him. “No. We aren’t enemies, but we’re not friends either.”
“Hmm. So on that note—if he’s your ex-boyfriend—does he have anything to do with why you’re here? You seem to be in an influential position at his club. Did he find out Leah left and wasn’t happy about it?”
“No, I’m here on my own. It has nothing to do with Damien. The truth is, he’s always liked Leah. She worked at the Inn as the hair and makeup stylist, but Damien treated her respectfully. He may be a ruthless prick when it comes to business, but he’d never force himself on a woman.”
Cole scoffed with amusement. “How do you really know? That guy is capable of anything. And why don’t you just call Leah? I think you’re hiding information from me or maybe have flat out lied to me, so what makes you think I want to be a part of this? I think you’re being shady. That’s the bottom line.”
“Even with ten thousand dollars on the line?” she smirked at him.
Cole was eyeing her carefully. “You’re offering me ten grand to…do what, exactly?”
“To find out what she’s hiding. Make sure it’s not something dangerous that could screw up her life.”
Cole laughed out loud. “Are you fucking serious? You want to pay me to dig up her diary entries because it will make you feel better?”
“Don’t be such a dick,” she snapped. “Excuse me for thinking you would be interested in a well paying job, and excuse me for assuming you actually care about what happens to another human being like I do. How ‘bout you just fuck off and forget we ever had this conversation, okay?”
That time she really did open the door and Cole didn’t try to stop her. She walked away from his truck, around the side of the building, and headed for her rental car. Not once did she look back, and even though she’d had hopes that Cole’s voice would call from behind to stop her, it never did.
Scarlett picked up her phone as she drove away and pressed redial.
“He’s a cocky smartass and didn’t bite,” she said when the other end picked up. “We have to go a different route.”
Chapter Seven
Cole woke up in the middle of the night again. It was the fifth time in the past two hours and the clock only read 3:13. He knew it was going to be a lost cause for sleep tonight, so he pulled himself out of bed and walked down the hall.
Dropping onto the couch and clicking on the television was mechanical as he reached for the end table. Sliding open the drawer, he moved a .38 to the side to retrieve a key. He used it to unlock the cabinet below and slid out the familiar thick blue file folder. He opened it on the coffee table and went through the habitual routine of spreading the papers out in front of him.
He methodically slid the pictures the furthest away. They weren’t even necessary to study anymore; he had the images imprinted on his brain. No matter what he did, the scenes would never go away. The car had gone through a guardrail and crashed into a ravine. It caught fire and burned long enough his parents had to be identified through dental records. He had pictures of the car burned to a crisp and his parents’ gruesome remains; another set showed the guardrail that the car had gone through. No other cars had been involved in the accident, and it was assumed that his father had either swerved to miss wildlife, or dozed off long enough to be startled and overcorrect the vehicle into the railing.
Cole sighed as he glanced from one side of the coffee table to the other. On the left was everything he had from police reports and public information. On the right was the information he’d collected on his own over the years about his parents. There was so much basic information—facts and stuff—yet a lot of holes to fill in about their actual lives and what they were like.
He felt like he knew nothing about who they were as individuals.
His father was born and raised in Atlantic City and he worked as a bartender for a few years at one of the casinos there. His mother was from Philadelphia, but he didn’t know much about her background at all. Her family had disowned her and her sister when they failed to follow a strictly Catholic lifestyle. His dad was an only child but had a father in Ohio, but Grandpa Nicholson died from a stroke just after they’d moved to California.
He had no idea how his parents met or when, but they married a couple months before Cole was born and moved to New Brunswick. From what Cole had discovered, his parents had both worked at the same restaurant there years ago. He barely remembered this as a kid, so when he came across the information, he looked into it further. The place seemed legit—it was a well-established business. All he really knew was that his mother was a seating hostess, and his father was an assistant manager that also kept the bar.
Piecing together information in hindsight,
their sudden move to the West Coast had seemed panicked. Maybe his father was in trouble somehow and had decided to get out of a bad situation and start over. Cole really didn’t know, but no matter the exact reason for their move, he had always felt his parents had been running.
And the worst part of it all… Cole couldn’t remember a damn thing about his childhood for some reason.
He sighed as he slid the police reports aside and made more room for his own research. As he glanced over each familiar segment, he strategically placed the papers where he wanted them. He wasn’t sure when exactly a few dots connected—or how, even—but it hit him pretty hard. The more the puzzle pieces dropped into place, the more pieces he needed placement for immediately after. The information was overwhelming, but the coincidence was even more unbelievable.
He chose another case file from the cabinet and flipped it open. Finding the sheet of information he needed, he compared them side-by-side.
Sure enough, that one tiny little detail matched.
Cole grabbed his laptop and typed into the search option. He’d already done some recon on this person last year for another job, but now that they were tied to a different case entirely, Cole had a more precise objective.
Donny Kemp—Van’s father—had been out of prison for over a year now, so far keeping his nose clean. Van’s dad was still working at the mechanic shop he’d started at after his release, which was right there in Edison eight blocks from Cole’s apartment. Van hadn’t spoken a single word to his father in that entire time as far as Cole knew, and his and Dani’s move to Middletown wasn’t even the reason.
Van wanted absolutely nothing to do with his dad.
Cole closed up his work and locked it away. He threw on a sweatshirt, grabbed his keys, and headed for his truck. It was still dark at four in the morning and he knew Donny wouldn’t be getting to work for another hour still, but he drove to Benny’s Automotive and parked across the street. He sat there and did what he did best, which was let random thoughts and information invade his head. He never knew when something would tie together in these moments, or if they would at all, but sometimes it was the only thing he had left to do.
At ten minutes to five, Benny arrived at the shop, and then four minutes later, Donny and another worker showed up. Cole observed the business as it got prepped for the day; the lobby lights were turned on, the garage door rolled up, and at five-thirty, the ‘open’ sign was switched on. It wasn’t a popular business, so Cole wasn’t surprised when only one vehicle came in and it wasn’t even until eight a.m. After it left, the workers went back to shooting the breeze, smoking a cigarette…
Or pacing the garage floor while on the phone. That was Donny Kemp, and Cole wished he could be close enough to hear the conversation.
Sometimes in his line of work he had to act quickly, improvise, or just completely change gears on the fly. At this moment he was feeling spontaneous as he climbed out of his truck and crossed the street.
He entered the garage just as he heard Donny say, “Yeah, well, I’d say fuck him up but not too much, you know?” Donny turned around at that moment and noticed Cole. He looked him over for a few seconds before he said, “I’ll call ya back,” and hung up the phone. Putting a smile on his face, he came across the garage. “Whatcha need, kid?”
Cole took in as much of Donny Kemp as he could without seeming like he was doing so. He’d seen him in pictures and seen him from afar, but never up close. He had dark brown eyes like Van’s, and even the same facial structure.
“I’m new to the area,” Cole replied. “Just checking out some of the local businesses. You full service here?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he bobbed his head. “We do almost anything you need ‘cept bodywork, ya know? But I can give you a reference to a body shop if you want. Know a pretty good place a couple miles south. Whatcha needin’?”
“Nothing right now,” Cole shrugged as he glanced around the shop. “Just wandering around this morning, checking the area. You live here long? Know it well?”
Cole could detect the suspicion on Donny’s face instantly.
“Best place for breakfast?” Cole added casually with a smile. “I don’t cook. At all.”
Donny finally cracked a smile again. “Yeah, try Lindy’s. Two blocks east, one street north. You’ll wanna become a regular there for sure.”
“Alright, thanks man,” Cole nodded as he turned for the sidewalk.
He kept walking without looking back, but he could feel eyes watching him leave. Instead of heading for his truck, he took the two blocks east. He’d never eaten at this particular diner but he’d passed it a few times. Food sounded like a good choice at the moment, so he entered Lindy’s and picked a booth in the back. He flipped the table menu open but his mind instantly focused on case facts while he twisted the corner of a napkin until it ripped apart. He repeated the process until a pile of white scraps had accumulated on the table in front of him.
“You wanna order or keep making a mess for me to clean up later?” a female voice spoke.
Cole glanced up at his waitress, and instead of the grim face he expected, the dry humor had come from a beautiful dark-blonde with a sassy little smirk on her pretty lips.
He looked down at the mess in front of him but didn’t respond.
“You know what you want?” she added.
Offering her a tiny shrug he answered, “How ‘bout you just surprise me?”
She raised both eyebrows at him but then smiled. “Surprise you, huh? Well, big guy, I guess you look like you can handle just about anything.” She shrugged and walked away.
For the next hour, Cole sat in Lindy’s Diner completely absorbed in his own thoughts. Yeah, he could tell the waitress was sweet on him, and he didn’t miss the few times she’d glanced over at him. He even knew how many people were in the small diner at any given moment, and really, what they’d ordered.
His silence and lack of social interaction meant absolutely nothing; he took in everything around him all the time.
Still, he was able to sit there and let investigative work roll around in his head. The biggest mindfuck that he was trying to wrap his thoughts around?
His father and Donny Kemp once knew each other.
“What else can I do for you?” the waitress asked after stopping at his table. Her name was Julia, but he was positive she’d go home thinking he didn’t know. Appearing indifferent and aloof was his specialty.
“Nothing else, thank you,” Cole replied, barely glancing her way. “Just the check.”
“You sure?” she asked. “Maybe you could use a dessert to sweeten your day.”
The strong implication made Cole smile, but only inwardly. He wasn’t about to make it easy on her; he didn’t have time for distractions. She was implying that he seemed like a callous prick.
“I’m good, thanks,” he added confidently as he leaned back against his seat and, for the first time, gave her his complete attention.
She seemed startled by the eye contact, and when he finally fully smiled at her, her cheeks flushed and her deep green eyes darted anywhere but his face.
“Um, okay,” she mumbled. “I’ll just, eh, grab your check real- really quick. Hang on.”
She left, bumping into a chair on her way to the counter, and then dropping her order book when she pulled it out. She looked his way again, embarrassed, but Cole pretended he hadn’t noticed. He hadn’t actually been watching her directly—he’d observed her departure peripherally while he checked emails on his phone—but he was so aware of everything around him, he even knew which coworkers and restaurant patrons had noticed her awkward behavior.
Standing, Cole retrieved his wallet from his back pocket. He pulled out a twenty and dropped it on the table. Without even waiting for the check, he made his way to the exit.
“Wait, hold on,” Julia called after him as he pushed the door open to exit. “Your check.”
He slowly turned and nodded to the table. “I think that’ll cover it and t
hen some,” he replied.
She practically shoved the paper into his hand. “It’s, um, your check,” she told him.
He gave her a polite smile and nodded his head, without even looking down at it. “Okay. Thank you.”
Within her smile, he could detect a bit of flush on her face still. She was beautiful, and her shyness added to the intrigue, but he tried not to acknowledge it as he turned for the sidewalk. There was nothing he could do about it anyway. No need for unnecessary attachments, college girl crush or otherwise.
When he knew he was out of her sight, Cole glanced down at the check she’d handed over and guilt washed over him. Not only did it have her name and number on it, but it also had a zero balance.
She’d paid his tab.
Chapter Eight
Leah Kemp leaned onto the bathroom counter and stared at herself in the mirror. It had been a week since she’d dropped into Van’s life, and even though the transition had been fairly easy, she still felt like her world was in limbo. Having the brother she had was an absolute blessing—she couldn’t have asked for anything more if she’d dreamt it up—but imposing on him and his family like she’d been doing was getting uncomfortable.
His wife was extremely perfect for him. From her sense of humor to the easygoing mom that she was, Dani was the ideal match for Van. Leah had always known her brother to be protective by nature, but somehow Van had learned how to balance that protectiveness with an amount of integrity and compassion that she knew he definitely had not learned from their father. Growing up, Van had always been angry and distant when it came to the outside world. But when it came to being a big brother to Leah and Darren, he had always been their comfort zone, their guardian, and their hero.
After years of separation had hardened her heart, Leah had finally chosen to move on and accept what she thought was fate. Yeah, Darren was a druggie without a concern for anything but his next fix. They’d sent him to a different home eventually, so he didn’t end up influencing Leah and their other foster siblings.
