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Chapter Thirty-Three

Jesse

Tanner is still reading over the letter from Kinsley’s mum when I return with beers in hand. I hold one out in offering and he takes it, flicking the cap off and downing at least half before lifting his eyes from the paper.

“She had to have known something,” he says with a pained look in his eyes. “Why didn’t Kins ever mention this to you?”

I know why, but it’s not going to help us now. Kinsley wanted to keep me as far away from this as possible. Not knowing that I was already far deeper involved than she ever thought possible.

“It’s a warning, but from what? Kyle’s death? Warren’s disappearance?” He continues, questioning me now.

“I don’t know, I really don’t.” Rubbing the back of my neck, I sink back into the couch. “We need to focus on the here and now, use the new information Stanley has given us. If Kyle was right and Kinsley’s dad is alive — if Lance Harding is the key to all the mystery, we need to find him.”

“I know some people, I could —”

“No.” I interrupt, but before I can finish my phone rings. It’s Kinsley, I look at Tanner and he acknowledges as I answer.

“Hey Meadow, everything okay?”

“Hey Jess, yeah everything is fine. I was thinking, you should stay at your place tonight — get some real rest.” She pauses briefly before continuing, “I’m fine, really, and I thought I might ask Soph to come over. She can stay with me, give you a night off from babysitting duties.”

A quick look at Tanner and I can see his discomfort, even if he doesn’t want to admit it, walking away from her was the hardest thing he has ever done. I can see through his shield, he loves her. Well, the feeling is mutual.

“Will she stay the night? Have you already asked her?”

“Jeez Jess, lighten up. I’ll speak with her and report back, but you don’t need to be on constant watch. I need to learn to walk this road on my own, and when I do — in a few more days, we can get back into planning how to tackle Lance.” Her voice gets louder, more determined. “I think we just go in guns blazing. I’m not scared, what do we have to lose?” She laughs, I glance sideways and Tanner smirks, these two are more alike than they know.

“Let’s just take it one day at a time hey? You’ve only just started leaving the bedroom. Message me once you’ve spoken with Soph.” I can almost hear her rolling her eyes, if that were possible.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay, I’ll let you know.”

With that, I end the call, tossing my phone aside. I finish my beer and let it fall to the floor. “I’m going to the address Stanley gave us. Tonight.”

“Are you fucking crazy?” Tanner retorts.

“Me? You’re the one pacing the room, sit the fuck down.” I wave him off, dropping my head into my hands. “I just want to go for a drive, sus it all out. I won’t let myself be seen.”

“Fine. But I’m coming with you,” he says, leaving no room for discussion.

The next few hours pass by slowly. When Kinsley sends me a message letting me know Sophie is coming over, Tanner brings up the cameras he informed me he hid in her apartment to make sure she isn’t bluffing.

I was a little taken back when he told me he placed a camera in her bedroom, but I can’t say I was surprised. He did break into her house, offering sex and coffee, before things got serious between them. Knowing both of us are heading out tonight, we need to know Kins isn’t alone. The moment Sophie’s car pulls up, Tanner’s shoulders drop and he visibly relaxes, pocketing his phone and turning to look at me.

It’s go time.

The air between us is thick with tension as the GPS lights up with directions, the location is only forty-five minutes away. I can see Tanner out of the corner of my eye, he looks uncomfortable. I’m sure he is normally the one driving; he is probably the one in control of everything, 99% of the time. That makes me smile. Poor Tanner.

“Something funny, Jesse?” he questions.

“A little,” I say with a shrug. “I was just thinking how it must be hard for you to be sitting there in the passenger seat. You seem like the type to always be in control … That’s all.”

He doesn’t respond, instead he turns and looks out the window until his phone buzzes with an incoming text.

Glancing over as I drive, I see him reading over the message. “Everything okay?”

If looks could kill, I would be dead right now. I know it without even giving him eye contact. How does one man have such an evil stare? Whoever sent the message must have really ruffled his feathers.

Tanner’s fingers float across the screen before he tosses his phone back down.

“It was Soph,” he says on an exhale. “She said, and I quote ‘I hope you know what you’re doing’ with an evil eye emoji … Do you think she’s onto me?”

“Most likely, but she’ll keep that to herself even if she is. She might be a little over the top, but she’s not stupid,” I say, my eyes glued on the road. “Kinsley isn’t dumb either, if she wasn’t thinking with her heart right now, she would know exactly what was playing out. She’s just hurting.” Tanner shifts uncomfortably in his seat, but I keep my focus on the road ahead of us.

It’s not long before the GPS directs us through a small town on the outskirts of Melbourne’s northern suburbs and onto a dirt road where trees and scrubs span out along the edges. At least there are plenty of places to hide. I won’t be stopping tonight though, we will just drive past and scope out the area. Once we go past the location I will key ‘home’ back into the GPS, to look for any alternative routes away from here.

“Your destination is four hundred metres on your right.”

Tanner’s eyes flick across to the other side of the road. “Over there, I can see a light.”

I slow a little, not wanting to stop completely and draw any unwanted attention to us. Sure enough, a few hundred meters to the right is a driveway, if it were daylight we wouldn’t have been able to see the warehouse hidden back off the road. The only reason Tanner was able to spot it, are the large flood lights behind the building.

“You call that a light? She’s lit up like Luna Park in there. Seems like more than freight and cartage, I’ll tell ya that for free.”

As the light of the warehouse fades, I pull off to the side, keying in my home address. Tanner turns his body towards me, a mischievous look on his face; a look which says we are going to fuck shit up .

“Go on then,” I say. “Out with it.”

The crazy bastard gives a chuckle. “This Stanley guy you and Kinsley work with, he can obviously hack into cameras …”

“Yeah, he has eyes on the apartment. Why?”

“Is he good enough to see if there are cameras on this property? If he could access them, we could scope out the location better, learn more about them, their comings and goings.”

My eyes go wide. “That is so much better than my plan of hiding out by the trees.”

Tanner raises his left brow, looking at me puzzled. “You were just going to hide out on the road side? Waiting for them to turn into their driveway?”

“Well yeah — but when you put it like that it sounds stupid.” I scratch the back of my head. Stupid, Jesse. So freaking stupid. I know Kyle would be laughing if he were watching this unfold. Knowing that I was going to hide out in the trees like we did as kids … You’re a grown ass man now, Jesse, you can do better than that.

Tanner shakes his head. “Let’s get back, then we can call Stanley and get the ball rolling. I—” he pauses briefly, wiping the palms of his hands down his jeans “— I’m losing patience.”

The way he stumbles over his words tells me he is struggling with being separated from Kins. I leave him with his thoughts, he doesn’t need my smart-ass comments pissing him off. The GPS loads and reroutes us to home, taking us back the way we came.

Glancing sideways at Tanner, he huffs. “It’s only been three fucking days!” He throws his arms wide. “Have you ever gone that long without contact from her?”

I stay quiet, revving the engine and doing a U-turn. If I’m honest, I don’t think I have gone more than a day without some form of communication with her. He’s a more patient man than I am.