Page 19

Today was our second day at the office. Yesterday, a chunk of our time was spent giving Keeley a tour and then introducing her to a number of people who worked here. Not everyone who worked for us was in the office much. When it came to the IT and investigation people, some worked from the office, while others did it remotely. However, for those who did work from headquarters, I introduced her to them and let her watch what they did for a while. They knew we were working to find her sister, so they were more than happy to show her what they did.

Today, I was to sit down with the bosses so we could go through everything together. Sometimes, doing that allows a hole or missed opportunity to be found. Keeley and all four wives were to join us. Even Sloan insisted she had a month to wait for baby number two and that if anyone thought she was sitting at home, they were crazy.

One of the things the bosses did was incorporate a daycare on the second floor. They knew employees worked better when they knew their kids were where it was safe and they could get to them in an emergency. Many would spend their lunch break with their kids. The morale was better, and the call-offs were much less, according to what I was told. The original Patriots also used the daycare for all of their children. Keeley loved the idea and said she wished more places did it.

Sean had informed us we’d meet in their executive conference room at one o’clock, and lunch would be provided. That was fine by me. I spent time after we got there working on tying up loose ends on other cases I’d worked on, plus I got my business receipts in so accounting wouldn’t hunt me down. While I did that, Keeley was off somewhere with the wives. At a quarter till, I got a text.

Keeley: I’ll meet you in the Lair of the Dragons. LOL. Love that name.

Me: We all love it. OK. I’ll meet you there. I miss you.

Keeley: I miss you, too. SYS.

Me: SYS

I was still smiling when I walked into the conference room five minutes before our start time. Someone caught me on my way there, or I would’ve been earlier. I wasn’t surprised to see Sean and Griffin sitting there. They tended to be early. I greeted them and took a seat. Moments later, in came Gabe. Right after him was Undertaker. I wondered what the holdup was. I was about to hunt for her when we heard laughter, and the women entered. They were all talking excitedly. They quieted when they saw us. Cassidy checked her watch.

“We’re not late. We still have two minutes. Hurry, let’s get drinks, and then we can start.” She organized getting drinks not only for the ladies but for us. With everyone here and seated, we got down to business.

“Alright, we know why we’re meeting. We’re going to walk through everything we have so far on the disappearance of Kensington and what has been done to date to find her. Each of you received the dossier on her so you could review the information. We want this to be an effective work session,” Sean explained.

While all four owners of the Patriots owned the same number of shares, they tended to gravitate toward doing different things. Even though all could and would take charge, it tended to be Sean who took the leadership role a lot of the time. No one got upset. They worked together without it being a competition. Between four super alpha men, that was a miracle.

“Did everyone get a chance to read through it? Do we need to take time to do it now?” Griffin asked. All of us shook our heads no. I know I had it memorized, and so did Keeley.

“Alright, let’s start with when your sister went missing and work our way forward. Tell us how you found out she was gone and what was done,” Gabe said to Keeley.

“I got a call from Detective Chase on a Tuesday that she hadn’t shown up for work for two days. She was supposed to work over the weekend, so when she was a no-call no-show on Sunday, they didn’t panic, even though it was totally not like her. When she didn’t show up again on Monday, her boss, Mr. Berry, called the police, asking for someone to do a wellness check at her apartment. I have no idea why he didn’t contact me first, but he didn’t.

“When the police did the check, Chase said they found signs of a struggle in her apartment. Her phone, purse, and keys were still there. Her car was outside in her usual parking spot. He said they had been retracing her movements for the past few days before her disappearance. He rambled about a disagreement with a date or her bringing someone home, and things got out of hand. They hadn’t called me sooner because they didn’t want to alarm me.” Keeley snorted.

“Did they give you any other information then or right after that call?” Sean asked.

“Not information, but I kept calling Detective Chase for news and what they’d done new. It took me a few weeks to make him change his tune.

“How?” Gabe asked.

“He was convinced that she chose to leave of her own free will and the condition of her apartment wasn’t anything. I kept telling him she wouldn’t just leave without telling me. She wouldn’t leave her things behind, especially her purse and other stuff. Eventually, he started to act like she wasn’t a missing person but a kidnap victim. Since there was no ransom demand, I was the one to suggest she might’ve been trafficked. I know how prevalent that is. By then, any trail that might’ve existed had gone cold or disappeared. He changed his tune when I asked for another detective to be assigned to her case.”

“Beau said when you saw the detective before you left to come here on Saturday, this Chase stopped at her apartment. Beau said you both got strange vibes off him. Tell us what you felt,” Undertaker requested.

“I swore there were a couple of times when he talked to us that he was fighting not to smile. It would be at inappropriate times. I have nothing concrete about him, but the way he made me feel, I didn’t trust him. He said he was there because one of Kensy’s neighbors called because they saw lights and heard us in the apartment. I think he lied. If he had placed those bugs Beau had found, then it would have made more sense that Chase had overheard us there and had come to see what we were doing. And you know he followed us when we left,” she told them. I had to agree with her.

“While I hate to think a police officer is involved in any way, I have to agree that he warrants a deeper dive into him,” Sean agreed. I watched as he pulled out a file. He handed it to me. Keeley was next to me, so we both could read it.

“For the rest of you, that’s the preliminary report our people got on Detective Chase. He lives in a modest home with his wife. They have no children but have been married for six years. She works, too. They have some credit card debt, a mortgage, and car payments. They appear to live within their means. There’s no indication he’s receiving bribes, which, if he was helping the people behind this, why wouldn’t he? I agree he’s suspect, but nothing is showing up under him or his wife,” Sean told us.

After Sean finished telling us that, the rest of us began to chatter about Chase and his involvement, if any. Keeley was still reading through what Sean handed us on the detective. A few minutes later, she gasped, and her head came up. She was staring at me with her mouth open, a look of surprise on her face. Everyone quieted.

“What is it, Keeley?” I asked.

“There is a connection between Chase and my sister, or I should say between his wife and Kensy. It says here that his wife works for Hope’s Dignity. It’s an outreach place for those who are trying to turn their lives around,” she explained.

“How is that connected to your sister? That’s not the name of the place she works,” Sean muttered as he flipped back through his file.

“You’re right, it’s not. Kensy doesn’t work there. She volunteers with them. When she moved to Billings, she heard about Hope’s Dignity. She went to see what they did. Kensy was impressed, so she asked if they ever needed volunteers. They told her yes, and she started to help out.”

“How often was she there? Would she know Chase’s wife?” Griffin asked.

“She should. My sister has a degree in business. Even though she’s young, she’s brilliant. It says here that Chase’s wife, Mona, is the CFO at Hope’s. They’re technically a charity organization. I know that Kensy helped them with more than one fundraiser. They would have to have worked together. While my sister does a variety of things, she gets involved with the financial aspects of Hope’s for those fundraisers. She volunteers there, even when they don’t have one going on. She’s there several times a month.”

“Hmm, I wonder why the good detective didn’t mention that? Do you think he doesn’t know?” I asked.

“Maybe, but even though they’re not supposed to talk about work, you know they do. Unless they totally live without talking about their jobs, you’d think Kensington’s name would’ve come up,” Gabe said.

“Plus, they’ve been posting things all over Billings with her face and name on it, asking anyone who might know where she is to call,” Keeley added.

I heard the excitement and hope in her voice. She wanted to believe that she’d discovered a connection, and maybe she had, but it might not be enough to be significant. I had to caution her.

“Babe, I know you’re excited, and we’ll make sure the investigators run this lead down, but I want you to remain cautiously optimistic. It may turn out there’s nothing there that makes him out to be dirty. His wife may not talk about her work, and he doesn’t tell her about his. I just don’t want you to get too hopeful.”

“Beau, I know what you’re doing, and I appreciate it, but if I don’t have a little hope right now, I’m going to drown. It’ll soon be three months since she went missing. I’ll never stop hoping we’ll find her, even if we reach a point where I know she’s probably dead. I dream at night about her and what she might be going through. What happened to me is nothing compared to what she could be dealing with.”

Tears gathered in her eyes. I couldn’t take it. I reached over and dragged her chair flush to mine so I could lift her out of hers and onto my lap. She held the tears back from falling, but the sad look she gave gutted me.

“If you need us to leave you two alone for a bit…” Griffin offered.

“No, don’t leave. I’m sorry. I’ll be okay. It’s just hard,” Keeley said.

“I’m sending this information to the team working on this case. We’ll see what they find on Hope’s Dignity and Mona Chase. Is there anywhere else your sister used to spend her time but wasn’t paid?” Sean asked. He was typing on a small tablet he brought in.

“Yeah, she worked at the soup kitchen sometimes. It was one not far from Hope’s. I can’t recall its name.”

“That’s alright, they’ll find it,” Sean assured her.

“So there was no fancy house, cars, big boats, or extravagant trips the Chases have purchased or gone on?” I asked, even though I could see they hadn’t.

“No money of any significant amount has left their accounts. They have joint savings, and each of them has a separate checking account,” Griffin read in the report.

“Wait, yes, they did take a trip. They didn’t pay for it, though,” Keeley muttered.

“They did? When? Where? Are you sure?” Undertaker piped up.

“It was last summer. I remember Kensy talking about it. She thought it was ridiculous for Hope’s to send their CFO on a business trip to Belarus to attempt to get donations from some high rollers there. And that they were paying not only for her whole trip but also for her husband to go with her. Kensy said the amount of money they spent was sickening. She told me how many people they could’ve helped with that.”

“Did Kensington ever say if those donors came through?” Undertaker asked.

“She did. She said they were investing, but they were paying Hope before the trip. Why would a country like that want to help us? They should be spending their money on people in their own country or those surrounding them,” Keeley added.

I noted the looks the guys were giving each other, and so did their wives. “I know we’re more here to support Keeley, but correct me if I’m wrong. Hasn’t Belarus come up in another case with trafficked people? And not just there but the countries surrounding it, which are Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia?” Sloan asked as she rubbed her belly.

Undertaker reached over and put his hand on her stomach. He smiled. “I see our little one is doing cartwheels in there. Do you need to rest?”

“He is, but I’m good,” she assured him.

“I think we might be onto something. Those are some of the worst countries in the world for trafficking people, guns, drugs, and more,” Sean stated.

“Do you feel it?” Undertaker asked Sloan, then glanced at his three partners and me.

I knew what he was talking about. I felt it, too. We joked about this tingle we’d get when we found ourselves on the right track on a case. It was silly, but time after time, it had worked out the same. When there was no joint tingle, then the case wasn’t solved. Once the tingle happened, then the threads would become apparent, and eventually, we solved it. They all were nodding right along with me. The four wives knew what it meant, but not Keeley. She was giving us a puzzled look. Before she could ask what we were talking about, I told her.

“What Undertaker is asking is whether we feel a tingle. It sounds silly to most, but we’ve discovered that when we’re on the right path in a case, we feel a tingle. Once it begins, the clues or whatever we’re looking for begin to become apparent, and things fall into place. The trail eventually leads us to where we need to be. It sometimes takes longer than we want or expect, but it always seems to end in us solving the case.”

“And those nods mean all of you are feeling a tingle?” she asked. I heard the hopefulness in her voice.

“Yes, that’s what it means. We need you to know that the outcomes may not be what is desired. We’re not giving up hope that we’ll find your sister, but you have to be prepared. We could get to the end of the line and find and take care of those involved and responsible, but we might not find her. Or…” Gabe paused before saying the worst.

“Or she could be dead. I know that. These cases are bleak for most. People often, hell, most of the time, don’t find their loved ones. There are those with enough money and clout to buy others, but then they end up killing the ones they buy and go back to buy another. It’s sick, and I hate it, but I know it’s real,” Keeley murmured.

I squeezed her tighter and kissed her temple. Her body was almost vibrating with tension. She flashed me a weak smile. I glanced over to see that Sean had finished tapping away. Wanting to break the tension in the room, I stated the obvious.

“You got the new information off to our team to get to work.”

He nodded. “Yep, I did. And I sent it to Everly and Smoke. It’s no use waiting, and whoever finds what we need is all the better. I have to tell you, I don’t like this detective. Or the fact that if you return to Missoula, you’ll be out there without backup. I wouldn’t trust him. Maybe you two should stay here.” Sean sounded as if he was half muttering to himself.

“I can’t. I have work, and that’s an obligation I can’t abandon,” Keeley protested.

“We could send a team out to keep watch over them,” Griffin suggested.

“Who, though? We have a couple tied up in that other operation involving the Warriors. Most of the others are working on various things that they can’t do remotely. It looks like it might need to be a couple of us,” Gabe added.

“If that’s what it takes, then let’s do it,” Griffin stated.

“Hang on. You have a brand-new baby at home. Hadley needs you. Undertaker is getting one any day now. God knows what Sean and Gabe are needed for here at headquarters. As much as you might dislike it, you’re more valuable most of the time here. I’ll make some adjustments to where I am when we get back so I can guard her,” I informed them.

“She is sitting right here. I don’t need to be guarded like I’m a helpless twat. I can protect myself,” Keeley protested.

“We know you can. Beau told us you’re impressive. However, we have no idea how many people are involved in this. They could send an army after you. It’s not just your safety we’re worried about, Keeley. There’s Beau’s, too,” Sean said.

There was silence for a long minute, and then Sloan broke it. “You can bring some of the clubs in to help. I bet they have some guys they can spare for a while.”

“While true, I’m not sure if we want to do that. They’re not the most inconspicuous guys. We need that kind,” Gabe reminded her.

“I have an idea. You want people to be invisible protection, guard dogs, or whatever, right? Do you want them to fight? If they have to defend us or themselves, they have to be capable of doing it, but the primary duty is to be eyes and ears. Correct?” Keeley asked. She was scanning everyone’s faces.

“Yes, essentially, that’s what we need,” Sean agreed. The rest all nodded their heads.

“I have some people I can ask. I don’t want to expose them to danger, but they’ve all offered, and they’ll be very unlikely to be noticed.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Reed and a few others like him,” she answered.

“Babe, that’s great thinking out of the box, but don’t you think this is over their heads?” I asked hesitantly.

“If you want them to be an army of killers going into a compound or someplace to free hostages and kill everyone, then maybe not. But to watch and report. And if things get hairy, they can help, then they’re it.”

“Who is she talking about?” Griffin asked.

“Some people who her late dad knew. They’re survivalists,” I explained.

“Before you curl up your noses at them, let me say this. They may be fanatics sometimes in their beliefs of being prepared, but it’s that preparedness mindset that gives them the skills to do this. You wouldn’t believe the training they have or the skills they developed to be prepared. Others think they’re a bunch of nutcases. I won’t deny that some are. But my dad and the ones he associated with aren’t. Plus, several have prior military training. Who do you think taught my sister and me after our dad died? I’d put my life in their hands any day. They have all been offering their help with finding Kensy. Some are more adept at computers than others. But no one can go into the mountains if we had to do that and survive the way they can,” she argued.

“We’d have to know their backgrounds and stuff before we could allow them to do this. It’ll take time for us to clear them. We don’t have time to waste,” Sean said.

“You can’t prevent my friends from helping. You’re forgetting. You tell Beau what to do as his bosses. You have no jurisdiction over me. I can ask anyone I want to come and help me. If you don’t want them there, it’s tough. This is my safety and my sister’s life. If that pisses you off and you don’t want to help find her, fine. I’ll find her,” Keeley snapped. She popped up off my lap so fast I didn’t have time to grab her and hold her down.

“Keeley, come back here and calm down,” I told her.

“This isn’t the bedroom, Beau. You don’t command me here,” she said boldly. She didn’t give a damn who heard it.

“I know that, babe. We’re trying to help, and we don’t want to put more people in harm’s way. That’s all we’re saying,” I said, trying to calm her down.

“I understand it, but you don’t know any of these people, so you automatically discount them. So, if you don’t have enough people from here to do it, and you don’t want my friends, then you’re back to bikers. Or should I assume the Patriots aren’t willing to help anymore if I don’t go along with everything you want?” she snapped.

“Whoa, Keeley, we’re here to help. We’re not your enemies, but we do need to get the right kind of help. We don’t want to expose the two of you more than you already have been.” Griffin said.

“So your solution was for me to stay here. Assuming I could, despite my job, if I were at Beau’s for very long, I’d be in jail.”

“Why would you be in jail?” Cassidy asked. The other women had been suspiciously quiet.

Keeley glanced at me. I sighed. “It seems that my neighbor, Constance, you all know her. Anyway, it seems she might have more than just friendship feelings for me.”

“I told you! I knew it,” Sloan said loudly, slapping the table. The other women were all smiling, nodding, and murmuring their agreement.

“Why the hell didn’t any of you say something?” I groused.

“Because we were afraid if we did, you might actually sleep with her, and that would be a mistake. She’s got stalker vibes,” Gemma added.

“What has she done to get on your nerves, Keeley? Besides the fact she wants Beau?” Hadley asked.

“Her digs at me and how she puts out the possessive vibe that he’s hers, and I’m encroaching and should leave. I feel like we can’t leave his place without her watching us. I wonder if she put her ear to the wall and listened to us. When it comes to intimacy, I don’t want her to be able to listen to us. It’s creepy. If I disappear, you know she somehow found a way to overpower, kill, and bury me,” Keeley stated. This set off excited chatter from the other women.

“Alright, enough talk about Constance for now. It seems we’re getting off track. I think we owe it to Keeley to consider her friends. Give us their names. I’ve met a few survivalists over the years. They were very situationally aware and able to take care of themselves. They might be ideal for an assignment like this. Let me talk to Fiend, Midas, and Wraith about this, Scorpion,” Undertaker interrupted.

“Who are Fiend, Midas, and Wraith? And why did you call him Scorpion?” Keeley asked in confusion. I hadn’t told her of our call names and how they slipped out at times.

“Those were their call signs when they were in the military. Mine happens to be Scorpion. Sometimes, we call each other by them on the job,” I explained.

“Oh, I knew that many military men have them, but I didn’t think of them being used outside of the military. Okay, now that I have that down, do you ladies have call signs, too?” she asked.

“No, we don’t, but I think we should. Think of it like the clubs. All the members have a road name, and they give their significant others a name that goes on their cuts,” Cassidy said with a hum of pleasure in her tone.

“Alright, let’s adjourn this. We’re not focusing well. Why don’t we all go out to dinner, or you can come to our house tonight to eat? We can talk more about Constance, these friends, and God knows what else. Until then, we’ll need to get those names and stuff from you before you leave today so their backgrounds can be checked. How does that sound?” Sean asked.

All of us agreed. We were all talking over each other. Gabe waved for attention after he got done talking to Gemma. “I think with the kids and all, it’s best to have dinner at one of our homes. We’ll bring the food in, so no one needs to cook. With the kids and work, we’re all tired, but Gemma and I would like to host. Does seven o’clock work for everyone? I know for the kiddos, it’s close to bedtime, but they can eat and then sleep. We have the extra bedroom set up to accommodate small ones. They’ll be safe in there.”

“And why would you have that done to your guest room? Are you trying to have another baby?” Cassidy asked. Excitement took over the room.

Gabe and Gemma exchanged loving glances, and then Gemma answered, “Yes, Cass, we’re talking about trying for another baby as soon as Greer turns one in April. We thought we’d do the room at least partially up ahead of time. That way, when Travis, Caleb, Noah, Nash, and the new baby get here, and you all come over, they have a place to sleep and play.”

Just like that, we switched gears to talk about babies. I knew Keeley and I needed to talk about her anger in this meeting, but we’d do it later. Maybe this talk about kids would help to settle her down. And I wanted to make sure to listen because God knows, even though we’d been using the spermicidal cream, it wasn’t foolproof. Keeley and I might be looking at becoming parents in nine months, so I should pay attention and take notes on all the kids and parenting stuff.