Page 16 of Gator
“As a PI, I would think that would make your job easier.”
“Oh, it makes the job easier, but as far as a place to live, you couldn’t give me a house in a small town.” He shrugged. “Well, I mean, if you wanted to give me one, you could, but I would just sell it and buy something somewhere else.”
“Did you grow up in a small town?” I asked.
“Nah, I grew up in Austin. Vesper is the smallest place I’ve ever lived.”
“Well, we’re glad you’re here.”
He nodded. “Me, too. How about you? Where are you from?”
“A tiny town on the Texas-Louisiana border,” I said. “Trust me, you haven’t heard of it.”
Diego chuckled. “From the accent, I was guessing you were either from far east Texas or Louisiana.”
“Dis he-are? Non, bébé, you he-are da real tang when I bein’ half-drunk or half-nakied.” I let the honey-dripped drawl of my upbringing come through. It wasn’t exactly Cajun and not exactly Texan, but a special blend that resulted from my great-grandparents’ move from southern Louisiana to east Texas back in the day. My grandmother had passed it down to me. It had mostly faded after years away from home, but I could fall back into the lazy cadence in a heartbeat when it suited me.
He cleared his throat. “Ah, okay good to know… I guess.”
“If you two want to continue this date and play twenty questions or something, take it over there”—Maddox pointed to the table—“the game’s on.”
I rolled my eyes. Diego was certainly not my type at all, and I knew I wasn’t his. We’d researched him thoroughly before bringing him on board, and that had included information about his personal life. He had a thing for twinks, something I most certainly was not, and I had a thing for spunky, pretty boys who had trouble written all over them.
My mind flashed to Julius with his perfectly applied makeup, his smart mouth, and then, of course, to the situation at the club. I pulled out my phone, pulled up his contact, and sent him a text.
Me
Hey, Jules. Just checking in to see how you are doing today.
Not that how he was doing was my business, but I wanted it to be. After one unforgettable kiss, I found that I wanted a whole lot where Julius Petros was concerned.
It didn’t take long for him to reply.
Jules
I’m fine. Had brunch with some friends and now I’m headed home to rot. Any word on the guy who was kidnapped?
Me
We IDed him but nothing so far on his location. But Officer Russo is a good cop. He’s working on it, and we’re helping as much as we can.
Jules
I just hope they find him.
Me
Me too.
Chapter six
Gator
I was scheduled to teach a tracking class out at the camp, and I had to admit, I was glad for the distraction. I needed something to think about besides the kidnapping at the club.
It had been days, and there’d been very little progress so far in locating Noah. Carmine had stopped by and told Kat that they’d gone to his apartment in Cedar Vale and talked to his roommate. Turns out he’d come into the city to meet up with aGrindrhookup and didn’t come home. They’d assumed he’d stayed for the weekend, but when he didn’t come back to go to work on Monday, they’d called it in to the local police, who’d given them the brush off.
He didn’t have any family to speak of, but the roommate said no matter how much fun he was having, he never would havemissed work without calling in. Unfortunately, we knew he was correct, and he wasn’t just out having a good time.