Page 5

Chapter 5

Jay

I got up early Monday to pick up coffee. “Hey Ma,” I said as I walked into Grannie’s, the coffee shop she owned. “Can I get eight coffees, make that seven and one decaf Mocha?”

I figured I owed everyone an apology after it had been pointed out to me, no less than four times over the weekend, that my behavior was excessive and uncalled for.

Guys from my Raider team thought it was cool I’d be working with my family when I returned to civilian life, but that’s because they’d never suffered through the same lecture from their father and two older brothers, who also happened to be their bosses.

As if that didn’t suck enough—Dad told Ma.

The only thing worse than having my father correct my behavior with a stern, yet concerned, heart-to-heart, was sitting across the table from my mother and having her peer into my soul as she said, “I’m disappointed in you. ”

I wasn’t proud of my behavior or putting myself in a position where they all felt the need to lecture me. One of the things I’d promised myself when I signed on to work at SSI was that I wouldn’t fall back into my old, negative patterns.

Doing a bang up job of that, Sheppard .

At dinner, I admitted I’d gone into the training session feeling like I needed to prove myself, but I refused to talk about why I felt that way. The mat is the one place I don’t feel ‘less than’ my brothers .

Or why I’ve seemed angry since coming home.

Six months earlier than expected. It had nothing to do with my family.

I was fairly confident my dad knew I felt like I didn’t measure up, but he never mentioned it. Not directly. Instead, he constantly reminded me I didn’t have to prove myself.

I didn’t necessarily feel the need to apologize to everyone for kicking their asses, losing was part of training, but how I did it was over-the-top. The coffee was my olive branch.

“Want some pastries, too?”

“Sure. Can you include some blueberry muffins?” I’d already eaten breakfast, but couldn’t say no to my favorite fresh baked pastry.

“I can.” She smiled.

“Morning Jay,” Beth said as she joined my mom behind the counter. “Doug said you’ve got, and I quote, ‘mad skills on the mat’.” She laughed.

“Thanks, Beth. I’ll be sure to remind him of that later,” I teased. Beth wasn’t just the store manager, she was Ma’s best friend, and Doug’s fiancée.

Ma came around the counter to hug me goodbye. Her head barely reached my chin so I couldn’t miss the new grays in her wavy, dark brown hair. Hair I’d inherited from her. Jamie and Madi inherited her expressive hazel eyes.

“Behave today, okay?”

I laughed. “Of course.” With any luck I’ll be sent on an assignment while the dust settles .

As expected, the coffee and treats were a hit. And lucky for me, Ma included half a dozen blueberry muffins because everyone wanted one.

“The new guy gets it,” AJ said, getting the keys to one of the company cars from Meg, and grabbing a muffin before leaving. He had an executive protection gig babysitting an actor’s pre-teen daughter all week. I didn’t envy him that detail.

New guy gets the coffee was SSI’s version of hazing. It started with AJ, because Jack wanted to welcome his friend with a little good-natured ribbing. He decided daily trips to Ma’s coffee shop was the way to go.

“Thanks, Jay.” Doug said before leaving to meet with a person of interest in the case he was working.

The front door opened, prompting Meg to stand and greet the guest.

“You must be Mr. Darling. If you’d like to have a seat, John will be right with you. ”

That was my cue. I grabbed Maxwell’s coffee and headed for my office. I was behind on paperwork, and today was as good a day as any to catch up.

“Thank you,” Maxwell said, without looking up, when I set her coffee, cream no sugar, on the corner of her desk.

“You’re welcome.”

I hadn’t gotten far when an alert from Meg popped up summoning Maxwell and I to the small meeting room upstairs.

We didn’t speak as we closed our laptops and grabbed our coffees.

“After you,” I said, letting her walk out first.

“Now you want to be a gentleman?” she asked. I could practically hear her beautiful blue eyes rolling even though they didn’t move.

“If you can’t take the heat…” I left the rest of the quote unsaid just to irritate her.

“What, can’t remember the rest?” she asked. Her smarter-than-thou tone grated on every last nerve.

“Get out of the kitchen.” I huffed out the rest. I made eye contact before adding, “Or in your case, the gym.”

Her cheeks turned pink as she glared at me. I couldn’t help but notice the freckles dotting her nose stood out more when she blushed.

No, she’s not blushing; she’s turning red from anger . I had to give her credit, as pissed as she was, she didn’t rise to the occasion. She ran her hand over her hair, making sure her fiery red hair was in place, and walked away .

I followed as she marched up the stairs to the conference room.

It’s going to be a long day.

At the door, she tugged her suit blazer to remove any wrinkles, and smoothed down her skirt. Always the perfectionist.

Not wanting to look like a slob, I tucked my SSI polo tighter into my steel grey khakis.

We ignored each other from opposite sides of the table as we waited for my father.

When the door opened, he wasn’t alone.

“Mr. Darling, this is Catelyn Maxwell and Jaden Sheppard.” We stood as he introduced us and shook Darling’s hand. “Have a seat.”

Darling’s eyes darted nervously between Maxwell and me as he sat. Something about his demeanor felt off. What’s he hiding?

Dad and Darling filled us in on why he needed our help; his nineteen-year-old daughter, Wendy, had been missing for three days.

“At first, I thought she’d gone away for a long weekend. But then I found this when I heard the alarm going off.” He put a cell phone, protected with a colorful flower case on the table. “It’s Wendy’s; she never leaves home without it.”

No one ever does.

He’d already reached out to her friends, but no one had seen her.

“Mr. Darling said we can search the phone,” Dad said .

Maxwell put on gloves before picking up the phone and examining the case.

“Has she taken off like this before?” I asked.

“She doesn’t always tell me when she’s going out, but she usually texts if she’ll be gone overnight.”

Which she couldn’t do if she didn’t have her phone.

“Can you think of anyone who might want to harm her?” The question always sounded stupid to me in movies, but it turns out it was a necessary one. People weren’t always forthcoming with details, even when they were asking for help.

“No, she’s a good kid.” Darling looked genuinely concerned, but there was something about his demeanor that nagged at me.

“Any reason someone might use her to target you?” I asked. We’d seen first hand how easy it was for a bad guy to use a child to get to the parent when Blake, AJ’s fiancée, was kidnapped because of her father’s connections.

Darling broke eye contact and stared at his hands, playing with a non-existent wedding ring. “I can’t think of anything.”

He was hiding something; I just didn’t know what.